EON want me to have smart meters

Frozen_up_north

I had an E.On smart meter fitted on 24th May, there has been one reading taken on 11th June, none since (checked via on line account). The usage part of the E.On App on my iPhone shows "E" (estimated) for May and June.

Have E.On lost the plot? I thought the idea of smart meters was to enable the supplier to remotely read your use, I might as well fill in a card with the readings, put it in a bottle and toss it in the sea :j

Just as well that I took a digital photo of the old meter after the installers removed it, showing its serial number and readings and storing the image with time and date.

Is this typical of others with E.On meters?

System

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

All good points Hengus. Individual conversations are held between our Smart specialists and customers so we can go through all the relevant points. This includes letting them know what will happen if they change supplier. As I said to brewerdave above, circumstances vary so much that we need to look at each job individually and advise the customer accordingly. The customer can decide against going Smart at any time.

There's a lot of work going on behind the scenes to iron out these limitations so all customers can be offered a Smart Meter. The DCC you mention is a step towards this.

Hope this is of interest Hengus.

Malc

Thanks Malc. I read into your comments that E.oN intends to continue to roll out SMETS 1 meters after the DCC goes live. I accept that this is within the rules but I suspect that most of your customers will not understand the difference between SMETS1 and 2, and the question will not be asked.

FOREVER21

I have nothing against smart meters in general, but the installation of a smart meter will not benefit me . I submit monthly readings on line which takes me seconds, the system then automatically shows my credit/debit position.( Thanks to E-on)

I have not had an estimated account for years. Additionally I do not need a separate monitor to tell me that when I use central heating, boil a kettle,turn the immersion heater on, that I use extra energy, I only do these things when I need to and I am well aware of the cost of this.

With regard to the savings smart meters acquire over energy cheats and professional renters, the"professionals" will still be finding ways to beat the system.

Also any savings must also be offset by the money wasted installing smart meters which revert to dumb meters when a customer changes supplier, these meters will need replacing again or at best updated to be compatible. Has anyone quantified this cost? there must be many hundred meters needing attention.Why are companies continuing to install meters that will require replacing / updating in the near future? only to satisfy government targets.

It seems to be that the whole smart meter business has been implemented at a rush without being properly thought through.

When (if) a universal compatable meter is introduced by 2018, I will consider a smart meter but even then all I expect will happen is the inconvience of having to arrange an appointment , which will likely be cancelled, and rearranged, and the nett result in my energy consumption / charges will not change.
On the other hand I notice BG has now offered a bribe to get their customers to have a smart meter, if E-on was to to follow suit I may well change my mind!

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

To be honest, I'm not sure where we're at regarding SMET1 and SMET2 so I've asked the question further up the food chain. I'll let you know more when I've had an answer.

Thanks.

Malc

Hengus wrote: »

Thanks Malc. I read into your comments that E.oN intends to continue to roll out SMETS 1 meters after the DCC goes live. I accept that this is within the rules but I suspect that most of your customers will not understand the difference between SMETS1 and 2, and the question will not be asked.

Afternoon Hengus. I've received a reply to the question I asked about Smart Meters and, as promised, thought I'd share.

We're not starting to rollout SMETS2 until the DCC is live later this year. Before this time, we'll continue with SMETS1. After the DCC goes live, there'll be a mix of SMETS1 and 2 until eventually all will be SMETS2.

Customers will be told about the implications for their particular meter when appointments to fit or change meters are made by our specialist smart teams. They'll also be told when moving into properties with existing smart meters.

Hope this is of interest.

Malc

System

Hi Malc. Thanks for the helpful update. I hope that your competitors communicate with their customers in a similar way. FWIW, I would advise people to wait until SMETS2 is the only available Smart Meter standard, and we know that DCC and the industry back systems can cope with the amount of data that will be needed to support 30 minute recording (as recommended by the CMA). I sense that this project still has many significant challenges ahead.

Frozen_up_north

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

We're not starting to rollout SMETS2 until the DCC is live later this year. Before this time, we'll continue with SMETS1. After the DCC goes live, there'll be a mix of SMETS1 and 2 until eventually all will be SMETS2.

So E.On wasted my time and money by installing an obsolete meter that will need replacing again :mad: Thanks!

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

I had an E.On smart meter fitted on 24th May, there has been one reading taken on 11th June, none since (checked via on line account). The usage part of the E.On App on my iPhone shows "E" (estimated) for May and June.

Have E.On lost the plot? I thought the idea of smart meters was to enable the supplier to remotely read your use, I might as well fill in a card with the readings, put it in a bottle and toss it in the sea :j

Just as well that I took a digital photo of the old meter after the installers removed it, showing its serial number and readings and storing the image with time and date.

Is this typical of others with E.On meters?

Hello Frozen_up_north and sorry for the late reply. Just noticed your post.

You're right, Smart Meters send us readings automatically and help stop estimated bills. Sometimes, though, we come across a problem that prevents this and it's important we investigate what's causing it. I'd have a chat to one of our specialist Smart teams.

Some of the things that might be causing this are the type of property, how far apart the meters are, any large objects near the meter, the strength of the mobile phone signal in the area, location of the meters etc. Also, the meter might not be set up properly at our end or might not be talking to us. Thought it might help if I give you a bit of general information about how Smart Meters work.

The electricity meter is the hub of the operation. It stores, sends and receives information. If there's a gas meter, this will send readings to the electricity meter and the electricity meter sends the information to the Energy Display and back to us. Any material between the two points trying to communicate can affect the signal quality. Wood, plasterboard and other building materials generally have a minimal effect on the signal but thick stone and concrete can have a bigger impact. Metal has the biggest effect on the signal.

Our engineers carry out various onsite tests to see if the signal is strong enough but things may have changed since the engineer's visit in May. Guessing though.

Sorry again for the late reply and if my speculation is off track. As above, talk to our Smart specialists. If necessary they'll book another appointment to sort this. Contact details are on our website and the documents left by our engineer.

Malc

poppasmurf_bewdley

If eON smart meters require a mobile phone signal to work, could you tell us which network they are on?

I'm having a smart meter installed tomorrow but the mobile phone signal in my very rural area is poor.

Thanks.

Frozen_up_north

When E.On installed my meter, the installers said the SIM would work on any network, in a similar manner to a roaming foreign SIM.

poppasmurf_bewdley

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

When E.On installed my meter, the installers said the SIM would work on any network, in a similar manner to a roaming foreign SIM.

Thanks for that.

The reason I asked is because I use 02 and have a signal booster which gives me five bars throughout my cottage but it only works on 02 and you have to programme the device with the phone numbers using it.

Does the smart meter receive the phone call or make the call?