Howdy @WB01 !

Sure thing, this may well be possible, but how easy it is will very much depend on what you’ve currently got. It could be a pretty simple one, or it could be a challenge.

Please could you show us some snaps of your electric meter, service fuse, consumer unit/fuse board, storage heaters and the controller/timer for the storage heaters. Having multiple photos of close-ups and wider shots are especially helpful, so feel free to post as many as you’d like - it definitely helps us a lot!

Once those are up, we’ll try and see if we can figure out some options. I personally think the best ones would be the easiest (especially if they don’t require rewiring loads of stuff), but we’ll see what we can figure out.

If you can get them to sync up though, it would definitely help with your energy bills, that’s for sure!

This is the meter it’s hard to see but there are 4 wires and it’s an e7 meter. The storage heaters just run to a fused spur in the wall. They have always being controlled by the meters as far as I know.

Thanks.

That’s an Aclara SGM1411-B which is a SMETS2 meter. It is capable of managing Economy 7 tariffs, but does not have built-in support for controlling storage heaters as it does not possess a fifth terminal that’s present in other models like the Aclara SGM1412-B or Aclara SGM1416-B. Here’s more details about the models Aclara offers.

Based on this, you’ll need to use an alternative timer to control the storage heaters with. Do you happen to know where the thermostat or some other timer mechanism is by any chance? There might be one on the heaters themselves which you can adjust.

While in theory upgrading to a five-terminal variant like the Aclara SGM1416-B could also work, that would require additional rewiring for which you’d need to get an electrician to help you out at your own expense, as OVO wouldn’t cover that. So if you’re able to find the timers for your existing heaters, that will definitely be a lot easier.

I’d like to give you something else that you may find useful though. Since you seem to be in a flat, you might be interested to know that you can set a Privacy PIN on your electric meter to help prevent random passers-by from fiddling with it. Here’s a guide to help with that.

Hope this helps!

Ok thanks for reply. There are no timers on the heaters and they run to the same fuse box as everything else which leaves me baffled. I will have to have another look in the meter cupboard. Maybe I’m missing something.

No worries.

If you get completely stumped, a local electrician might be able to help you out by attempting to trace the cables and possibly locate a timer switch. Could you show me some photos of your storage heaters too by any chance? The controls on the heaters themselves could provide some extra clues.

If needed, getting upgraded to a five-terminal meter might be an option if you’re willing to have some re-wiring done. But I’d rather figure out whether you can solve this puzzle without fiddling with anything first.

Our resident Smart meter enthusiast, @Blastoise186  is rarely wrong! 

Just checked this one with our Smart metering team and they’ve confirmed it looks like this one is a 4-port SMETS 2 meter, @WB01.

In which case the time-switch (which controls your storage heaters) would be separate to the meter - check out the photos in this similar thread for an idea of what you might be looking for. As currently the time-switch isn’t being controlled by your meter we wouldn’t be able to help adjust the storage heater schedule - so it would be worth checking the function of the time-switch with an electrician.

Do pop back and let us know how you get on - I’m hoping this info will help get things sorted! 

Hi. Just seen last 2 replies. The storage heaters only have 2 controls.

These don’t have anything to do with timing. Only temperature. However I have found this in my fuse box

Any thoughts?. I should point out that the storage heaters have separate switches further along.

Nope, that Merlin Gerin gadget is just a Miniature Circuit Breaker by the looks of things. Can you show us more clues?

Actually, time for another of my legendary Joker Cards.

Howdy @Lukepeniket_OVO ! Have you ever come across storage heaters with time switches buried in weird places?

Unfortunately I took those 2 last night and now I’m at work. I will take some photos of the meter cupboard when I’m next home but no idea when that will be.

Incidentally assuming there is some kind of control box somewhere who would be responsible for its timing?

It’s hard to say without knowing what box it is I’m afraid. But I do know this much:

• If the storage heaters are controlled by a Smart Meter, then it’s the supplier who’s responsible for setting the times correctly
• If there’s an RTS/DTS Meter (Radio Teleswitch Meter/Dynamic Timeswitch Meter) then it’s technically up to the RTS Service to be sending out the control signals at the right times. So for that, it’s a combination of Arqiva, BBC, energy supplier and probably some other party as well
• For a local time switch that’s attached to the meter, that’ll be the supplier
• For all other timers that I can think of, it’s the customer who’s responsible

Trump card indeed I can flex some smart knowledge and electrician knowledge! That Merlin Gerin device in your consumer unit is a contactor and is used to switch big loads I.e. your storage heaters, there's a nice little clunk when the contactor turns on!

Now I can ONLY see the 4 cables, LNNL, coming out of the bottom of the meter but are there two smaller cables going into the meter just in front of the 4 big ones?

If there is no other cables into the bottom of the meter there must be another timer somewhere. 

Can you take a photo from further back? Encompassing more please.

It's only a 25A contactor and it's not next to storage heater circuits which is unusual

Definitely more photos when you get the opportunity!

When I took the meter photo I did have a look and I could only see the 4 cables. No others appeared to be going in or coming out. Also here’s a photo of the other half of my fuse box.

Thanks Luke! I knew you’d have a few tricks up your sleeve! XD

I have heard of cases where an external contactor was fitted next to the Smart Meter to control Storage Heaters independently, but given the Serial Number for your meter clearly indicates it’s a 2021 manufacturing date (the M21 in the box also proves this), I doubt that’s the case. After all, why use an external contactor in 2021 when you could just fit an Aclara SGM1416-B with a built-in one? 

I’ll try to look some stuff up as well. Just in case...

Product identified successfully:

Dimplex XLSN Automatic Storage Heater.

• Product Page
• Installation manual
• User manual

There’s no built-in timer on this model.

OK, so we know our smart meter is currently only for 'Time of use' and not to control the heaters themselves.

Out of curiosity do you remember the metering arrangement that was taken out? 

The property was built in 1999. I bought in 2003. The original meter and replacement both just had the 4 wires coming out as far as I can remember.

Hi again. I’m off work for a couple of hours so thought I’d get a proper look in the meter cupboard. 

There are 6 meters in this cupboard and no lights so despite living here 18 years I’d never noticed the boxes underneath the cable trunk.

Could this be the timer?

That wylex switch is not a timer, more likely a fuse to protect the cable going up the your property.

I can see there's a couple of boards marked heating contactors to the right hand side, how many of them are there?

Not only that, but I’ve got to be honest here…

You’ve got what’s probably the worlds biggest meter backboard too! That thing is absolutely massive! XD

You’d definitely have no trouble fitting any Smart Meters on that monster regardless of how tall they are. Shame about the tight gaps between each one though. Mind you, those are some nice and classic looking traditional meters next to yours. :)

Always just assumed they were meters but now you mention it that would make for to many meters. Here’s a better photo

Thanks! That little grey plastic box just to the left of the landlord meter has caught my eye and seems like it could be of interest. Any chance of a close-up? It’s the one with the green CE Mark on it.

It also looks like there’s only two heating contactors, because I think I can spot one of the regular electric meters just in the corner of the photo.

I’ve attempted to enhance the existing wide images in GIMP to see if I could make the text on that mysterious grey box readable, but unfortunately the image quality isn’t quite good enough and as a JPEG, it’s a lossy format so it doesn’t retain the quality or sharpness very well when you zoom in really far.

However, I think I can just about make out what seems to read 2A and 230V, so this has definitely got me curious as I recall seeing external contactors bolted to Smart Meters before which controlled Storage Heaters using a 2A relay/contactor. Hmm...