OVO Smart Meter fitted- Off-peak circuit always OFF?

Ok this picture I sent is not my meter I was using this as an example of what my neighbours meters looks like with the two symbols

These below are mine with the LC2 symbol these two pictures was taken at 10.37am like I said I have a feeling my meter is setup wrong from what I have been reading I also have no meter readings coming though or usage so something is clearly messed up I'm planning on giving them a call tomorrow but how I explain all this is the big question 😂

Ok a little update first picture was at 11pm second picture was at 12.05am the TOU changed but the LC2 and the other icon didn't could this be my issue? 

OK, thank you. Your picture of the neighbour’s meter really was a red herring - I should have noticed that it wasn’t your meter.

It looks as if your load control switch is always closed - the circuit it controls is always live. That’s not right. The switch should change at the same time as the TOU Rate. 

Did you discover where the cable labelled L5 goes to? Does it just disappear into the big white box above? 

Can you tell when your storage heaters are charging up? Some have a red indicator lamp on them or on the box on the wall where the charging power comes from. It’s often possible to hear when they’re charging - buzzed and clicks as the metal expands. I suspect that they’re always on charge, so it’s just they’re internal thermostats that are deciding when to switch them on and off. This isn’t how Economy 7 is supposed to work, and it would explain why your peak time usage is so high.

Since they’re charging when LC2 is closed, there is almost certainly an external contactor to switch the heaters on and off. Since LC2 is always closed, the contactor is never activated to turn them off. It should be possible for Support to get this changed; it would be best if they could get the smart team to update the ALCS to match the Economy 7 timings for your account. The smart people would have to be aware that your meter uses LC2 to activate the heating circuit. You may be able to persuade Support to connect you to the smart team if you use the webchat option. You would then be able to upload your last two photos, which illustrate the problem that needs fixing.

Please let us know how you get on.  

So update I spoke to the web chat they say it's going to take 14 days for the smart team to get back to me I was hoping to set the the ECAUL command to update the ALCS configuration sooner

Thanks for the update. It’s good that Smart have apparently got the message. It’s not so good, though, that a task that should only take a few minutes for a tech who knows what he’s doing should take so long. The trouble is that it’s probably at the bottom of a teetering pile of few-minute tasks, and all those minutes add up.

Meanwhile, you could start work on estimating what the error has cost you. You might refer to earlier bills to see just what proportion of your usage in kWh was offpeak last winter, say. Unless something else has changed, that proportion should still apply now.

Ok second update I rang them instead go put straight through to the smart team and the guy sent the new configuration so hopefully it should all be up and running I'll double check tonight to see if the symbols change on the meter but thanks for all the help I really appreciate it 

Amazing news please keep us updated ​@Stuartbiggs 

Hiya looks like nothing has changed with my meter it's still showing this symbol this was taken at 17.56pm today about 4 hours after the call and the guy said he would update my configuration so I'm at a complete loss right now any help would be really appreciated 🙏  as my bill is jumping up like crazy I think the way it's setup at the moment the storage heaters are kicking in on peak time instead of off peak maybe same with my water I was with OVO for 12 months with no issues I only switched to British gas for 6 days before I got an even better tariff from OVO hence why I switch back but that's when all this started I have a feeling British gas messed it up I have 12 months of usage from before so I know for a fact I don't use this much peak plus I'm on a better tariff now so should be less something is seriously wrong 

I’m sorry to say this, but you’re probably being a bit impatient.

• If the change has been made, it’s not certain it will work first time. We’ve seen cases when the command has to be sent again when it didn’t stick the first time.
• There’s a possibility that, since the switch is ‘ON’ at the moment, the change  won’t have any noticeable effect until the next ‘OFF’ command is due, at 07:00 tomorrow.

I know this has been frustrating, but a few more hours won’t make that much difference. If it’s still showing LC2 tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, try and get back to whoever you were chatting with today to say so. 

