Advice needed re Eddi / off-peak tariff

JBinWaterford

We've a PV/battery set-up, and Eddi diverter recently installed.

Along with the installation, we changed to an off-peak / night electricity tariff (night rate), and am wondering if anyone has a tip for a couple of queries.

We had the ESB fitted a off-peak meter.

After having read the Eddi manual, I'm still unsure how the Eddi "knows" we have an off-peak / night tariff, and at what times the night-rate supply applies ?

1) I thought there was an icon on the Eddi, which would show that it "recognised" (or had been "told") an off-peak/night tariff was in use ?
2) How does the Eddi/BMS prioritise a) house demand b) off-peak battery charging c) excess power (or commanded) immersion heating - in that order - as is our preference ?

Any pointers greatly appreciated :-)

Mickeroo

This is from the manual:

Economy Tariff Boosting
Boosting only when economy rate electricity is available can be achieved in one of three ways:
1. Setting the boost timer to coincide with the economy tariff times. This option should be used only if the electricity
meter is a dual-rate meter (modern meters usually are multi-rate).
2. Boost only at set times AND if economy rate electric is available*
3. Automatically boost whenever the economy tariff rate electricity is
available, regardless of the boost times*
* Options 2 and 3 are available only when using the eSense input on the
Relay & Sensor Board. The Relay & Sensors menu will be available when a
Relay & Sensor Board is fitted inside the unit.
For option 2, the eSense Input in the Relay & Sensors menu option should be set to the appropriate Boost
Enable setting. With the Boost Enable function set, the BOOST TIMER screen will include an extra column (see
screenshot). The e can be toggled on/off, if e is present, the boost will activate only when the boost times are valid and the
economy rate tariff is available.
Alternatively the eSense input can be used to activate the boost whenever the economy tariff rate electricity is available,
regardless of boost times (option 3). To do this, the eSense Input in the Relays & Sensors menu should be set to
Boost 1, Boost 2 or Boost 1&2. When using this option, the Boost Timer is not needed.

I'd say handiest is to just set a boost timer for night rate hours.

JBinWaterford

Mickeroo wrote: »

This is from the manual:



I'd say handiest is to just set a boost timer for night rate hours.

Mickeroo wrote: »

This is from the manual:



I'd say handiest is to just set a boost timer for night rate hours.

Thanks Mickaroo. That’s what I’m doing currently (setting times to boost during off peak hours), but reading your manual excerpt above, It dawned on me that we don’t have the e-sense thing.

Will look into how to get this perhaps.

So, would you know how (if possible) the Eddi can be set up to « prioritise » the charge, and only boost when the house demand is met, and battery has been charged ?

Thanks again...off to locate this e-sense bit of kit...

wexfordman2

JBinWaterford wrote: »

Thanks Mickaroo. That’s what I’m doing currently (setting times to boost during off peak hours), but reading your manual excerpt above, It dawned on me that we don’t have the e-sense thing.

Will look into how to get this perhaps.

So, would you know how (if possible) the Eddi can be set up to « prioritise » the charge, and only boost when the house demand is met, and battery has been charged ?

Thanks again...off to locate this e-sense bit of kit...

The eddi has no view or visibility of your battery charging. That is done purely by your inverter/bms. Again, I am assuming you are talking about dc charging from solar . So pretty much your inverter will always firstly send excess to the battery until it is charged. This excess btw,.is in DC, it never gets converted to ac so the eddi has absolutely no idea that there is an excess being generated at this point.
Once the battery is full, then your excess gets shed as ac, and the eddi will pick it up and divert it.

I simply turn off AC charging if the battery once the longer days come in to play, but during winter months, I set the battery to charge from night rate in ac.

JBinWaterford

wexfordman2 wrote: »

The eddi has no view or visibility of your battery charging. That is done purely by your inverter/bms. Again, I am assuming you are talking about dc charging from solar . So pretty much your inverter will always firstly send excess to the battery until it is charged. This excess btw,.is in DC, it never gets converted to ac so the eddi has absolutely no idea that there is an excess being generated at this point.
Once the battery is full, then your excess gets shed as ac, and the eddi will pick it up and divert it.

I simply turn off AC charging if the battery once the longer days come in to play, but during winter months, I set the battery to charge from night rate in ac.

Thanks Wexfordman2 - that makes perfect sense.

antoinolachtnai

JBinWaterford wrote: »

Thanks Wexfordman2 - that makes perfect sense.

Does the unit come with the ‘relay and sensor board’, as a matter of interest?

JBinWaterford

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

Does the unit come with the ‘relay and sensor board’, as a matter of interest?

Nope ! That's an extra 50 (sterling) 8-/

wexfordman2

JBinWaterford wrote: »

Nope ! That's an extra 50 (sterling) 8-/

But, what would you need it for ? I don't see the use case in Ireland for it ?

antoinolachtnai

wexfordman2 wrote: »

But, what would you need it for ? I don't see the use case in Ireland for it ?

Well, you could connect it to the signal from the ESB clock is one thing.

The other thing is that you could connect it to a radio controlled timer which could cause the batteries to charge at the times when the most cheap wind energy was available.

wexfordman2

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

Well, you could connect it to the signal from the ESB clock is one thing.

The other thing is that you could connect it to a radio controlled timer which could cause the batteries to charge at the times when the most cheap wind energy was available.

But there is no eeb clock to take a signal from, and it would be pointless anyway as the esb have a set time for peak/off peak rates.

The eddi won't be able to tell your system to charge or discharge either, it simply diverts power to an immersion or other load device .

I just don't see the logic in that device here yet ?

antoinolachtnai

The clock in the ESB meter or the adjacent clock has a relay that the owner's electrician can link to to get a signal when it is night time. Same as Economy 7 in the UK.

You cannot rely on the ESB meter switching at an exact time. The clock in the meter is often incorrect. The discrepancy is supposed to be less than 2 hours, but it could be longer.

You won't get any saving on your bill for taking electricity when the wind is high until smart metering comes in, but in the meantime, there is a positive environmental impact.

wexfordman2

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

The clock in the ESB meter or the adjacent clock has a relay that the owner's electrician can link to to get a signal when it is night time. Same as Economy 7 in the UK.

You cannot rely on the ESB meter switching at an exact time. The clock in the meter is often incorrect. The discrepancy is supposed to be less than 2 hours, but it could be longer.

You won't get any saving on your bill for taking electricity when the wind is high until smart metering comes in, but in the meantime, there is a positive environmental impact.

Ah, makes sense now, thanks. Wowz didn't realise it could be out by that much. How best do you get it checked ?

garo

wexfordman2 wrote: »

Ah, makes sense now, thanks. Wowz didn't realise it could be out by that much. How best do you get it checked ?

Click the button and it will scroll to show you the time. Assuming you have the electronic meter with a single button next to the display.

wexfordman2

garo wrote: »

Click the button and it will scroll to show you the time. Assuming you have the electronic meter with a single button next to the display.

I have 2 meters, one for day and the other for night.

garo

wexfordman2 wrote: »

I have 2 meters, one for day and the other for night.

old skool!

antoinolachtnai

garo wrote: »

old skool!

Check your bill. Are you MCC02 or MCC03 (top right corner of bill).

garo

Haven't received my first bill yet but it is MCC02.