E7 user - new smart meter installed by EDF but maybe single rate not two rate

BillBrumNew

Hi all.  My place is electricity only (no gas) and I have storage heaters so have always been on Economy 7 tariffs here.  My EDF E7 tariff started in Sep 21 and will end in Sep 24.  I am currently asking EDF about a smart meter that their engineers installed last Wednesday.  I asked how I could see the readings for each of the two rates (the in-house display unit has little information, and will end up in a drawer and not in use).  EDF replied that I should press an orange button on the meter itself to switch between rates on its display.  There is no orange button on the unit, and the display switches between IMPORT, EXPORT and BILL.  I wonder if they have fitted a meter which can only handle single rate supplies, and therefore is not suitable for my E7 tariff.  I'd be grateful for any advice from the forum.  Thanks all.

Scot_39

Your meter is a5 port meter with on board load switching so should be capable of E7.


EDIT - if that red ringed tail with the two rings is coming from the front positioned port - I believe that's the time switched 5th port output - but its not the best angle to see the meter tail connections.


Edit 2 - you might want redact those meter serial numbers. On meter and installer record sticker.


See 

https://www.edmi-meters.com/europe/news/es12b-launch/

Many suplliers change meter types over the years.

To read the meter succesfully see this guide - for the two white  buttons with arrows 


https://help.so.energy/support/solutions/articles/7000023265-how-do-i-read-my-smart-meter-#If-you-have-two-white-buttons-with-arrows-and-other-markings-around-them

That's a sister model but likely tge same on 12b.

Or from EOn forum for 12B 

https://community.eonnext.com/threads/5437-How-do-I-read-our-smart-meter/page2

lr1277

The following is educated guesswork so might be helpful, or may not.
My aunt lived in a property with Economy 7. There was a fire in the building and so all the electrics got replaced including the storage heaters.
On the new meter we too looked for the 2 readings but could only see 1 reading. EDF are adamant they can see the night time readings, but we can’t see them whatever buttons are pressed. 

Called some electricians around who each gave different tidbits of information. This is all their information:
This in only a daytime meter, but it is a smart meter; the economy 7 circuit in the flat is not connected up; there are loose wires, not live. How the installation got certified I don’t know.
Here is the guesswork which EDF have gone silent about:
Only the daytime circuit is wired up; that is into the flat and out of the meter to all the electrical ‘appliances’.
All the economy 7 units are wired to the daytime circuit.
If readings are given every 30 mins, EDF will be able to get daytime and nighttime usage from all the readings. And they can apply the daytime and nighttime tariffs as appropriate.
So as customers we can only see total usage, but EDF can see daytime and nighttime usage.
To be fair to EDF they didn’t replace the electrics, but they are responsible upto the meter.
Now that I write this out, I can’t say exactly when the Economy 7 heaters warm up. In the previous setup, they warmed up when the electricity came on at midnight. Now I don’t know. Unless something was done as part of installing the heaters. Sorry. Don’t know if that helps.

Edited to add: if what is said in the post above means what I think it means, perhaps the meter is supplying electricity to the storage heaters between 2 set times, so they can warm up during the night. The meter is acting as the timer switch.

Swipe

Wake up early before the off peak has ended and check the Account Information on the IHD. It should show the current tariff price

Chris_b2z

I'm all for smart meters but find it sad that we've ended up with models designed by boffins for boffins. Gone are the days when a quick visual check immediately shows everything you need to know. Who would have guessed that to obtain readings from your EDMI smart meter you have to navigate to the BILLING -> ADVANCD -> TOUMTRX menu?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNw-3mOEN-0

Scot_39

It annoys me my ihd has a mode for gas, which I cannot disable, but no modes for my multirate electric.

I have to press a different button on a tiny key pad repeatedly to cycle through registers - it takes me several goes as now do rarely.  As I rely on a spreadsheet to work out peak vs off peak unit splits between my luckily now monthly bills. To work split out from totals and ihd meter cost rates - and since they were recently wrong for 3.5 months (EOn sent standard credit rates and SC to DD customers on certain tariffs in Apr) - then recalculate actual costs. 

Rich_888

EDF installed the same meter at my flat and 4 weeks later and it still doesn't work properly. They provided no info and I had to watch the video posted above to read the 2 rates. 

Be sure to check when your E7 is coming on. Mine is still coming on around lunchtime instead of overnight.

My thread here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6473386/edf-smart-meter-not-recording-separate-day-night-for-economy-7/p1

BillBrumNew

Thanks all, especially for the links to explain how to see the rates.  I don't see the point of the in-house display unit as it provides almost no useful information.  Also, why fit a meter without providing details about how it can be used?  I appreciate that members of the public are supposed to not engage with meters, but we clearly need to do so in order to check what is being billed etc.

I have now been able to find the rates, and photos are attached.  It has been six days since the unit was fitted, and the numbers seem low.  I think it has not yet fully connected to the Data Communications Company as there is what I think is the 'disconnected' symbol on show.

Rich_888

Your rates are quite different compared to mine which are almost tracking each other, this is probably a good sign for you.

Interestingly my meter does not have the 'H' in the circle, does anyone know what that means?

Chris_b2z

Rich_888 said:

Be sure to check when your E7 is coming on. Mine is still coming on around lunchtime instead of overnight.

You may have the same issue as me. Navigate to INFO -> TIME on the meter and check if the time is correct.

Rich_888

Chris_b2z said:

Rich_888 said:

Be sure to check when your E7 is coming on. Mine is still coming on around lunchtime instead of overnight.

You may have the same issue as me. Navigate to INFO -> TIME on the meter and check if the time is correct.

Thanks, didn't see that before, menu is so stupidly complicated. Just checked, it says 04:02. However, is it meant to be a 24hr clock and should be 16:02?