Can you supply a three phase smart meter?

Hehehe, glad to see I’m not the only Pokemon named member here now! XD

Blastoise186 Gigantamaxes and uses G-Max Cannon on @Pikachu22 ! :P

I’m not sure on the status of the trials or a potential waiting list right now. But Three-Phase Smart Meters are DEFINITELY coming to OVO in the future and you’ll certainly be able to request one once they become generally available (and yup, it’ll be announced in many places!).

In the meantime, OVO has full support for traditional three-phase non-smart meters, so if you need to upgrade to three-phase now, feel free to go down that route in the meantime, as you’ll be able to upgrade those meters to smart meters for free once they’re ready.

Yeah, I would definitely recommend against downgrading to a Single-Phase Supply with the kind of setup you have. Pretty much everyone on this forum who knows about this stuff would definitely agree with both of us on that point.

I’ve set a marker on this thread to ask @Tim_OVO and @Jess_OVO to check in when they get a chance and they can hopefully get an update for you. You won’t be able to see that marker yourself, but it has been set.

Trust me, it’s nowhere near as destructive as my Surf move! XD

Hi Jess_OVO

I too am looking for a 3 phase smart meter with economy 7

Moved to OVO last year April, booked a smart meter installation (mandatory condition by OVO) only to be told “you have 3 phase, can’t fit a meter that let’s you keep 3 phase”

We are in the process of getting solar panels and I have been told need a smart meter to get paid for any feeding into the grid (even if it is only something less than 20% of the cost of buying).  Can someone tell me if this is true?

Project solar guy told me I have 3 phase “all big companies fit 3 phase economy 7” but this is obviously not the case yet.

What is the “average” electricity usage for a 4 bedroom detached house (oil central heating and emersion heater hot water system)? is 5000KWh really the norm? (where am I going wrong?)

Spoke to my DNO Western Power this morning, who assure me I do not have 3 phase. Have a meter that has ISKRA AC- 3 Ph 4 wire written on it. 3 phases and a neutral cable coming into the box, (phases all have 100A 415V a.c. fuses on them) and connected to the meter (which has economy 7)

Been told that if I downgrade to single phase with DNO (which Western Power says I do not need to do because I have single phase) I may need to pay a large sum of money but nobody gives me a number (anybody any idea?.

Have also been told that If I downgrade cannot have my 8 KWh system without another 12 weeks delay for permit application from Project Solar to DNO. Is this correct?

Finally Project Solar assures me that by 2025 everybody MUST have a smart meter, is this true?

Sorry lots of questions but completely baffled by the avalanche of inconsistent information at the moment.

Regards

Dion

Does that sound right, @PeterR1947 - a DNO permit for single phase solar but not 3 phase?

As blastoise mentions, @Dion van Overdijk, a photo of the meter area will give us a good chance of telling if you have 3-phase supply or not.

In the meantime I can confirm that we’re still testing 3 phase smart meters so they’re not quite ready to be offered to anybody that needs them yet. 3 phase smart meters are coming very soon.

You don’t need a smart meter to have solar though:

Hi Blastoise186

Thanks for confirming the hardware showing is 3 phase, but how could it be Western Power (DNO) has record of me being single phase?

One more thought would be if the cabling coming into my home is 3 phase but at “other side” connection DNO has 2 of the phases made redundant.

Obviously the problem is going to arise when Project Solar is going to register the connection of a 8KWh panel system whilst a 6KWh system being the maximum without specific approval by DNO.

I count a total of 9 tamper seals (intact) in the box, don’t think is gone around the clock yet which would have meant well over a million KWh in 20 years😀

Regards

Dion

It isn’t too easy to follow from the photo, especially with the cables going off to the left but it looks to me as though you might only be using a single phase, it looks as though the only output from the meter is that labelled A

Hello, 

So yeah 3 phase meter but only phase L1 being used out of the meter. Whilst 3 phase Smart isn't available yet but we are so close to using the kaifa 3 phase Smart.

With regards to the DNO shutting the phases it could simply be that they've removed the fuses from fuse 2 + 3 or they've physically disconnected somewhere, there isn't a way to tell unfortunately other than enquiring (which you have done) or getting the dno to do a site visit.

I think Peter has the best advice about the size of the PV install.

Thanks gentlemen and please forgive further questions.

I understand that I do not have to have 3 phase to have solar panels.

We were told that if our system is over 6KWh on a single phase the PV installers will have to apply to DNO for permission for it to feed back into grid. Warning was that this would cause potential 12 weeks delay from DNO - any reasons why?

I assume that “upgrading to 3 phase” for us is likely to involve the DNO to reconnect/install fuses on the other side but effectively all infrastructure already in place. What would a likely charge be for that?

There would also need to be work by an electrician to connect the than “live” phases “B” and “C” to our home electrics.

Doesn’t that make our home into 415volts from the current 230v

Would we be using more electricity as a result of this assuming no other appliances connected no change in usage behaviour?

Would OVO be charging us more in their standing charge?

All smart meters are capable of doing basic Economy 7 functionality. You only need a more advanced one if you need the ability to have the meter automatically flip circuits on and off at the right times as well. :)

Hi Luke

Do you know if there is  a list I can register my interest for 3 phase meter? Is there some form of system whereby OVO informs me about the use/installation of these devices?

Regards

Dion

Yep I’ll add you to the list, @Dion van Overdijk - we’ve actually recently had an update on this internally and it’s on my to do list to update all 3-phase smart meter topics and anyone interested privately, so I’ll send you a message this week with an update. 

Hi @Nixster32 ,

This can be a tricky one. OVO is now starting to offer Three-Phase SMETS2 Smart Meters in certain areas and is slowly ramping up the availability as more engineers become available. I don’t know about Bulb though.

Can you show us photos of how everything is set up please? I’m great at advising about Smart Meters, but I’ll need to call in a few friends about the rest of it.