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EDF Smart Meter not recording separate day/night for Economy 7

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  • The online billing doesn't show any readings from the meter yet, but my account does show I am on an E7 tarriff. I do charge the heaters overnight and from my prev bills it looks like I use a few units off peak normally. 
  • lohr500
    lohr500 Posts: 1,237 Forumite
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    OK thanks for the update. 

    My thinking then is that three old fashioned fuses in the small box will be for your three storage heaters.

    If there is only one immersion heater in the hot water tank AND it has a separate timer, then it will be getting a supply from a circuit on the main consumer unit (fuse box). I can't make out from the photo if any of the trip switches are labelled immersion heater/hot water, but you could check.

    So it all points to the 5th wire being permanently energised. 

    If as suggested earlier it could take up to two weeks for EDF to sort out the "over the air" configuration, then hopefully they will then adjust your billing once sorted to reflect your actual peak and off-peak usage. If I understand smart meters correctly, the usage data is stored internally in half hour blocks, irrespective of which register the units are displayed against. With this data EDF should be able to calculate the correct peak and off peak usage.

    Out of interest, is the WAN light flashing on the top section of the meter every 5 seconds or so? I believe this indicates that the meter is communicating to the central Data Collection service.

    You mentioned that the EDF website is now saying it can see your meter. Is it showing any usage data at all?

    The other thing you could do is download the Bright App on your phone and enrol with their free service. This allows you to see the historic data that is being stored centrally for your meter. The same data that EDF will access for their systems. At least this would confirm that some data is getting sent out from your meter, even if it isn't yet 100% correctly formatted.

    We have been with EDF for over two years now. When they installed our 5 wire SMETS2 smart meter to replace an old teleswitch radio switched setup, the new meter update happened within an hour of being installed.

    When we switched to a different time of use tariff in 2021, the meter update happened within a few hours.

    And when we switched to a PAYG tariff last week, the meter update happened within the hour.

    So hopefully, if it is just a case of waiting for a meter update, it will happen soon.

    As Scot_39 mentions, keep monitoring the situation and if it hasn't been resolved within 2 weeks, get back on to EDF and push for resolution. Ask specifically to talk to someone from their complex metering team. From my own experience with EDF, I have little confidence in the general customer support team. They just seem to work of scripted answers. The complex metering team were 100% on the ball when I needed some help.
  • Thanks for the info. Yes the water is labelled on a separate trip switch. The WAN is flashing every 5 seconds, so that's good. My EDF account does not show any usage/readings yet. 

    I think customer support have passed to their "Smart" team, whatever that is, but I will keep your suggestion in mind. It's been 7 days, so still some time left.
  • The WAN is flashing every 5 seconds

    Sadly, that doesn’t necessarily mean that your comms hub is connected to the DCC network. The simplest way of checking that there is a DCC network connection is via a third-party app such as BRIGHT. Third parties use their own Adapter software to connect to your meter (with your permission). They can ‘pull’ usage data but not meter register readings.

  • mmmmikey
    mmmmikey Posts: 2,077 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Homepage Hero Name Dropper
    Hi again.....

    1. All the wiring looks good to me and absolutely conventional for a 5 wire meter. The only thing slightly out of the ordinary is the thinner 5th wire but it looks like that's how it was before and is probably just because the 5th wire is only controlling 3 storage heaters so doesn't need to be thick.

    2. It takes a while for the 30 minute data to weave it's way through the various systems involved and show up on EDF's website. I used to be an EDF customer and IIRC I wouldn't see Monday's data until Wednesday and sometimes it took longer than that. Also, I don't think you see data for incomplete days. So if this started sending data at some time on Monday, the first full day would be Tuesday and the earliest you would see that would be Thursday on the EDF website. With the third party apps (such as Bright and Loop) I could see the data from the following afternoon, so in the above example you'd expect to start seeing data from mid- to late-afternoon on Wednesday. So too soon to say yet if the data is flowing correctly. You can't tell if the data's not on the EDF website because of some kind of meter issue or if the first data just hasn't come through yet.

    3. The issue with the meter not switching the storage heaters on and off as expected and not recording usage in the correct registers could simply be down to EDF not having loaded the correct firmware and/or configuration information on the meter yet. Or it could be a faulty meter. Until EDF have confirmed that they have completed the set up you simply can't tell, so it is still a question of having to sit tight until EDF confirm that they have completed the set up process and take it from there.

    Hope this helps, keep us posted :-)
  • Thanks, will do.
  • After tracking my usage it looks like rate 2 is only updating from about lunchtime to early evening, which is when my storage heaters are active, so my E7 is about 12 hours out. 

    EDF have told me they aren't booking any new E7 meters at the moment due to a wider fault. I have noticed some people on other thread keep getting their E7 installs cancelled, this might be why.
  • lohr500
    lohr500 Posts: 1,237 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Did EDF say what they were going to do about the time discrepancy? 
    Does rate 1 stop updating during the period that rate 2 is increasing?

    Depending on your lifestyle it may be advantageous for the storage heaters to be warming up through the afternoon and early evening.

    Also, until EDF get the timing sorted, I think it would be a good idea to adjust the timer on your hot water so it kicks in during the afternoon/early evening period. Then set the timer back to the correct off peak hours once they fix the problem

    I guess it depends though if EDF are going to bill you based on the Rate 1 and Rate 2 meter readings (which are driven off the incorrect off peak time), or the 30 minute meter download data that they should be able to access if the meter is sending data correctly.

    It is a mess.

    If they are going to use the Rate 1 /Rate 2 readings for peak/off peak billing, then you should temporarily adjust the hot water timer and your storage heaters will be billed at the lower rate (albeit that they are heating up in the afternoon).

    If they are going to use the 30 minute data and apply the off peak rate during the correct Eco7 hours in your area, then currently you will be heating up the storage heaters at peak rate, but your hot water timer should remain set at the correct Eco7 times for your area.

    Hope this makes sense.

    I think you need to ask them for clarity in writing on how they intend to bill you until they fix the time issue.
    The last thing you want as the cold weather approaches is to be heating up the storage heaters on peak rate electricity.  
  • QrizB
    QrizB Posts: 15,309 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Third Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    Rich_888 said:
    After tracking my usage it looks like rate 2 is only updating from about lunchtime to early evening, which is when my storage heaters are active, so my E7 is about 12 hours out.
    That's a bit of good news; your Rate 2 is active at the same time that your ALCS is, so your storage heaters will only be charging on cheap rate electricity.
    lohr500 said:
    Depending on your lifestyle it may be advantageous for the storage heaters to be warming up through the afternoon and early evening.  
    That was my thought too.
    lohr500 said:
    If they are going to use the 30 minute data and apply the off peak rate during the correct Eco7 hours in your area ...
    I would be very surprised if EDF did this. Conventional tariffs like E7 are not usually billed on 30-minute data.
    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Shell (now TT) BB / Lebara mobi. Ripple Kirk Hill member.
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  • Yes, rate 1 stops updating during that period. Currently, I am not using my heaters so it is working in my favour until I need to put the heating on (depending on how they bill it). I will avoid using the storage heaters until it is fixed and maybe use a separate heater during the day if needed.

    They have said it is being investigated so I am not sure what is going to happen. Next bill isn't for a few weeks, but I will try to get clarification before then if it isn't resolved.
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