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How can I work out my peak/off-peak times for my OVO SMETS2 Aclara smart meter?

  • 28 March 2022
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Dear Forum,

Please does anyone know how to tell which rate is being used - so that I can see what times the Economy 7 changes to Day rate after the clock changeĀ  to BST please?

Thank you

Sharon

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Best answer by Blastoise186 28 March 2022, 16:39

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Blastoise186
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Welcome @SDHĀ ,

Sure thing. I can help you with all of those questions. :)

The easy one is first. You can check the display on the meter to see which rate is active at any given time. Thereā€™ll be two circuit icons on the display and one of them will be closed while the other will be open. If you show me a photo of your electric meter, Iā€™ll be happy to annotate it for you in GIMP - please make sure the display is clearly visible.

Aclara meters also donā€™t adjust for BST, so during the summer your Off-Peak hours will be one hour later than in the winter. If you can tell me what region youā€™re in, I can look these up for you.

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Thank you for your quick reply -

I donā€™t know if this will be clear enough - it was quite hard to get a clear picture of the display I had to shine a torch at it and take a photo at the same time šŸ˜… šŸ– šŸ– šŸ–

We are in Cumbria, North West England - we knew the meter didnā€™t adjust but it is good to know when to use appliances at the lower rate.

Ā 

Ā 

Blastoise186
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Updated on 04/07/23 by Emmanuelle_OVO

Ok, Plan B is probably best here. By the way, if you press either button on the meter, the display will light up. :)

Iā€™ve double checked the full 108 page long user manual for this meter -Ā feel free to grab a copy by the way - and I think I know the best way forward for this.

You should notice that both ToU Rate 1 and ToU Rate 2 have readings on them which arenā€™t zero. The easiest way to know which one is the day rate is to take a reading from both of them at say, 10am and then come back an hour later and take another reading. Whichever one has increased is the day rate and the other is the night rate.

As for your site, I believe your DNO is Electricity North West with an MPAN Area ID of 16. From that, using the handy lookup table on another threadā€¦

I deduce that your Economy 7 hours are as follows:

Winter

  • Peak: 7am - midnight
  • Off-Peak: midnight to 7am

Summer (because of your Aclara smart meter)

  • Peak 8am - 1am
  • Off-Peak: 1am - 8am

Iā€™ll askĀ @Jess_OVOĀ to double check my numbers are accurate too. I think Iā€™ve got them right but never hurts to be safe!

Ā 

Ā 

Sounds right to me,Ā @Blastoise186.

Ā 

Hope this helps you manage your peak/off peak usage patterns,Ā @SDHĀ - Have you managed to submit both readings via your online account or OVO app yet? This will really help make sure your energy charges are accurate and up-to date if weā€™re not yet able to communicate with the meter remotely. Thereā€™s more advice on how to go about this over here:
Ā 

Ā 

Hope this helps.Ā šŸ˜Š

Ā 

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Thank you very much ā˜ŗļø that is so kind to direct me to so much useful information. I have put a post-it on the meter now with the timings.Ā  The meter is outside and although the screen does light up as you explain, it looks dark in photos.

We are waiting for Ovos meter contractors to come back next month to fully commission this meter as it has never sent readings or linked with the indoor monitor since installation two years ago.Ā  Difficult for them during the pandemicĀ  šŸ˜•

Thank you again,

Sharon

Jess_OVO
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Userlevel 7

Ā 

I deduce that your Economy 7 hours are as follows:

Winter

  • Peak: 7am - midnight
  • Off-Peak: midnight to 7am

Summer (because of your Aclara smart meter)

  • Peak 8am - 1am
  • Off-Peak: 1am - 8am

Iā€™ll askĀ @Jess_OVOĀ to double check my numbers are accurate too. I think Iā€™ve got them right but never hurts to be safe!

Ā 

Sounds right to me, @Blastoise186.

Ā 

Hope this helps you manage your peak/off peak usage patterns, @SDHĀ - Have you managed to submit both readings via your online account or OVO app yet? This will really help make sure your energy charges are accurate and up-to date if weā€™re not yet able to communicate with the meter remotely. Thereā€™s more advice on how to go about this over here:
Ā 

Ā 

Hope this helps.Ā šŸ˜Š

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Thank you @Jess_OVOĀ Ā for clarifying the times.Ā  It takes a surprisingly long time for the meter to change numbers when checking to see which rate is going.Ā  This morning I looked at about 7.40 am and again at 8.10 am and neither had movedā€¦ā€¦.

Yes, thank you,Ā Ā I have been sending fairly regular readings throughout this period of no connectivity and I did a meter health check when requested by the Customer Service team last year.Ā  Ā 

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