Puzzle with Economy 7 metering.

My brother's flat has off peak storage heaters and a timer on the hot water cylinder. 2 year ago a smart meter was installed since when 7700kWh have bee used on rate 1 an 92kWh on rate 2., that equate to 1 kWh per week!
The meter has two fat live tails coming out, one to a normal MCB board and one to the Off Peak MCB board.
Any ideas what is going on?

Parents
  • Perhaps you fear he is spending more time than he should with a secret mistress or the heating is busted or something ?

    Joking aside ~ 70kW hours per week, 11kW hours per day the rate 1 seems quite a lot for a small and well-lagged flat, - but then it is heating and water and everything.

    First check it is the right way round, but usually rate 1 is the low, or night rate  and rate 2  is the normal or day rate.
    I presume the meter switches  all loads to rate 1 after hours, not just the heaters, and he is out at work during the day and does not do a lot of electric cooking.

    The rate 2 suggests that there is very little on during the day, perhaps a fridge freezer and an internet connection.
    Does he  go abroad for the winter ?

    Or, were the bills before the smart meter much higher ? maybe some stuff has been mis-wired  on the non-metered side, or connected to a neighbours meter.

    Mike.

  • Thanks.
    I've made some progress and downloaded the half hour usage.
    Yesterday, the flat used 13kWh during the night (Midnight to 7:30am) and 13kWh the rest of the day, but the TOU2 meter reading went up by 1kWh.
    Does anyone know how the meter "knows" whether is it TOU 1 or TOU2 and whether this information can be read on the meter? I've downloaded he 120 page manual and timings are not mentioned anywhere. Does Octopus use the half hour readings and calculate it at there end or does it read TOU1 and TOU2 separately from the meter? 
    Also, where can I find the Economy 7 times? 

    Thanks

Reply
  • Thanks.
    I've made some progress and downloaded the half hour usage.
    Yesterday, the flat used 13kWh during the night (Midnight to 7:30am) and 13kWh the rest of the day, but the TOU2 meter reading went up by 1kWh.
    Does anyone know how the meter "knows" whether is it TOU 1 or TOU2 and whether this information can be read on the meter? I've downloaded he 120 page manual and timings are not mentioned anywhere. Does Octopus use the half hour readings and calculate it at there end or does it read TOU1 and TOU2 separately from the meter? 
    Also, where can I find the Economy 7 times? 

    Thanks

Children
  • normally the hours are on the paperwork from the energy supplier - in this case it sounds like Octopus but round here it is always midnight to 7AM, though the implementation with smart meters varies, and relies on the data link back to the supplier. if nothing else to manage the summer/ wintertime switch.

    Octopus have several tarrif options, some of which are more like the old fashioned E7,

    From https://octopus.energy/tariffs/

    "Octopus 12M Fixed June 2024 v2 fixed domestic

    Eco 7 Electricity

    Day unit rate:29.38 p/kWh
    Night unit rate:12.22 p/kWh
    Standing charge:61.66 p/day

    Electricity

    Unit rate:23.33 p/kWh
    Standing charge:61.27 p/day

    "

    and others that do change almost by the hour.

    "

    How does Agile Octopus work?
    Between 4-8pm every day (usually nearer 4pm), your unit rates are updated for the next 24 hours, based on the wholesale market rates.
    As you use electricity we'll use the half-hourly data from your smart meter to calculate your charges.
    A daily standing charge covers costs including metering, distribution, and other fixed costs.

    "

    you need to find out what he has.
    mike