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Smart meters......oh dear oh dear...why on earth did I bother!

A few weeks ago we had a very polite SSE engineer come to install an electricity meter , but he advised that he would prefer not to install the meter as the data signal near our house was not in his opinion strong enough and that we would be plagued with problems. We agreed and he said that he would get the nagging letters stopped - so far so good. The trouble is that British Gas want to install a smart gas meter which was supposed to piggyback off the electricity meter...
 
Touch wood, we’ve never been nagged about getting smart meters. The chap from British Gas who did our last boiler service mentioned it in passing, but our energy provider seems happy for us to continue to submit meter readings each month.
 
I thought this would be a SMART move.I’ve always bee an early adopter of new technology.online everything,now .I called my supplier and asked for a smart meter.The guy turned up around 3 or 4 days later.I left him to it. Soon after he called me through for paperwork. I looked up at the machine. It was a dirt yellow colour, covering the meter completely. I said to the guy, how am I going to check my usage? Och, ye’ll get an estimate every 6 months.
I then said “How old is that meter. He checks the label , says”no date on it” I say” It’s illegal then, please take it away” He said he could’nt but he’d report back and someone would come for it.Sure enough a guy turned up to remove it, 2 days later and he said the meter should’nt have been installed. It was one of a batch of meters used by employees for test runs, 2 years previously. Company obviously trying to gouge their customers by ditching old stock.
 
I've been nagged by my supplier to get one fitting ed. Part of my contact apparently. They were supposed to come and fit one a few weeks ago but never turned up. They paid me £30 compensation for that. I've not bothered rebooking.

I live in a not spot. None of our family 's mobiles get a signal and we use O2, 3 and Vodafone.

Do the smart meters use the phone network?
 
Do the smart meters use the phone network?

apparently not for SMETS2

https://www.smartenergygb.org/faqs/how-do-smart-meters-work#:~:text=No.,is solely for smart meters.


Do I need a broadband connection in my home to have a smart meter?

No. Smart meters use an entirely separate, bespoke wireless system. You don't need Wi-Fi in your home for it to work and it won't use your Wi-Fi if you have it. Your smart meter and in-home display communicate via a secure national network which is solely for smart meters. This works in the same way as other wireless systems like car remote keys or TVs, using radio waves.



Can I still get a smart meter if my home has poor mobile signal?

If you live in an area with poor mobile telephone reception you can either request a first generation meter that uses this network, but may experience difficulties sending readings to your supplier automatically. Alternatively, you can contact your energy supplier and insist that they install a second generation meter, known as SMETS2. A SMETS2 meter is not reliant upon the mobile phone network and by the end of the rollout this network will have coverage of 99.25% of Great Britain.
 
I've been nagged by my supplier to get one fitting ed. Part of my contact apparently. They were supposed to come and fit one a few weeks ago but never turned up. They paid me £30 compensation for that. I've not bothered rebooking.

I live in a not spot. None of our family 's mobiles get a signal and we use O2, 3 and Vodafone.

Do the smart meters use the phone network?
Yes they use the GSM(2G) network, which is interesting as - along with 3G - it's supposed to be turned off at some stage and the bandwidth or whatever it's called reallocated to 5G. You can read all about it here
 
apparently not for SMETS2

https://www.smartenergygb.org/faqs/how-do-smart-meters-work#:~:text=No.,is solely for smart meters.


Do I need a broadband connection in my home to have a smart meter?

No. Smart meters use an entirely separate, bespoke wireless system. You don't need Wi-Fi in your home for it to work and it won't use your Wi-Fi if you have it. Your smart meter and in-home display communicate via a secure national network which is solely for smart meters. This works in the same way as other wireless systems like car remote keys or TVs, using radio waves.



Can I still get a smart meter if my home has poor mobile signal?

If you live in an area with poor mobile telephone reception you can either request a first generation meter that uses this network, but may experience difficulties sending readings to your supplier automatically. Alternatively, you can contact your energy supplier and insist that they install a second generation meter, known as SMETS2. A SMETS2 meter is not reliant upon the mobile phone network and by the end of the rollout this network will have coverage of 99.25% of Great Britain.
That's intersting, I didn't know that. I wonder what network it uses?
 
Another issue with smart meters is that the mter installers are fast tracked and therefore are a bit clueless, with the greatest of respect, and will cut off the gas supply at the drop of a hat ie dust on the wall surrounding a gas appliance for one example or a drop in pressure when doing a tightness test with no reported smell of gas.

When carrying out a tightness test can have up to an 8mb drop in pressure with certain gas meters so as long as there's no reported smell of gas ie the punter in the house saying to said meter installer or any other gas engineer 'ere guv I think I can smell gas?'

