Economy 7 and Smartmeter

Ferretsox

lohr500 said:

A good result. Hopefully EDF will get their act together and arrange for a replacement meter to be fitted ASAP.

I'm not sure if you can claim anything for the extra peak rate electricity your Aga will have used whilst the off peak circuit has been faulty.

Did you switch the Aga off when you realised it wasn't charging on off-peak, and how long was it before you noticed the fault?

I noticed the first morning -no red light at breakfast and then flashing latervin the morning. Switched off during day and on again late at night in case it switched to off peak next night. Too expensive to keep doing that, and not getting anywhere near temp anyway, so turned off.  It’s been very cold in the house as we rely heavily on Aga heat to keep warm. 

I am not wanting to claim anything, just hoping for a quick resolution! 

lohr500

At least you spotted it early and switched it off. 
I know they cost a fortune to run, but we wouldn't be without ours.
Over the thirty years we have had the 30 Amper, on the few times I've switched it off so I could replace failed heating elements, the kitchen and staircase were cold, the dogs were very unhappy and we had nowhere to hang washing to dry!

dunstonh

Our 30amp is on a timer. Once a month, I check the timer against the meter time and make an adjustment where necessary. On our old conventional meters, there was quite a lot of drift. But on the smart meter, which has been in for over 12 months, there has been no drift.

Another point of interest is that yesterday, our overnight use was just 26kWh.   The day before was 29kWh.   (that is all electricity use in the 7 hours, so not all down to the AGA, but most of it is).    The usual range is 37-40 kWh with over 5 years of monthly logging.   I had read that AGAs would only draw what they need but ours always drew the full amount over the 7 hours.  But in February, we replaced several external doors in the Kitchen, which were very leaky.  I noticed that March's off-peak use had dropped a little. Since then, the AGA has been shutting off its draw before the 7 hours is up.

I knew our radiator oil use would improve, but I didn't think it would have such an impact on the AGA draw as well.  

I know they cost a fortune to run, but we wouldn't be without ours.

Yes, they are more expensive, but in the right house, it's not much when it doubles up for heating and drying.   Our old servant's stairwell has no heating in it, but the entrance is next to the AGA.  So, the heat goes up that stairwell as well that end of the Kitchen.       37 kWh at 8p is £2.96 a day.  For a cooker that would be a lot.  But it replaces the cooker, kettle, some of the tumble drier and some heating.

Ferretsox

dunstonh said:

Our 30amp is on a timer. Once a month, I check the timer against the meter time and make an adjustment where necessary. On our old conventional meters, there was quite a lot of drift. But on the smart meter, which has been in for over 12 months, there has been no drift.

Another point of interest is that yesterday, our overnight use was just 26kWh.   The day before was 29kWh.   (that is all electricity use in the 7 hours, so not all down to the AGA, but most of it is).    The usual range is 37-40 kWh with over 5 years of monthly logging.   I had read that AGAs would only draw what they need but ours always drew the full amount over the 7 hours.  But in February, we replaced several external doors in the Kitchen, which were very leaky.  I noticed that March's off-peak use had dropped a little. Since then, the AGA has been shutting off its draw before the 7 hours is up.

I knew our radiator oil use would improve, but I didn't think it would have such an impact on the AGA draw as well.  

I know they cost a fortune to run, but we wouldn't be without ours.

Yes, they are more expensive, but in the right house, it's not much when it doubles up for heating and drying.   Our old servant's stairwell has no heating in it, but the entrance is next to the AGA.  So, the heat goes up that stairwell as well that end of the Kitchen.       37 kWh at 8p is £2.96 a day.  For a cooker that would be a lot.  But it replaces the cooker, kettle, some of the tumble drier and some heating.

 I fully agree. And I am missing all those cooking and baking opportunities! 

dunstonh

Another point of interest is that yesterday, our overnight use was just 26kWh.   The day before was 29kWh.   (that is all electricity use in the 7 hours, so not all down to the AGA, but most of it is).    The usual range is 37-40 kWh with over 5 years of monthly logging.   I had read that AGAs would only draw what they need but ours always drew the full amount over the 7 hours.  But in February, we replaced several external doors in the Kitchen, which were very leaky.  I noticed that March's off-peak use had dropped a little. Since then, the AGA has been shutting off its draw before the 7 hours is up.

Balls....
That theory didn't last long.  The naughty light is now flashing.      

lohr500

@dunstonh

Assuming you have the later element sets fitted (three banks, rather than the very early single bank) I wonder if a bank of elements has failed.

Top bank 1.68kWh
Middle bank 2.06kWh
Bottom bank 1.56kWh

If say the bottom element has failed, the remaining two would use (1.68 + 2.06) x 7  = 26.2kW over the Eco 7 window.

In my experience, when a bank fails, the charge light stays on for the full 7 hours AND the peak rate charge kicks in towards the end of the day, especially if the Aga has been used a lot that day..

If all banks are working OK, ours charges up in around 6 hours.

dunstonh

lohr500 said:

@dunstonh

Assuming you have the later element sets fitted (three banks, rather than the very early single bank) I wonder if a bank of elements has failed.

Top bank 1.68kWh
Middle bank 2.06kWh
Bottom bank 1.56kWh

If say the bottom element has failed, the remaining two would use (1.68 + 2.06) x 7  = 26.2kW over the Eco 7 window.

In my experience, when a bank fails, the charge light stays on for the full 7 hours AND the peak rate charge kicks in towards the end of the day, especially if the Aga has been used a lot that day..

If all banks are working OK, ours charges up in around 6 hours.

It is almost certainly a bank failure as the left ovens are not up to temperature.      

It's unusual for a failure to happen mid-season.   They most commonly fail during shutdown or start up going from cold to hot or vice versa.   Not when they are running.

Oh well, that's a phone call I didn't need.   And given where we are in the year, I probably won't fire it up again until Autumn.