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Overcharging for storage heaters - charged peak rates, at off peak times

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
March 21, 2023
52 replies
2661 views

I am on Economy 7 from 12 to 7.. At precisely 7.00 a.m. every day tariff changes to daily rate as verified by smart meter console (which readings tally exactly with my bill every month). However the storage heaters do not switch off until 7.06. This means that every day I am charged for 6 minutes at the daytime rate when there should be no charge at all. The smart meter was fitted new a year ago. When I realised what was happening I contacted Ovo thinking this was a timing issue which could be remotely adjusted. Ovo however decided to send an engineer to check the meter, After they had twice cancelled the appointment they then decided to try the remote method. This didn`t work however so they decided to fit a new meter. They then cancelled this latest appointment and made another. Then the contractor (SMS) rang to cancel this one and made another, an engineer finally turning up with new meter last week. He was adamant however that the meter was not at fault, saying that it had been set wrongly and after much work on his phone said that it was now done correctly and the heaters should go off at 7.00. Of course they didn`t so I am now waiting for another phone call from Ovo to doubtless make another appointment.

My question is - is this a common occurrence? Their reluctance to put this right makes me wonder if Ovo are deliberately setting the timers to run on after time? Perhaps others should check their heaters to see what time they actually go off.

Best answer by Tim_OVO

Updated on 20/07/26 by Ben_OVO

Hi @dmacbrew, I’ve got some updates advice on this:

@Blastoise186 we think that’s not quite right as you may have confused the switching of the ‘ALCS’ with the ‘Randomised Offset’ value on the meter.

To clarify, every meter must have a randomised offset applied to the registers when they switch. So every meter on 2 or more rates will have an offset of anything up to 10 minutes applied. There is a good reason for this and it's mandated in the obligations upon suppliers that this is there. It cannot be 'fixed' or removed. No amount of setting changes or jobs to replace will get rid of the meter behaving in this way, the only thing that will happen, if you change the meter is another offset value will be set.

To explain, the meter has to generate a random number. That number is then multiplied by an amount of seconds and the outcome of that is applied to the register AND the billing rates too. If the meter has a 6 minute offset this applies to both the switching time (we can read how much is applied too as their Supplier) and the charging. So the 6 minutes is applied across the board.. there is no 6 minutes charged at a higher rate because of this. So it will be switching 07:06 to 00:06 and the costs of the energy will apply to the energy used in those times.

We have made a rather poor effort in informing our customers of how the meters and overall solution actually works but we’re working on it!

Blastoise186

Super User

This is actually something that can be updated remotely and an engineer visit is not required. The ALCS Calendar probably just needs tweaking - Support can arrange this!

It doesn’t happen often and 99% of the time it truly is an easy fix.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!

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dmacbrewAuthor

Rank 4

Thanks for the quick reply but they have already tried this - twice. The girl in he office arranged it, with no effect. Then as I mentioned the engineer sat there for the best part of an hour while someone on the other end of his phone allegedly fixed it. I`m getting fed up wth this, it`s been going on for months now. All these cancellations - the meter is in a separate building and I have to get the key from the landlord in the next town! I`m getting up every morning at five to seven to switch it off and it`s not good for me 75 years old. Furthermore two of the cancellations I was given £30 for short notice cancellation. The latest one however cancelled the night before they are refusing because the appointment was not made by them but by their contractor. So I have to suffer because they dont know what they are doing - you couldn`t make t up.

Tim_OVOSolved

OVO Forum Legend

Updated on 20/07/26 by Ben_OVO

Hi @dmacbrew, I’ve got some updates advice on this:

@Blastoise186 we think that’s not quite right as you may have confused the switching of the ‘ALCS’ with the ‘Randomised Offset’ value on the meter.

To clarify, every meter must have a randomised offset applied to the registers when they switch. So every meter on 2 or more rates will have an offset of anything up to 10 minutes applied. There is a good reason for this and it's mandated in the obligations upon suppliers that this is there. It cannot be 'fixed' or removed. No amount of setting changes or jobs to replace will get rid of the meter behaving in this way, the only thing that will happen, if you change the meter is another offset value will be set.

To explain, the meter has to generate a random number. That number is then multiplied by an amount of seconds and the outcome of that is applied to the register AND the billing rates too. If the meter has a 6 minute offset this applies to both the switching time (we can read how much is applied too as their Supplier) and the charging. So the 6 minutes is applied across the board.. there is no 6 minutes charged at a higher rate because of this. So it will be switching 07:06 to 00:06 and the costs of the energy will apply to the energy used in those times.

We have made a rather poor effort in informing our customers of how the meters and overall solution actually works but we’re working on it!

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6

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dmacbrewAuthor

Rank 4

Thank you but this answer is just gibberish. You say that meters have to generate random times etc - why? It doesn`t make any sense. I am contracted to be charged at the night rate until 7.00 - noting ambiguous or random about that. I am being overcharged full stop.. The fact is I AM being charged at the daily rate - I have sat and watched the rate change at exactly 7.00, and the heater switch off at 7.06. These figures tally up exactly with our monthly bills.

Firedog

Super User

Is your smart meter transmitting half-hourly readings? If so, you should be able to see the usage figures on your account’s web pages. This is what mine look like, when the off-peak period is 00:00-07:00 like yours:

The heaters have reached full capacity by about 04:45, but their supply doesn’t switch off until 07:00. Are you seeing obvious heating consumption outside of the prescribed hours?

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA | It may look as if I know what I’m talking about, but don’t let that fool you. |

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dmacbrewAuthor

Rank 4

Hi Firedog

Thanks for this but being half-hourly it is not accurate enough. We are talking about 6 minutes which does not sound much but if I had all three heaters on this would add up to an overcharge of £7.50 per month. In any case we should get what we are supposed to i.e 12-7 - approximately is not acceptable in this day and age.

By the way could you make any sense of Tim s (Ovo) reply above? I understood all the individual words but they seemed to be randomly assembled!

Blastoise186

Super User

TL;DR Version:

Your meter won’t flip Economy 7 on and off at precisely the advertised times. But whenever it flips, both the off-peak tariff rate AND storage heaters will flip on/off at the same time - you will ALWAYS get the full seven hours either way.

This has ALWAYS been the case ever since Economy 7 first existed. Regardless of meter type (Smart, Traditional with local timeswitch, or RTS Meter), the same thing will always happen.

If it didn’t do this, the National Grid would implode when tens of thousands of storage heaters suddenly fire up and shut down all at once across the UK,

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!