Faulty Electricity Meter?

As usual you are talking completely irrelevant nonsense. This has no significance in the context of this thread.

It is not irrelevant at all. The OP has bought an instrument that does not do what it says on the can. It is not fit for purpose and should not be sold.

He has stated that his meter dial is not rotating as it should. That is all he needs to know.
 
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Owls are not accurate. They tend to read high as they don't take account of voltage or power factor. They only measure current and you cannot get kWh from that.
Once I had established the average power factor and voltage of my installation with which to configure the Owl (both of which are incredibly consistent from day to day), my Owl has proved extremely accurate for a whole installation over any reasonable period of time.

Since 5th April 2017, my supplier's meter has shown total Day usage of 18,533 kWh and total Night usage of 16,590 kWh. The corresponding figures from my Owl have been 18,552 and 16,622 kWh respectively - representing differences of about 0.10% and 0.19% respectively, which is plenty good enough for me. The same close correspondence exists of any time period from 24 hours upwards.

It makes no sense to say that they "tend to read high", since whether they read high, low or dead right depends entirely on what PF and voltage one programs into the Owl.
 
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Once I had established the average power factor and voltage of my installation with which to configure the Owl (both of which are incredibly consistent from day to day), my Owl has proved extremely accurate for a whole installation over any reasonable period of time.

Since 5th April 2017, my supplier's meter has shown total Day usage of 18,533 kWh and total Night usage of 16,590 kWh. The corresponding figures from my Owl have been 18,552 and 16,622 kWh respectively - representing differences of about 0.10% and 0.19% respectively, which is plenty good enough for me. The same close correspondence exists of any time period from 24 hours upwards.

It makes no sense to say that they "tend to read high", since whether they read high, low or dead right depends entirely on what PF and voltage one programs into the Owl.
Interesting John. I was not aware that you could programme your average power factor into the Owl. Similar devices to the Owl I have come across have no means to programme either voltage or power factor into them. How did you determine your average power factor?
 
Interesting John. I was not aware that you could programme your average power factor into the Owl.
I wouldn't expect you to be aware of everything. This is the relevant Owl set-up screen, showing the default values for voltage and PF...

upload_2021-8-15_23-9-39.png

Similar devices to the Owl I have come across have no means to programme either voltage or power factor into them.
I can't speak for whatever devices you may have come across.
How did you determine your average power factor?
From the kWh and KVArh registers on my meter.
 
Who would have thought a this could cause so much discussion!

Unfortunately, my Owl does not allow me to change anything in terms of PF and voltage. I am not interested in knowing if I am using power to the nth decimal place just a rough but reasonable idea and I think the Owl has done this. The meter not spinning is also a bit of a giveaway :)

I have gone back through all my statements and the last few readings could have been a reduction in usage but the last one just confirmed somthing wrong. Using the Owl for a few days shows that the average over the period is, so far, very close to what I might expect from my meter readings - weekends may bit a bit higher so just out of curiosity I might leave it running for a while and until the meter is sorted. It is quite enlightening to see what standing power consuption is like through the day. Accepting the possibility that below a few hundred watts the reading may not be reliable I get around 170W for the house

I have contacted my supplier to let them know i have a fautly meter. Just need to avoid the smart one again!
 
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Never seen KVArh register on a domestic meter either.
I obviously can't help'what you've seen'. My Elster A1140 ('dumb') meter certainly does. From the manual ...

upload_2021-8-16_11-49-16.png

However, that was merely a convenience. Had that register not existed, I would have determined average PF by dividing the kWh figure from the meter by the KVAh figure reported by the Owl (as "kWh") when programmed with PF=1.0.

To give a feel for how high the average PF is for a whole typical domestic installation, as I reported yesterday, when I last checked my meter it was indicating a total usage of 35,123 kWh (18,533 Day + 16,590 Night) since 5th April 2017. Over the same period, it indicated a total of 3,950 kVArh. Hence:

Average PF = 35,123 / √(35,123² + 3,950²) = 0.9937

Kind Regards, John
 
Unfortunately, my Owl does not allow me to change anything in terms of PF and voltage.
Which Owl do you have?
I am not interested in knowing if I am using power to the nth decimal place just a rough but reasonable idea and I think the Owl has done this. The meter not spinning is also a bit of a giveaway :)
Quite so - and I'm sorry that someone has (unfortunately, for him 'inevitably') thrown in the red herring of the theoretical inaccuracy of kWh measurements which do not take actual voltage and PF into account. As you say, a monitor utilising its (whatever) assumptions about voltage and PF is more than adequate for your purpos.
I have contacted my supplier to let them know i have a fautly meter. Just need to avoid the smart one again!
That's clearly what needs to be done. Let us know how things work out.

Kind Regards, John
 
Which Owl do you have?
Quite so - and I'm sorry that someone has (unfortunately, for him 'inevitably') thrown in the red herring of the theoretical inaccuracy of kWh measurements which do not take actual voltage and PF into account. As you say, a monitor utilising its (whatever) assumptions about voltage and PF is more than adequate for your purpos.
That's clearly what needs to be done. Let us know how things work out.

Kind Regards, John

It is the Owl Mini - it was one of the cheapest to be found on eBay

I will update once I have the issue resolved. Thanks to all for their input
 
It is the Owl Mini - it was one of the cheapest to be found on eBay
I must say that I haven't heard of that one (and nor, it seems, has Mr Google). Do you perhaps mean the Owl Micro? That one does allow you to set voltage, but not PF. However, if my installation is anything to go by then, for 'whole installation monitoring', assuming that PF=1 will make no significant difference - my average PF of 0.9937 is mighty close to 1.0 :)
I will update once I have the issue resolved.
Please do - and I hope the resolution is straightforward and rapid!

Kind Regards, John
 
Well, almost a year on and I have new meters!!

The electricity meter was due to be replaced by my supplier last September, but they went bust just a few days before the appointment so the installer had to cancel. I then had to wait for the new supplier to be appointed. I did inform the new supplier of the faulty meter and they pointed me to their link to request a smart meter. No available appointments until a few weeks ago.

So,the long and short is that I now have smart gas and electricity meters as that is what OFGEM require on replacement meters (even if faulty). Just have to wait to see if they catch up with me :)
 
So,the long and short is that I now have smart gas and electricity meters as that is what OFGEM require on replacement meters (even if faulty). Just have to wait to see if they catch up with me :)
That is lie. You have the right not to have a smart meter. How does it feel to be conned and lied to?
 

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