electric meter/time (clock) wrong.

[jace1969]

Just would like to know is the clock on a 2 rate electric meter always 1 hour out being on the summer and winter times like it dont change auto.

Its says 1 hour earlier,say its  16.00 now (4) the meter will say 15.00 (3) but when the clocks go back it will be the same time for winter,is this how they work.

 cheap rate it 11.30 to 8.00  so i have to make note its 10.30 till 7 in summer time.

[jmurray01]

Meter clocks don't change, so you have to account for an hour either way depending on the time of the year.

[Turvey]

Mmm :-/ pretty sure they should change.  Ours is currently showing the correct time. 

 

[jace1969]

See i don't know if any one on here knows about them but i will add the number of it ( Landis+Gyr 5246c single phase) it has Rate 1 and Rate 4 (day and night.

it has 2 red lights on it,i know the one will pulse on/off on the electric you use but the other one comes on around the cheap rate and the meter will click. (100A)

by the side of it,is this to tell you its gone onto chap rate as i asked this and they aint that sure,any help is great,i know the red light was on at 12.45 but not on at 12.

Any help would be great so i know when the cheap rate is 100% and the clock never auto changes.

Looking into it what i can find it says when the red light is on (not the pulse one,another light by the side)there is very low power going through meter.

[Joss max]

Hi Jason

I would be asking your supplier about this. They are the ones that could answer your question. 

[jace1969]

I have aint they are a waste of time,2 live online chats and 2 calls and they aint got a clue as they say there is so many meters.

On my own looking i can see the light comes on when on off peak which is the night which was 12.30 till 8.30 this morning (rate 4 night rate) does pop up and 4 flashes.

Light goes off then (Rate 1 pops up and flashes) normal day rate so its just making note that the clock on the meter don't change in the summer,1 hour behind.

Meaning when its 7.30 that the meter thinks it is in the morning to swop back to normal its 8.30 in true time.

[jmurray01]

17 hours ago, Turvey said:

Mmm :-/ pretty sure they should change.  Ours is currently showing the correct time. 

 

Yours will just have been set at a different time of the year.  They have no facility to change and are permanently set.  If they get too far out of time or start changing randomly then a new meter clock will be required.

[jmurray01]

10 hours ago, jace1969 said:

See i don't know if any one on here knows about them but i will add the number of it ( Landis+Gyr 5246c single phase) it has Rate 1 and Rate 4 (day and night.

it has 2 red lights on it,i know the one will pulse on/off on the electric you use but the other one comes on around the cheap rate and the meter will click. (100A)

by the side of it,is this to tell you its gone onto chap rate as i asked this and they aint that sure,any help is great,i know the red light was on at 12.45 but not on at 12.

Any help would be great so i know when the cheap rate is 100% and the clock never auto changes.

Looking into it what i can find it says when the red light is on (not the pulse one,another light by the side)there is very low power going through meter.

If the red light comes on and stays on throughout the off-peak times, then that'll be what it is.  I work for an energy supplier so know what I'm talking about...

[jace1969]

6 minutes ago, jmurray01 said:

If the red light comes on and stays on throughout the off-peak times, then that'll be what it is.  I work for an energy supplier so know what I'm talking about...

Cheers,im glad someone does as some are just a waste of time,i checked it out on the time it came on then went off and also the number 4 flashes on the display meaning

on cheap rate (night) when the light pops on,the clock is still 1 hour behind which don't bother me as i know when the times are now,they are not auto change from winter times.

[jace1969]

If i look at the meter the time says 00.30 and it switches to cheap rate with red light on and Rate 4 read out on and the 4 flashes.

That would be 1.30 (13.30) on my and yours watch/clock, a quick reminder to all people out there on cheap rate.

          DON'T go on what they tell you 11.30 till 8 they told me so i would pay normal until 1.30 (2 hours) check your meter/clock) Read a bit about this being conned.

Ringing them Monday for a right roasting,there out to con us all,cheap rate is 11.30 till 8 but what they don't tell you its around them times not them times.

  

[TomsFocus]

They used to change for summer...when I had the new one put in it appears they don't now, seems daft!

As for the night rate switch, it should be fairly close to their times, mine is 8 minutes out which is 'acceptable' apparently.  Though tbh, the only thing I specifically put on cheap rate is the washing machine...which doesn't use anywhere near as much as the water immersion heater & storage heaters which can only come on when it switches anyway.

[jmurray01]

5 hours ago, jace1969 said:

If i look at the meter the time says 00.30 and it switches to cheap rate with red light on and Rate 4 read out on and the 4 flashes.

That would be 1.30 (13.30) on my and yours watch/clock, a quick reminder to all people out there on cheap rate.

