Economy 7 not working after smart meter install

Sadly, you’re not the first to end up in this situation. The solution shouldn’t be too difficult, but some suppliers seem to struggle with it. Who is yours? And, more importantly, where are you? The first part of the postcode is usually enough to identify your DNO.

Thank you for the pictures. We also need to see what’s underneath the meter, below the shelf it’s sitting on so we can see what cables are coming from it. We also need to see any other equipment connected to it; in particular, if there’s a contactor box somewhere at the end of a thinner cable coming out of the bottom of the meter. It would also be helpful to see the Consumer Unit(s) (CUs) in your flat, with the lids propped open and clear enough for us to see any labels on the breakers inside it. While you’re there, please make sure that none of the breakers for heating equipment have tripped; if they have, you have your answer!

You say you don’t have an In-House Display (IHD) because the meter’s too far from the flat. This shouldn’t be a problem, and there are ways of making an IHD work in this situation. One of them - AltHAN - is specifically intended for flats, but your supplier is required to provide a working IHD and has to work out how to do it. Tell them!

Here's some photos of below the meter and consumer unit, although I feel I may have answered my own question. Found a setting on the meter to test ALCS, upon doing this the heaters and water heater on the economy 7 system do indeed fire up. So hoping it's just a configuration issue with EDF!

Yes the red wires must go up to the flat, the consumer unit usually does make a clunk when the eco 7 is activated and deactivated. 

Managed to speak to the bloke that installed my meter this evening and he said rarely it can take 24 hours for the meter to get the settings so should work tonight, and if not contact EDF to sort it.

Many thanks for your reply 

OK, that’s fine. I’m not familiar with those old-style devices in your CU, so I guess the one labelled control economy is a switch for all the offpeak stuff. Contactors are otherwise often pretty bulky beasts.

You’re on the right track - I hope you soon get warm. Don’t forget the magic words ECAUL and ALCS. (ECAUL means Electricity Configure Auxiliary Load. You’ve probably worked out that ALCS is the Auxiliary Load Control Switch).

PS a few moments later: I just noticed that your old meter has the timings on it, so that’s also something to tell EDF Support - you’re supposed to be on SSC 0151 (offpeak 00:30 - 07:30 GMT), and that it’s vital that the peak register tier is the first on your new meter (Rate 01). Offpeak will probably then be Rate 02.

Thanks for all your great help here as always ​@Firedog!

​@Neizt I’m glad you’ve made progress on this. Let us know how you get on with EDF!

Thought I'd give a quick update now I've finally got the issue resolved…

Contacted EDF who basically fobbed me off for the best part of a week trying to fix the issue remotely. Eventually agreed to send out an engineer who said the wrong type of meter had been installed and swapped it out for a different model.

Been working fine ever since! Still not got the IHD but not overly bothered about that, can see usage on the app but only seems to update once a day

Thank you all for your help 👍

Brilliant news ​@Neizt and thanks for keeping us updated!

Hopefully EDF can get you an IHD sent out as well.