Why do my Economy 7 tariff times (shown on my 5 port S2 smart meter) not match my meter switch times since switching to OVO?
I have recently switched to OVO Energy with an Economy 7 tariff.
Shortly before, I had a multi-rate smart meter installed by my previous supplier. The off-peak times were in two blocks: 22:30–00:30 and 02:30–07:30 (times GMT; and also ignore the random switching offset). For the period 00:30–02:30, the tariff returned to the day rate.
On transfer to OVO, it appears that the new tariff information sent to the meter has set the off-peak times to a single 7-hour block of 00:30–07:30 GMT (so currently an hour later due to BST).
However, while the tariff times have changed, the meter’s switching times have not. Thus at 22:30, the storage heater circuit is turned on, but the meter is still charging the more expensive rate. At 00:30, when the meter starts clocking the night rate, the storage heater is switched off. Then, finally, at 02:30, the storage heater circuit comes back on and the meter continues on the night rate until 07:30.
This is a problem for people with storage heaters because the intention is for these to use night rate electricity, as they use a large amount of energy cumulatively. However, with my scenario, they are being activated under the more expensive day rate. Over the course of a year, the additional cost racked up by this will be significant.
Is it possible for the smart meter to be sent updated tariff data to ensure that its off-peak times are aligned with the off-peak circuit activation times?
