How to work my newly fitted smart meter on Economy 7?

Afternoon ​@kbultray ,

I can help you figure that out, but I need to know what you’ve got first. Please post photos of your meter in your next reply and I’ll take a look.

Thanks!

A smart meter will have separate registers ​@kbultray so you will be able to view peak and off peak usage once you get familiar with the menu. Depending on the model you have, they can also indicate which register is in current use

Thanks!

For that meter, ToU 1 is Night/Off-Peak while ToU 2 is Day/Peak if memory serves.

TOU Rate 1 ought to be the Day (peak) rate. There was some evidence that DCC doesn’t like data from systems where the lowest register isn’t peak/anytime. To check, sometime tomorrow note the TOU Rate 1 and 2 meter readings. Boil the kettle a couple of times, then check the readings again an hour later. Only one of them should have increased - that’s the Day register.

There may be a screen on the button B menu showing Active TOU Number, i.e. 1 or 2. Your button doesn’t appear to be sealed; just rotate it clockwise if it doesn’t respond to presses.

That said, it would be more normal for an Economy 7 system to be fitted with a five-wire meter (yours only has four connected to the bottom of it). One of the wires would then deliver power to storage and water heaters only during offpeak periods. That doesn’t matter if you have robust time switches elsewhere to control the heaters. Just beware that the offpeak tariff will change a few minutes (often around 10, but theoretically up to 30) after the nominal switching time. You may have to keep an eagle eye on that Active TOU Number screen from the start of the E7 offpeak period an make a note of when it changes from 1 to 2. Then adjust the time switches on your heating equipment to suit so they don’t start drawing power before the cheap rate starts.

If you told us where you live (the first part of the postcode is enough), we should be able to say what the nominal E7 offpeak hours are. 
 

[Last - next time someone asks for a picture of your meter, please touch button A first to light up the screen 🙂 ]

Thank you Firedog, I made a point of asking the technician re;  times. He assured me it is 00.30 - 07.30  for off-peak.

Cannot for the life of me understand why OvO should install such equipment without any guidance, Progress........Pah !

OK, thanks. That puts you, I think, in Kent or Sussex. It means you’ll have to squat in front of the meter from half-past midnight tonight until the Active TOU Number changes from 1 to 2, then write the exact time down somewhere. Suppliers used to put a helpful sticker on the meter itself giving the nominal timings. That’s not a bad idea, except you could post the actual timings, useful for you and whoever else moves in when you eventually move out.   
  

Firedog, I was given no instructions re;  Buttons to press or turn on the actual meter. 
As you can see there’s a blue A button. and an orange B button. Underneath there’s a cacophony of  letters and symbols which mean nothing to the customer.

Please can you enlighten me?

Oh by the way my postal code is LN6