Using Aclara SGM1416-B Smart Meter

Ildhund

Spikeygran said:

... in the morning when the IDH notifies day rate at 0730 but the storage heating circuit is still live until 0740.  The meter is showing the LC1 LC2 screen until 0740 

 I rather thought the photo here was of your antiquated SP IHD. That clearly shows that the peak rate - recorded on Tier 1 as it should be - started at 07:38, not 07:30. Was the 07:40 you observed taken from the meter's internal clock, or the one on your kitchen wall? It rather sounds as if the two times were in fact identical, and we're all getting a bit confused trying to compare information from different sources. The ~8 minutes is your meter's unique and immutable randomized offset, something between 450 and 509 seconds.

Is it possible that the Next label on that screen refers to Offpeak, not 0 p (/kWh)? What does that screen show at 23:45?
  

Spikeygran said:

... checked the meter info via the homebrew app, which is interesting as its flagged up that the firmware is older than expected. 

I've yet to see evidence that any of these SGM 1416-B meters is reporting that its firmware is up to date. It doesn't seem to matter at all, any more than the certification expiry warnings.
  

Spikeygran

Yes sorry it is at the :08.each time I was initially going by the clock rather than the IDH.  

For the moment I'm just not switching anything extra on until well  after the heating circuit goes live, and making sure its off in good time.  I've put my neck out so the ladder will have to wait for a few days.  I've tried it with OH going up the ladder, but hes hopeless with anything electronic, also partly deaf, and cant seem to relay the information to me on the floor.  

The bright app does seem to be good for showing usage patterns especially on the 30 minute setting.

Ildhund

I'm inclined to stick my neck out too, and suggest that everything's working as intended. Your peak rate is starting at 07:38, the same time as your switched (heating) circuit is de-energized. I assume that the opposite happens at the end of the day: the offpeak rate starts at 23:08, recording on Tier 2, and the switched circuit is energized at exactly the same time. You should be safe enough running power-hungry equipment before 07:38 and after 23:08 each day.

Just a wee caveat about the usage data you see, e.g. on the Bright app. The times of the half-hourly buckets are precise (to the millisecond, but only displayed to the nearest minute), so the bucket for 07:30 to 08:00 includes ~8 minutes at offpeak rate and ~22 at peak rate, and similarly at the other end of the day. That's why you'll never get the daily peak/offpeak consumption figures to tally precisely with the half-hourly data covering the nominal peak/offpeak periods. That said, the difference between one day's total (peak + offpeak) meter readings and the next should be very close (±1 or 2 Wh) to the total of all 48 half-hourly figured for the day. Your bill is calculated from meter readings, not the half-hourly data.

I hope your neck is soon better 

Gerry1

Spikeygran said:

I've tried it with OH going up the ladder, but hes hopeless with anything electronic, also partly deaf, and cant seem to relay the information to me on the floor.  

Ask him to take a video with a smart phone so you can analyse it at leisure.

Spikeygran

I had a breakthrough a short while ago this morning. Last night OH while pressing the wrong button !!! discovered that the B  button (orange) has a screen about 4 pushes of the button in, that actually shows the active rate in use.   It just returns to main screen after a few minutes

I managed to catch it a few minutes before the end of offpeak showing a clear number 2. The peak rate switched on at 0738 and saw it change to 1, so confirmation at last.  The handset bleeped with the change a few seconds later.  The old meter made a decent clunk when it changed which was a handy notification.  I didn't think this one made a noise but stood next to it does.

Spikeygran

Thank you for your kind words.  I find a day of the neck brace settles it down.

Ildhund

Spikeygran said:

I had a breakthrough a short while ago this morning. Last night OH while pressing the wrong button !!! discovered that the B  button (orange) has a screen about 4 pushes of the button in, that actually shows the active rate in use.

Oh dear, you shouldn't be sending him up the ladder. There's no need now, unless you're not seeing the daily meter readings on the supplier's website. If you are, you won't need to look at the meter itself ever again unless something goes badly wrong.

As regards your breakthrough, I did write this a couple of days ago: "To be absolutely certain, up the ladder again and try pressing button B repeatedly from 23:00. You should be able to find a display screen called Active TOU Number, with its content a big 1 or 2. It should change from 1 to 2 when the tariff changes from peak to offpeak."  

Phones4Chris

@Spikeygran The Active TOU Number on Button B is actually the 6th press on mine, the first being Mode of Operation Credit Mode.
As you say it returns after a short while to the (most recent) display which you get from Button A presses or when it cycles by itself.

Spikeygran

@Ildhund

Sorry must have missed that. But thank you anyway.

a4pacific

Thankyou everybody here for showing me how to look for signs when my Economy 7 goes into R2 mode, I have new smart meters last week found out my R2 for BST in SK10 is 23:30 to 01:30 the 03:30 to 08:30. I asked Scottish Power a number of times and none of them were able to give me correct answers. Eventually I have to use methods described in this thread and found the answer myself.