Thanks and yh sorry  it's just frustrating that's all guess  I'll check tomorrow see if anything is different if not I'll call again or maybe the OVO team on here can help I have turned the storage heaters off for now try and save on the money and keep the bill down till it's fixed  I'll update tomorrow 👍

That’s a bit drastic. I don’t know your daily routine, of course, but you could get the best of both worlds (warm house and lower bills) if you were able to switch the storage heaters on at midnight and off again after 07:00. They would then only charge up at the offpeak rate. They’re not likely to be taking any charge around 07:00, so that’s not as important as waiting until just after midnight to turn them on. 

Don’t forget the immersion heater for hot water, if that’s on the same circuit as it usually would be. Keeping that on all day is guaranteed to keep the starlings in the attic warm and the bills high.

Hey ​@Stuartbiggs 

If you think your registers are clocking at the wrong times please complete a load test:
 

How to do a load test?
 

Just read both readings on your electricity meter twice on the same day – one in the morning (after 9am) and then in the afternoon or evening (before 9pm). Then email us at hello@ovoenergy.com with the following info:

• Meter Serial Number: ***********

• Date you took the meter readings: **/**/**

• Morning meter readings: 

• The time you took them: **am

• The day register ID and reading: R* - *****

• The night register ID and reading: R* - *****

• Afternoon or evening meter readings: 

• The time you took them: **pm.

• The day register ID and reading: R* - *****

• The night register ID and reading: R* - *****

• Do you have an electric heating system (e.g. storage heaters)? Yes/No

Register IDs are the little numbers or letters on the left-hand side of the reading (e.g. R1/R2/L/N etc).

We’ll then get back in touch with you to sort it out. 

If you have a smart meter, use the advice here for help taking your readings. And follow the same instructions above to send us the details. 

Please check tomorrow as advised by Firedog & let us know.

• Everything you need to know about an Economy 7 (Eco 7) energy plan F.A.Q.

Emmanuelle_OVO wrote:

Hey ​@Stuartbiggs 

If you think your registers are clocking at the wrong times please complete a load test:
 

How to do a load test?
 

Just read both readings on your electricity meter twice on the same day – one in the morning (after 9am) and then in the afternoon or evening (before 9pm). Then email us at hello@ovoenergy.com with the following info:

• Meter Serial Number: ***********

• Date you took the meter readings: **/**/**

• Morning meter readings: 

• The time you took them: **am

• The day register ID and reading: R* - *****

• The night register ID and reading: R* - *****

• Afternoon or evening meter readings: 

• The time you took them: **pm.

• The day register ID and reading: R* - *****

• The night register ID and reading: R* - *****

• Do you have an electric heating system (e.g. storage heaters)? Yes/No

Register IDs are the little numbers or letters on the left-hand side of the reading (e.g. R1/R2/L/N etc).

We’ll then get back in touch with you to sort it out. 

If you have a smart meter, use the advice here for help taking your readings. And follow the same instructions above to send us the details. 

Please check tomorrow as advised by Firedog & let us know.

Firedog wrote:

I’m sorry to say this, but you’re probably being a bit impatient.

• If the change has been made, it’s not certain it will work first time. We’ve seen cases when the command has to be sent again when it didn’t stick the first time.
• There’s a possibility that, since the switch is ‘ON’ at the moment, the change  won’t have any noticeable effect until the next ‘OFF’ command is due, at 07:00 tomorrow.

I know this has been frustrating, but a few more hours won’t make that much difference. If it’s still showing LC2 tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, try and get back to whoever you were chatting with today to say so. 

 

O

• Are my peak/off peak registers the wrong way round?

• Everything you need to know about an Economy 7 (Eco 7) energy plan F.A.Q.

 

Thanks I'll collect all this and email once I have it all 

​@Emmanuelle_OVO Ok another update so I had the ECAUL command sent again today and still nothing has changed now I have spoken to my neighbours and they are also with OVO and on the same fixed economy 7 tariff as me here are some pictures of both our meters notice of the symbols circled in red how there's are different to mine and how they also change when the off peak kicks in but mine are still the same 

Again I'll check at 7am just in case it needs to kick in the new settings then but if not I'm at a loss trying to be put though to the smart support team is near impossible today I was passed from customer service advisor to customer service advisor over and over about 5 times before I got to where I needed to and it was a battle with the support guy to get the ECAUL command sent again as apparently it was already done 

Just to add me and my neighbour are in the same building 3 flats my meter was exactly the same as there photos when I was with OVO for the last 12 months it only changed and broke when I switched to British gas I was only with them 6 days before I switched back on the 6th of February (got a better deal) since then my meter has had this issue 

This is really sad. Your neighbour’s meter is working just as I’d expect it to, and as I’d hope yours would too if the smart team had sent the appropriate command. 

