Electric Meter 6 years out of certification

Netexporter

It took me about 6 months to get my smart meter, on account of being over 60 miles from the nearest installer.

ipanel

I'm interested if there's any update on this.
I've got a Ferranti F2Q-100, very similarly aged meter, probably at least 50 years old. "Certified R1/2144/00", which I take to be the year 2000 (based on seeing another similar meter that ended /99). Using a Shelly EM Gen 3 current probe (inductive read from the meter tail) for a month, my F2Q-100 is over-reading by about 17%. That's high enough to be pretty confident that any errors are swamped by a geniune over-read going on.

I'm also on Octopus, but am in the "don't want a smart meter" camp. The meters have the physical capability to remote disconnect you, and I don't trust their security against cyper-attack (either the meter's comms, or the supplier's infrastructure and logins that can control them) should we fall out with Russia/China/Korea/Israel/… But £65/yr is a high insurance premium against that.
I have emailed Octopus with the 17% over-read claim, but suspect the only option they'll give me, is to fit a smart meter (rather than a recalibrate or measured scaling factor to apply).

Netexporter

A smart meter will give you access to all manner of tariffs that could save you money. It's a no-brainer.

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81922613#Comment_81922613

I have emailed Octopus with the 17% over-read claim, but suspect the only option they'll give me, is to fit a smart meter (rather than a recalibrate or measured scaling factor to apply).

Correct, the most appropriate and only fix they will offer is a smart meter.

EssexHebridean

The only reason for the remote disconnection to be of real concern is if you are not paying your bills. If that is your position then they’ll get to you soon enough for the rather more “personal and intrusive” form of disconnection - don’t worry. The easiest way to avoid being disconnected by any means is to ensure that you pay your bills in a timely manner.

Scot_39

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80580718#Comment_80580718

How far out do you think your meter is ?

what are you basing the power draw of your devices on - most are only nominal - and only at nominal voltage / resistance.

What sort of loads are you primarily running - resistive, inductive like motors or light bulbs etc etc

for simple ideal resistive - think closest things like kettles, ovens or or nsh type elements

Power = Voltage squared / resistance

Since eu harmonisation uk (EU) goods, so anything modern in home likely to be rated at 230V nominal with a new +10%/-6% range.

Reality is tge uk never changed its 240V nominal, and Europe never changed its 220V in places at least nominal. Both sit in new range.

At times uk voltages reach 250V locally - 245V not uncommon

AT 245V vs 230V a resistive load takes c14% more power. Far beyond most meter accuracies when certified for billing..

And for heating elements the R isnt constant - it too varies with temperature - i can see my nsh take more power - what settles st 7.1kW - pulls 7.4kW+ - another 5% or so when heating 3x a day z for first mins.

Ive not seen test stats on older meters once removed.

But issues with bearings and friction on spinning dial have long been suggested - thst could lead to underreading - especially of light loads.

I remember someone saying their modern large screen tv wasnt enough to spin their meter - true or urban legend ?

Heedtheadvice

Good post Scot. Points many ignore or do not understand and then they use methods less accurate than the meter to compare.

Those rough methods( kettle, fire etc ) are at best indicative and often used for too short a period. Often less accurate than a meter outside it's calibration period ( a couple of percent is normal, over long periods and wide temperatures with phase angle correction.

Guesswork too is not good enough to make a case.

Qyburn

You could run the fire or kettle via a TP Link or similar power monitor and compare its figure with the meter readings.