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3-Phase smart meter finally going in


AliG

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I have been waiting forever to get a 3-phase SMETS2 smart meter which might allow me to take advantage of overnight rates for charging the car.

 

Got an email from Outfox The Market, my current supplier, offering an install by SMS.

 

Called SMS and they confirmed they can now do 3-phase.

 

I assume it will be an Aclara meter.

 

Gave them all the relevant info. One thing I am a bit concerned about is that the electricity meter is inside and the gas meter outside with lots of blockwork and PIR in between. I am not convinced that they will be able to get the required signal between the two meters.

 

As well as overnight charging I may also be able to get paid for small amounts of exported electricity. I am not on a FIT tariff so have not been paid for this so far.

 

UnfirtunatelyI have a cracking deal on gas and electricity at the moment and my price will rise massively when I renew.

 

Current price is 14.29p/kwh for electricity and only 2.14p/kwh for gas. Cheapest gas prices at the moment are over 3p/kwh so an almost 50% increase!

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It is a bit chicken and egg.

 

I can probably save around 20% off my electricity costs per year by having a smart meter and Octopus Go, so I am going to need to bite the bullet and get it done. That is going to be around £500 a year at current prices.

 

The export payment for unused PV will probably be a miserable £30 a year, TBH I think I use most of it, but again interesting to see.

 

It would also be helpful to see exactly how much electricity I use at different times of the day as to what the best tariff to be on would be. As well as charging the car we have MVHR and pool dehumidifier that runs 24/7 and lots of dusk to dawn lights. My guess is that around 40% of electricity usage is during the night, however, the offsetting PV production maybe brings this down to 30%.

 

I also would rather not have to bother reading the meters manually.

 

Hopefully the worst that happens is they come out and can't get it working so reinstate the old meter.

 

In my flat when I worked in London a guy came to put in a smart meter in the basement meter room. Despite there being many other smart meters there he said he couldn't get a signal and just put the original meter back.

 

Install is due on October 7th. We go on holiday on the 9th, so hopefully they don't mess up.

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2 hours ago, AliG said:

I have been waiting forever to get a 3-phase SMETS2 smart meter which might allow me to take advantage of overnight rates for charging the car.


But not as long as me ?. I’m still getting the ‘not available’ message from my current provider. 

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We have just had 3 phase installed to the 'large' external wall box. I now have an MPAN issued by Npower.

 

So do I now apply to any energy supplier and ask for 3 phase meter or are there only a limited number of suppliers who can offer this.

 

Will I have to pay more for the install or day rate for a 3 phase meter.

 

I only need a single phase feed at present, 3 phase was installed as future proof, can they just install a single phase meter.

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4 minutes ago, NewToAllOfThis said:

So do I now apply to any energy supplier and ask for 3 phase meter or are there only a limited number of suppliers who can offer this.

 

Do you want Smart meter? If so you need a supplier that has SMETS2 polyphase meter which are very hard to come by. I think some had success with Octopus recently? You'll need to call around and find out

Smart meter is useful if you will have solar PV with 3 phase inverter, or EV charger and ever want to use a dynamic tariff.

 

6 minutes ago, NewToAllOfThis said:

Will I have to pay more for the install or day rate for a 3 phase meter.

 

No you shouldn't. It will just take more time... (both calling around to get one, and likely for them to get around to installing it)

 

6 minutes ago, NewToAllOfThis said:

I only need a single phase feed at present, 3 phase was installed as future proof, can they just install a single phase meter.

Yes this should be possible. Happens all the time e.g. when large houses are split into flats. Caveat: not sure how this interplays with the MPAN (is that issued specifically for the 3 phases as a whole?)

 

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I think it depends on the area and the meter provider having availability, some places seem to have a big wait.

 

They might try and just install a non smart meter, call them up and see what they say.

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Biggest problem with calling round is that the people you speak to (sales / customer service) don’t really have a clue about 3-ph smart meter availability. Some will promise the earth but then months later still can’t deliver (as was our experience with Octopus).

 

I think it’s a bit of a gamble in reality. We ended up switchIng to SSE as they were able to quickly install a 3-ph meter albeit not a smart one. We needed this so the electrician could complete his testing and issue the documentation for sign-off.

 

When I feel up to it I’ll switch again to someone who can install a 3-ph smart meter.

 

4 hours ago, NewToAllOfThis said:

I only need a single phase feed at present, 3 phase was installed as future proof, can they just install a single phase meter.


Should be straightforward, just tell them you want a single phase meter installed on your 3-ph supply. I had a single phase smart meter installed initially on our 3-ph supply. However if you are planning to use the 3 phases later, I would start the process of getting a 3-phase meter now as you can always just use a single phase from the 3-phase meter.

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So I’m in the same position. Chasing Scottish Power who promised an appointment within a week and a callback to confirm but nothing and it’s 5 weeks later. How quickly did SSE install the 3 phase meter? I’m wondering whether I should just switch provider as SP now saying they are only dealing with emergencies and no appointments are available for the foreseeable future. 

 

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12 hours ago, LondonMum said:

How long did they take from initial request to installation and when was the meter installed? 

Hi, probably 2 months ish,  as the old cable was already there (no idea what my house was used for to have such a big supply cable) I asked Octopus how much to install the other two meters? Simple and sweet was … if you are happy to have a smart meter then we will do it for free.

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3 hours ago, markc said:

Hi, probably 2 months ish,  as the old cable was already there (no idea what my house was used for to have such a big supply cable) I asked Octopus how much to install the other two meters? Simple and sweet was … if you are happy to have a smart meter then we will do it for free.

That’s great. Scottish Power have now said they don’t have a date at all. I’ll give Octopus a call for lead times and switching. 

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My fear of moving to Octopus before a smart meter is installed is that I’ll be stuck on their standard tariff forever which is way more than my current provider. I’m going to try to get a smart meter installed before I switch as I’ve been on the Octopus list for a 3 phase smart meter for well over a year. 

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21 minutes ago, Dave Jones said:

id be interested to know, does the 3 phase meter and gubbins fit inside a standard mater box ?

Cutout and meter should, but other gubbins (i.e. distribution board) not so much. AIUI in a meter box it'd typically just have a 100A isolator and then connect out to DB and CUs elsewhere. 

 

Example:

https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/controlling-storage-heaters-on-domestic-3-phase-supply.360388/

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54 minutes ago, Dave Jones said:

id be interested to know, does the 3 phase meter and gubbins fit inside a standard mater box ?

3 phase smart meter is very compact. Small box does/will make tail termination a struggle 

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7 minutes ago, coconutsaregood said:

so 3 phase implies 3x standing charges usually, does it?

It's a standing charge per meter. So one 3 phase meter, one standing charge. Three x single phase meter, three charges. The latter would be useful e.g. splitting a large house into three flats

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