Smart meter not communicating with storage heater & immersion heater circuit

Sigh… Why are OVO Support not trying the obvious fixes first… Reconfiguring ECAUL/ALCS is the first thing I’d try if I had the ability to do it…

I’ll try to show you the power of ​@Lukepeniket_OVO . If he gets a chance to swing by, he can probably fix this in a heartbeat. Please bear with us for a bit.

This sounds frustrating, but it’s not unusual to discover after the installation engineer has left that a circuit that’s supposed to go live at, say, midnight doesn’t actually do so. The engineer can’t tell whether it will or not …

What plan are you signed up for - Economy 7 or 9 or 10, or perhaps Domestic Economy? They all have different offpeak hours, so we can’t tell you what to watch for without knowing the plan. The LED on the contactor box on the right-hand side of the meter is supposed to turn green during offpeak hours.

Did you get an In-Home Display from the engineer, and is it set up and working? 

It does rather sound as if the ALCS that controls the contactor was either configured wrongly or not configured at all, in which case the remote ECAUL request should sort it out as Blastoise suggested. It would of course make sense to try this first before arranging a site visit.

Thank you both for replying,

Frustrated does not cover it, I am thoroughly FED UP with being told different things depending on who you speak to...

​@Blastoise186 It is definitely the ECAUL/ALCS function that needs to be reset. I found a test button on the meter and when pressed - lo and behold my hot water and heater came on (well, for a few ‘test’ minutes)

​@Firedog With regard to the tariff, I have been given is - Simpler Energy - Region Specific (variable). This is supposed to activate the heating/hot water at the following times: 1.30am - 3.30am, 8.00am - 11.00am, 4.30pm - 5.30pm & 10.00pm - midnight; so a total of 8 hrs of off-peak over the day.  Seemingly I am still in a load managed area (LMA) set by the DNO, so I can’t get E10. Although the installation engineer said I was NOT in a LMA and the electrician also said I should have E10, to get the best our of my heating. I imagine the meter is pre-programmed with these times now though, so I guess I am stuck with it.

I had previously officially complained about not being offered a choice of tariffs, when the first meter install was booked (March 2025 - this failed). Back then I was told by a ‘customer resolution specialist’ that ALL tariffs should be open to me; see below message screen grab >

However, it seems sine then I have been locked into a LMA region again.

As for my my IHD, this is not showing the correct rates for my plan (those that show are higher) and until I hit the ALCS reset button, I couldn't even see an off-peak rate. I’m being told it can take weeks for the IHD configuration to ‘catch up’?! Having looked in my online account, the correct rates are on there, though.

You have a Smart Meter. Even if the times and/or rates were pre-programmed, updating them is a simple task of pushing down new configs to it - the IHD would immediately pick those up right after the meter does.

However, ECAUL/ALCS cannot be updated locally - the best an engineer can do is make a phone call or press a few buttons within an app while stood in front of the thing which triggers the commands to be sent down via the WAN… All of which can be done remotely back at the office.

Thank you.
  

That’s one good sign, then - the ALCS works and flips the contactor to get power to your heating equipment. All you need now is to get it working when it’s supposed to. Have you been able to spot what times the tariff is changing at? That is a separate schedule from the one governing the ALCS, but ideally they should coincide. 
  

Right. Because there’s no longer an RTS to enable Shetland Energy to apportion power to users so as to avoid overloading the network, it’s probable that you and your neighbours have been allocated slightly different time slots. Are the eight hours of offpeak electricity not enough to charge up your heater? It wouldn’t normally take more than three or four hours to heat up a water tank from cold unless it’s a really big one or really poorly insulated.
     

That’s another remote job for Support in due course, Update tariff configuration. It’s not vital for the rates shown by the IHD to be perfectly accurate, because they only provide a guide to your costs. Your online account will give you the accurate billing figures.

As far as I can tell, the VAT-inclusive rates for your tariff are  29.76 p/kWh peak, 20.63 p/kWh offpeak and 61.67 p/day standing charge for payment by Direct Debit. These are the numbers I’d expect to be seeing on your meter and IHD; they will be falling by 3-4% from 1 July. You can see all the (85!) tariffs currently available on the Plans page. You may be able to see suggestions with next quarter’s prices by visiting the Home page to Get a quote.

Hey ​@Anja Richardson 

Sorry to hear about this but I’m glad you were able to get some help from our community members.

If you’ve not done so already, please do get in touch with the Support Team so they can run the remote commands to resolve this issue. I’ve linked below to a couple of similar topics too which may be helpful:

Do keep us updated with how you get on.

Current status, meter now finally communicating with heating/hot water circuit (as of 16/06/25).

HOWEVER!!!!

Due to the technology not being able to cope with with my Region Specific timings (LMA - 8 hours). So I have been switched to E10 until such time they have a solution (not imminent) and then I'd go back to the LMA times. 

But my off peak rate (02) comes on at the times advised as per my Region Specific tariff, which do not align with the E10, except for a two hour overlap. This means for 8 hours my heating & hot water is charged at peak rate, as far as I'm aware. And even if they sort this I potentially have 2 hours adrift, which would not tie in with my given (LMA) hours.

I’m beginning to sound a bit like a broken record. ‘… offpeak rate comes on at the times advised ...’. There are three schedules that should match up in a complex metering arrangement like this:

1. The tariff as given on your Plan page or as laid out in an offer or confirmation email or letter should specify the times at which the rate changes from peak to offpeak and vice versa;
2. The ‘Tariff Switching Table’ in the meter should mimic the timings at (1) to govern when the peak and offpeak registers are active;
3. The meter’s ‘ALCS Calendar’ should also mimic the same timings to turn power on and off to the switched circuit for heating equipment..

 So which of these three are you referring to when you write ‘I have been switched to E10’? Similarly, which of the three does ‘my off peak rate (02) comes on’ refer to? 

You can clearly see when the ALCS energizes the switched circuit when the LED on the contactor enclosure (the L470 type 5451 box on the RHS of the meter) turns from blue to green. There may also be signs within the house - the IHD will show signs of high power draw (>1 kW) and perhaps an orange or red traffic light, and indicators may light up on near heating equipment. It’s not so easy to see which meter register - peak or offpeak - is active. Repeated presses of button ‘A’ may eventually reveal the Actv [=Active] Tariff Price, which should indicate whether the current rate is peak or offpeak. If the heating equipment is charging up, checking which TOU register 01 or 02 is increasing. We can never be certain that this is how the meter has been configured, but 01 ought to be peak and 02 offpeak to avoid DCC’s displeasure. I can’t work out which button sequence to press to get to the different register readings, but a bit of trial and error should sort it out.

Once it’s clear which timetable is right - matching the E10 timings* - and which not, you know which adjustments Support have to ask to be made, either to the Tariff Switching Table or the ALCS calendar - or possibly both.
  

*  Current offpeak times (during BST): 05:30 - 08:30, 14:30 - 17:30, 21:30 - 01:30

Thanks for the update - your experience documented here may be helpful for other islanders going through this wretched process. It’s discouraging that it should take three weeks to get 2/3 of the way there, but I don’t know of any way past the hindrances that the support system raises against customers like you. At least you know what’s needed and with any luck someone at OVO’s end in a position to do the necessary also knows, so let’s hope your case soon floats to the top of the right inbox. Please keep us posted!