[geoffers]

Originally Posted by meldrewreborn

@geoffers
.... I think I’d prepare a lookup table with the relevant dates & times (only 2 a year after all) and then test for that, ...

I've already written a function which calculates the two change dates (spring or autumn) for all years, so my macros are self adjusting 🤓

[meldrewreborn]

@geoffers

You would think that Bright would help customers by providing a tool that would allow customers to interpret the data they provide more easily rather than us all reinventing the wheel.

[retrotecchie]

@meldrewreborn

Yes, but different folk have different requirements and it's a bit of an ask to provide a 'one size fits all' solution, especially when folk use half a dozen different platforms or ecosystems.

Nothing I want to do can be done easily on Android (and the screen is to small to show the data I need) or iOS and nobody seems to want to produce apps for Wndoze PC which Is why I always write my own software.

If you are going to the trouble to write VBA macros for Excel, you might as well just write your own standalone software in VB.

Sometimes users like me have very specific requirements and app developers are not going to bother putting in all the bells and whistles just fir one or two edge cases.

F'rexample....I have a dumb meter. I also have a tiny video camera in my meter cupboard that can see the meter. When I open a capture window on the PC in the office, I can read the meter remotely. Easy enough to do that once a month to enter my readings on the account, but a bit more of a workup when I need to take readings every 10 minutes. But simple enough to use OCR on the camera to extract numerical data...which can then be automatically injected into my dataset and/or uploaded to E.On Next. But my other meters have open contact pulse outputs, so these are interfaced to the PC via dataloggers which again, can automatically update my datasets on a five second sample frequency. I also have data capture from a couple of external websites which I also import into my datasets....but not many people need to know variance of grid frequency on a minute by minute basis.

The only way I could integrate that little lot, along with real time data from my solar generator was to write my own software.

So Bright's job is simply to make data available. What you do with that data or how you interpret it is a matter of personal choice, or ability.

[geoffers]

Originally Posted by retrotecchie

@meldrewreborn....If you are going to the trouble to write VBA macros for Excel, you might as well just write your own standalone software in VB...

Ahhh - but the beauty of writing VBA macros in excel is you just record the actions you're making in the spreadsheet, and let the macro recorder write the code.

You then just fill in the gaps between with loops; conditional statements etc 🤓

[meldrewreborn]

My IHD converts M3 to kWh approximating to a multiple of 11.2 (+/- .01). My billing though converts at almost exactly 11.1, so the meter/ihd conversion is not as far out as i imagined earlier. The calorific value of gas in the network is constantly changing so I expect the billing ratio to drift a little bit, while the value in the meter used to convert to kWh is likely to stay the same.

I'm interested to know how varied the multiple is in different parts of the country.

Its quite easy to work out , take your billed gas kWh, and divide by the volume consumed. If your meter is measuring in cu ft then divide the previous result by a further 2.85. So what actual figures do you get and approximately where in the country are you?

[meldrewreborn]

@Andy65

Thank you for that. I was having trouble initially with the OK and right arrow but all seems fine now. Multiple from m3 to kWh is now about 11.2. As the IHD shows kWh with no decimal places, but volume to 3 decimal places, the multiple is different every time i work it out , but as the kWh figure gets bigger the variance is getting smaller by the day..

My engineer set me up with a non rechargeable battery in the IHD (perhaps just so he could show it working) but that didn't last more than a day or so. I've got the IHD into my computer set up so that its powered only when the computer is on.

I've put a rechargeable battery in the IHD which does seem to recharge a bit, but never gets anywhere near a full charge before i switch off, so its always telling me to replace the battery!

good luck for Christmas and New Year.

[meldrewreborn]

So, latest instalment on my smart meter journey.

On my holiday I was able to monitor my energy consumption while away - very reassuring to know that all was working in absentia.

I'm awaiting another visit by UK power networks to dig a hole in my front drive, cut the live cable to the house and then replace the splitting device inside the house, before reinstating - within 2 weeks hopefully that will be done. Will be interesting to see if the Comms hub survives the break in supply!!

Now the not so good news.

Compare my last electricity bill on the old meter and the first after the smart meter was installed.




With the first from data from the new smart meter



Have you spotted the big difference?

As you know well enough, I've been concerned that the EAC data which Eon Next use to assess direct debits and estimate consumption when there isn't a verified reading is slow to update, over favourable to the supplier an not capable of correction by anybody. So you can imagine my flabber being gasted why, when my meter is swapped, does my EAC jump from 1754 (already 10% over my actual annual consumption over 2 years!) to 3109!!

I defy anybody at Eon Next to sensibly articulate how this arises and whether its fair to us all as customers to rely on data which is demonstrably suspect.

Where customers have been with the supplier for over a year why can't they use data based on their own data, in preference to industry supplied data which isn't worth anything at all and nobody understands, and can't be corrected. What do you think?

[Tommysgirl]

@meldrewreborn

I noticed the huge increase in your EAC immediately. With paying my monthly bill by monthly variable DD, I take no notice of my EAC, but when I was still a British Gas Customer on a fixed monthly DD, they always used to overestimate my EAC by ridiculous amounts, and wouldn't listen to me when I called them to query it. That's why I changed suppliers to NPower and insisted on variable DD payment, and have continued with the same method of payment when they transferred me to Eon Next.

[meldrewreborn]

@Tommysgirl

As I understand it the EAC figures come from industry supplied data which is used at multiple levels, many totally disconnected from consumers. Supplier data is fed in, churned around and the resultant data is made available to suppliers like Eon Next , British Gas et al, but without explanation of the computations involved. I've no particular problem with that , but its the slavish adherence to using the EAC data in consumer accounting when better data is available that I find really offensive.

[retrotecchie]

@meldrewreborn

You'll find that any meter swap for any reason does a 'factory reset' on the energy industry's EAC calculations. The fact that E.On Next have your accurate readings for however long going back is neither here nor there.

From another supplier's Web site:

It should be based on consumption for the previous twelve months, but any major change - like having a smart meter exchange - will result in setting the EAC to an ‘industry standard’ supposedly matched to your location and household.

Stupid, but that's what happens. The EAC is actually linked to your physical meter serial number, not your MPAN or your account itself.