          DON'T go on what they tell you 11.30 till 8 they told me so i would pay normal until 1.30 (2 hours) check your meter/clock) Read a bit about this being conned.

Ringing them Monday for a right roasting,there out to con us all,cheap rate is 11.30 till 8 but what they don't tell you its around them times not them times.

  

Good luck!  I know how you feel, but you'll get nowhere.  I'll bet you're on "Economy 7", which means that you get 7 hours of low-rate between the hours of 11:30 and 08:00, not necessarily from 11:30 to 08:00.  That allows for the clock being a bit out, and gives it some leeway.

[jace1969]

4 hours ago, jmurray01 said:

Good luck!  I know how you feel, but you'll get nowhere.  I'll bet you're on "Economy 7", which means that you get 7 hours of low-rate between the hours of 11:30 and 08:00, not necessarily from 11:30 to 08:00.  That allows for the clock being a bit out, and gives it some leeway.

I save loads as i do a nice bit on the night,they told me i use 45% of electric on the night so i do benefit a lot from it.

If it runs from 1.30 until 8.30 (on my watch) which i will check its fine as im still getting the 7 hours cheap rate as its just the clock on the meter 1 hour out.

If it still stops on Rate 4 and red light on i know its counting on the Rate 4 cheap rate after 8.

 

[TomsFocus]

Is your hot water just on a timer then?  Mine only switches on when the cheap rate switches over so it doesn't matter that the clocks out a bit.

Washing machine barely uses any electricity so not much of a saving there but the dryer does so I just make sure that's only on with the cheap rate.

I'm on economy 10 though, so the cheap rate is split up through the day into 3 sections - meaning it's not long enough to get the whole wash & dry cycle into one section annoyingly. 

[jace1969]

11 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Is your hot water just on a timer then?  Mine only switches on when the cheap rate switches over so it doesn't matter that the clocks out a bit.

Washing machine barely uses any electricity so not much of a saving there but the dryer does so I just make sure that's only on with the cheap rate.

I'm on economy 10 though, so the cheap rate is split up through the day into 3 sections - meaning it's not long enough to get the whole wash & dry cycle into one section annoyingly. 

Yes m8 on a timer by the water tank upstairs,i set the time when i want it on and off so it heats the hot water up like ours is set for 3 hours from 3 till 6 in the morning so tank full of hot water all day and do washing and drying on the timer on the washer,4 different delay times so they come on say at 2 in the morning,being i care for my dad i tend to use a nice bit on washing/cloths and the hot water side so it saves a lot,no need for the central heating to heat the hot water as the massive tank last all day,it might be an old style system but all as good as new,water tank and immersion heater etc is like 3 years old.

[Turvey]

We're on E10(for now, might go to single tariff, but that's a whole new topic) and I have a leaflet from the supply company informing us of the times of the different trariffs.. So from that I assume that even if the time on the meter doesn't change the supply company send the signal to change the tariff will still be at the correct time for the time of year ie our next 'cheap rate' starts at 8.30pm, and it 'should' be 8.30pm summer or winter. 

[jace1969]

The econamy 7 timer we have is just for the hot water and i can set it,its by the hot water tank,all it does it switch the immersion heater on automatic and off and a 

boost if needed but never use it,i worked it out that i can get a tank of hot water for around 30p and washer and the dryer works off the electric meter hours off peak

so this is why i wanted the time of the cheap rate on our meter,we also have a fix tariff until 2018  which works out cheaper for us,i look deeper into this as its one of the big things we use a lot off.

I wanted to ask the same thing.........Does the off peak/cheap rate work just off the electric meter clock for on and off time and can they set it remote or have to come out.

 

[Joss max]

Ee by gum, Thank goodness for smart meters.

[TomsFocus]

13 hours ago, Turvey said:

We're on E10(for now, might go to single tariff, but that's a whole new topic) and I have a leaflet from the supply company informing us of the times of the different trariffs.. So from that I assume that even if the time on the meter doesn't change the supply company send the signal to change the tariff will still be at the correct time for the time of year ie our next 'cheap rate' starts at 8.30pm, and it 'should' be 8.30pm summer or winter. 

I bet it says GMT on that tariff list?  There's probably also a sticker on your meter with the times on which says GMT as well.  The switching on E10 is still done by the meter rather than the company.

 

[jace1969]

So does economy 7   (off peak time ) done by the meter itself the clock,what the time is set at that's when it comes on and off.

 

[Turvey]

Looks like we're all right! 

 

https://www.scottishpower.co.uk/customer-services/meters/faqs#twentysevenfaq

" With an Economy 7 meter you get cheaper electricity during the night and the early hours of the morning. This may be controlled by a timer in the meter itself, a separate timer or a radio signal "

I'll need to double-check when the clocks change but I'm pretty sure our clock must change itself.