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MarLab
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May 29, 2025
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Smart meter on for 30 min during off peak?

  • May 29, 2025
  • 5 replies
  • 156 views

So I had the Kaifa smart meter with domestic economy tariff installed 3 weeks ago. Now my water immersiand storage heaters only switch on between 12:30 and 1:30 am resulting in no hot water or heating. Engineer requested Ecaul and Alcs configuration from the remote team but there has been no change. Why does my meter ping off at 1am and overnight heating appliances stop working? 

Best answer by Blastoise186

Updated on 12/06/25 by Emmanuelle_OVO:

ECAUL stands for "Control Auxiliary Load" and is a process used to configure the fifth terminal (also known as the auxiliary or control terminal) on a smart meter. This process allows you to set up an on/off schedule for this terminal, which can be used to control devices like electric heating. 
 

 

Troubleshooting issues with a five port S2 meter

 

If your heating isn’t switching on as expected (or at the times expected) following a SMETS2 meter install, it might be due to an issue with this ECAUL configuration process, in which case we may be able to fix things remotely. Reach out to our Support Team to report these issues.

 


Hi ​@MarLab ,

Sounds like you may want to request the ECAUL/ALCS be reconfigured again - the settings may not have pulled down properly.

Other than that, did you have any other timers that might be interfering by any chance?

5 replies

Blastoise186
Super User
Blastoise186Super UserSolved
Super User
May 29, 2025

Updated on 12/06/25 by Emmanuelle_OVO:

ECAUL stands for "Control Auxiliary Load" and is a process used to configure the fifth terminal (also known as the auxiliary or control terminal) on a smart meter. This process allows you to set up an on/off schedule for this terminal, which can be used to control devices like electric heating. 
 

 

Troubleshooting issues with a five port S2 meter

 

If your heating isn’t switching on as expected (or at the times expected) following a SMETS2 meter install, it might be due to an issue with this ECAUL configuration process, in which case we may be able to fix things remotely. Reach out to our Support Team to report these issues.

 


Hi ​@MarLab ,

Sounds like you may want to request the ECAUL/ALCS be reconfigured again - the settings may not have pulled down properly.

Other than that, did you have any other timers that might be interfering by any chance?

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M
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MarLabAuthor
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May 29, 2025

Thanks for a quick response - we had three engineers request that on each occasion, but the problem persists. Today another engineer is coming out and I am not sure what he will do differently. We never had any timers installed as far as I know. 

Chris_OVO
Community Manager
Chris_OVO
Community Manager
May 29, 2025

Hey ​@MarLab,

 

When engineers contact support, they should also verify that the tariff is correctly configured. I remember a previous Forum case highlighted an instance where the ECAUL/ALCS was completed, but an incorrect tariff setting conflicted with it.

 

Also, if you could send any photos of your setup, that would be really helpful for us to understand what we're working with.

 

Please keep us updated.

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MarLabAuthor
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June 12, 2025

Hi all,

 

Thanks for all the information.

The 4th engineer replaced the whole smart meter (a different model was installed) and since then Everything is working as it should. 

Beforehand, every attempt at reconfiguration failed.

The frustrating thing is I don’t understand why the previous engineers kept on applying the same solution and expected different results.

Either way it is all good now.

 

 

 

 

Ben_OVO
Community Manager
Ben_OVO
Community Manager
June 13, 2025

Morning ​@MarLab,

 

Thanks so much for letting us know! I’m happy to hear it’s all working as it should do - shame that it was a frustrating journey to get there though 😑. 

 

If you’ve got any further questions don’t hesitate to ask!

 

 

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