The reply from said meter installer is usually as below so your smart meter install can leave you without gas for an undetermined amount of time, basically you have to get a gas safe engineer out to check the pressure drop.

'yer off missus and so am I, see ya!'
 
Another issue with smart meters is that the mter installers are fast tracked and therefore are a bit clueless, with the greatest of respect, and will cut off the gas supply at the drop of a hat ie dust on the wall surrounding a gas appliance for one example or a drop in pressure when doing a tightness test with no reported smell of gas.

When carrying out a tightness test can have up to an 8mb drop in pressure with certain gas meters so as long as there's no reported smell of gas ie the punter in the house saying to said meter installer or any other gas engineer 'ere guv I think I can smell gas?'

The reply from said meter installer is usually as below so your smart meter install can leave you without gas for an undetermined amount of time, basically you have to get a gas safe engineer out to check the pressure drop.

'yer off missus and so am I, see ya!'

Cut off and f**k off!!
 
It's bollox, they are nothing more than a 2G mobile phone strapped to a digital meter
Well, that's what I thought, but @gintonic 's post suggested that may not be the case, though it's the first I've herd of it and I find it a bit hard to believe that there is a special dedicated network just for smart metering, but what do I know?
 
My old Gen 1 smart meters went dumb as soon as I switched to a new supplier. Now, a few years later (and a couple of suppliers later too) the meters have been re-started remotely and I am no longer doing manual readings. The mobile signal is a bit patchy down in the basement, but they seem to make a connection often enough for the bills to work. I do, every other month, compare their claimed readings to the meters themselves and have not found a mistake yet.

In the meantime I chucked away the remote monitor box, so I cannot watch the usage anyway! Dunno if I can get a replacement?
 
I've still got the old spinny leccy meter and when Scottish Power phoned last week to ask if I'd like to have a smart meter installed I said no. Unless there's a financial incentive I'm holding out till it must be done to comply with legislation. Basically, I want to be the last guy in Scotland to get a smart meter fitted!
 
Well, that's what I thought, but @gintonic 's post suggested that may not be the case, though it's the first I've herd of it and I find it a bit hard to believe that there is a special dedicated network just for smart metering, but what do I know?
In Cornwall the water meters are fitted with a data logger that is read over the 868MHz band. The logger has a lifetime of 15 years. In remote areas a vehicle or pedestrian can drive/walk by and the logs automatically read and recorded in a central database. In towns/cities there may be a fixed network located in buildings that will read the local logs.

I don't see why something similar couldn't be fitted to gas/lecky meters. In brief:-
  • Compact radio emitter 868 MHz designed for concentric meters
  • Suitable for mobile reading and long range fixed network
  • IP 68
  • Lifetime up to 15 years
  • Integrated data logger (up to 6 months memory)
  • 1 historical index value stored at predefined date to facilitate billing
  • Insensitive to magnetic fraud
DV
 
Basically, I want to be the last guy in Scotland to get a smart meter fitted!

May the best man win windhoek :D, I’ll be holding out as long as possible as well.I got the dreaded email from Octopus end of last week but they’ll have to get through the door to fit one!
I have a nice ritual going where on a specific day a month I actually photograph each meter and enter the details onto their website.
 
Basically, I want to be the last guy in Scotland to get a smart meter fitted!

I'll support you for Thorpe St. Andrew (Norwich) but can't guarantee influence beyond this so best of luck for your smart territorially extensive ambitions :D . Every time I was phoned about smart meters (by Scottish Power +?) a couple of years ago I kept asking how they were beneficial; especially financially. I never got a viable answer. However, if my meter(s) need changing (think it's a 10 year cycle), am I then forced to have these abominable contraptions?

I did have a smart water meter installed last year. I didn't know it was happening until it was done. However, I did like the idea that leaks can pretty quickly be detected and informed (in theory). A sporting colleague didn't realise he had a fairly substantial leak until his 6 month bill came in. Luckily, his house insurance paid for most of the loss which ran into the high 3 figures or more, I believe.

I actually like reading my meters on a consistent monthly basis, submitting to Octopus and getting the analysis of use/cost/credit/debit within 24 hours for my records. I'd really hate to lose this control and t.b.h., can't think of anything more efficient.
 
i keep ignoring the letters from EON about a smart reader. I have asked what the benefits are and they really didn't give me an answer i believed. I noticed the last letter i received last week said something along the lines "we will continue to send letters until a smart reader is fitted"

I dont think British Gas have asked about the gas version.
 


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