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Smart Meter Time Accuracy with ToU Tariffs
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There is, I am afraid, a presumption on social media that, if something is easy or works for the person posting, it will be the same for everyone one else and if it isn’t/doesn’t then it’s operator error. As I have just posted my meter is in an outside cabinet and the time display is, as you commented, locked away behind a menu.
Northern Lincolnshire. 7.8 kWp system, (4.2 kWwest facing panels , 3.6 kWeast facing), Solis inverters installed 2018, 5kW SSE facing system (shaded in afternoon) added in 2025 with Tesla PW3 battery, Mitsubishi SRK35ZS-S and SRK20ZS-S Wall Mounted A2A Heat Pumps, ex Nissan Leaf owner.1 -
Mine's an Aclara SGM1412-B and you need to delve into the engineering menu (the yellow B button) to find the current meter time.
The manual helpfully says:
The SGM1400-B Series meter includes a lithium battery backup with sufficient capacity to maintain the meter’s real-time clock for up to two years. The battery has a 20 year lifespan that is designed in line with the product life.
N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec / Fuse gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Kirk Hill Co-op member.Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Ecoflow Stream, Best kettle :-)
2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 37 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.2 -
My smart phone's clock is always accurate to the second, and it automatically switches between GMT/BST.
Why aren't smart meters equally smart?
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My smart phone's clock is always accurate to the second, and it automatically switches between GMT/BST.
Your smartphone gets its time from your phone network, and/or from your ntp server via WiFi and/or via your GNSS receiver.
Why aren't smart meters equally smart?
I doubt anyone here can answer why, beyond "it's not part of the spec".
Smart meters in the south (connected to the Telefonica phone network) should have time signals available via their comms hub, but I don't know if the LRR network in the north has an equivalent capability.
N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec / Fuse gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Kirk Hill Co-op member.Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Ecoflow Stream, Best kettle :-)
2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 37 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.3 -
Had mine for about 4 years now, never an issue.
When I had my old school E7 meter that was much worse every single day - took me ages to figure out that my night tarrif was around 23:30-6:30 in winter and 0:30-7:30 in summer and the worst part was that it randomly kicked in anytime between 0:30-1:00 (23:30-0:00).
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I havent noticed an issue with mine, but you would think there would be regular NTP syncing, and not only that but ongoing monitoring that reports to someone if the time is too far out, a accurate time is kind of important for a meter.
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