Your ALCS is only energizing the little 2A LC2 switch, which will only turn your heaters on if there’s an external contactor somewhere to do the heavy lifting, although I don’t think you’ve found anything of the sort - they’re often pretty bulky affairs.  I would expect the ALCS to energize both load control switches, just like your neighbour’s (and mine, for that matter). This seems to be the standard procedure for OVO installations.

It may be that they’ll have to send an engineer to check that the first load control switch (LC1) is in fact connected. This is sounding more likely if the normal ECAUL isn’t having any effect - the meter could be trying to energize a switch that isn’t connected to anything. I assume you told the smart person that there’s no sign of LC1 on your display, and that LC2 is permanently closed.

I’m afraid I’m out of suggestions, so perhaps one of the moderators - e.g.@Emmanuelle_OVO -  could get someone to look into this for you. Someone who knows what he’s talking about will know whether this can be fixed remotely or not. Your latest pictures are pretty incontrovertible evidence of what’s wrong even after repeated ECAUL requests. 

Is I checked again at 7am still no change so clearly the ECAUL has not worked at all again I'm starting to wonder if maybe something is blocking it coming though of if there is an issue with the actual meter strange tho as like I said was all working fine with OVO before British gas messed with it I'm hoping ​@Emmanuelle_OVO  can take a look at the photos above and maybe have an idea or help me as like I said getting through so support on the phone has been a chore 

How frustrating I’m sorry to hear ​@Stuartbiggs. I wonder if it’s not ECAUL that’s the issue in that case. Please re-raise this with the support team. 
 

Our Support team’s web messaging and WhatsApp opening hours are:

• 8am - 6pm Monday to Friday 

• 9am - 2pm on Saturdays
   

You can see all open contact channels via our Help Centre. There is also the option to raise a complaint if you aren’t able to get anywhere with support. 

So an update I now finally have an engineer coming out on the 24th to look at the meter I'll explain everything to him and show him my photos and see what he thinks is the issue I'll update when I know more 

Thanks for the ​@Stuartbiggs. I’m sorry this has been such a long frustrating experience.

So I thought I would update had the engineer out to day he was back and forth with the tech people and they came to the conclusion that the reason the ECAUL never worked and it wasn't clicking over to the economy 7 was basically British gas had completely messed up the smart meters software and it was bricked  so he got the all clear to install a new meter and just like that I'm finally all fixed thanks for everyone's help especially ​@Firedog and ​@Emmanuelle_OVO  

That’s really good news - thanks for telling us. Now you’ll have to watch the installation like a hawk for a few days to make sure (a) the tariffs are changing at the right times both on the meter and the IHD, and (b) the heating equipment is switching on and off at the same times as the tariff changes. You’ll make a lot of people happy if you’re able to come back and tell us everything is working as intended.

Hey ​@Stuartbiggs 

Thanks for popping back with that update, and we’re glad to hear it’s a positive one in the end!

Glad to hear they were able to get to the bottom of things and replace the meter.

Feel free to pop back any time if you’ve ever got any other questions.😊

So just a quick update new meter has been running without issues switching over at the right times usage all looks good so I'm finally back to normal 

​@Firedog ​@Emmanuelle_OVO 

Just to let you know that the long awaited smart meter installation is booked for tomorrow 17th March!
 

OVO has promised a pre-configured E7 meter such that we get the off-peak power on just around midnight and off just around 7am even though we expect the meter to work in “dumb” mode as there is no cellular signal in the utility room.  
 

Fingers crossed, I hope this works, otherwise, it will be a long struggle to get it sorted out! 
 

Will provide an update on Tuesday!