Smart Meters - Ask me anything!

lstar337

AnalogueDan wrote: »

I have I very complex heating and hot water system, based around a Thermal Store which is supplied heat energy from a gas boiler, log burner or solar thermal tubes. my ground floor heating is under floor beneath a stone surface, creating considerable thermal inertia, would this make a smart meter pointless.

Dan

No. It will still measure your energy import (gas/electricity) and send your readings to your supplier.

Your heating system is irrelevant.

molerat

AnalogueDan wrote: »

I have I very complex heating and hot water system, based around a Thermal Store which is supplied heat energy from a gas boiler, log burner or solar thermal tubes. my ground floor heating is under floor beneath a stone surface, creating considerable thermal inertia, would this make a smart meter pointless.

Dan

There are many things that make the current incarnation of smart meters pointless but that is not one of them

Devizes2008

Hi

I have tried to find an answer to my question but after over an hour of searching I have given up so here the question:

I am living in Wiltshire and my supplier is SSE. They are already installing Smart Metres in our town, since a year now, but when I asked them for an installation date they say they cannot do it because my property's pipelines don't belong to the national grid.
My Meter Point Reference starts with 76 and is 10 digits long, meaning the pipes were installed by Independent Gas Transporter or belong to them?!. Could this be the reason why they are not installing smart metres?

Because I thought this was my initial supplier (EON) just not wanting to install it for whatever reason(s) I changed supplier (to SSE) these are also not installing.

System

Devizes2008 wrote: »

Hi

I have tried to find an answer to my question but after over an hour of searching I have given up so here the question:

I am living in Wiltshire and my supplier is SSE. They are already installing Smart Metres in our town, since a year now, but when I asked them for an installation date they say they cannot do it because my property's pipelines don't belong to the national grid.
My Meter Point Reference starts with 76 and is 10 digits long, meaning the pipes were installed by Independent Gas Transporter or belong to them?!. Could this be the reason why they are not installing smart metres?

Because I thought this was my initial supplier (EON) just not wanting to install it for whatever reason(s) I changed supplier (to SSE) these are also not installing.

Yes - there are issues with IGTs, suppliers and smart meters as reported by others on this forum. Should add that the issue isn't technical as some IGTs are installing smart meters in new builds. I suspect that it is an issue about who pays who what.

PS Wait until next year when the next generation of smart meters are released. This will enable you to switch suppliers at will without your meter reverting to dumb status.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Devizes2008 wrote: »

Hi

I have tried to find an answer to my question but after over an hour of searching I have given up so here the question:

I am living in Wiltshire and my supplier is SSE. They are already installing Smart Metres in our town, since a year now, but when I asked them for an installation date they say they cannot do it because my property's pipelines don't belong to the national grid.
My Meter Point Reference starts with 76 and is 10 digits long, meaning the pipes were installed by Independent Gas Transporter or belong to them?!. Could this be the reason why they are not installing smart metres?

Because I thought this was my initial supplier (EON) just not wanting to install it for whatever reason(s) I changed supplier (to SSE) these are also not installing.

Morning Devizes2008.

Thought I'd confirm, at the moment, we're unable to provide smart meters to customers with gas meters managed by Independent Gas Transporters (IGT). We're working to change this but, as of now, I don't have a date for when we'll be able to do this.

Malc

lstar337

The big smart meter upgrade is going so smoothly! :rotfl:

Lanzarote1938

SSE have just agreed to replace the smart meters they installed last year with 'normal' ones. The gas smart meter is not communicating and requires manual reading which I find impossible to do being partially sighted and not mobile enough to get down to it. They have also credited me with £20 on the gas account.

I shan't be in a rush to get smart meters again!

StopIt

Lanzarote1938 wrote: »

SSE have just agreed to replace the smart meters they installed last year with 'normal' ones. The gas smart meter is not communicating and requires manual reading which I find impossible to do being partially sighted and not mobile enough to get down to it. They have also credited me with £20 on the gas account.

I shan't be in a rush to get smart meters again!

So you've replaced the Smart Meters with Normal ones that will require manual reading anyway?


Am I missing something here? Why didn't they just fix the thing?

Lanzarote1938

StopIt wrote: »

So you've replaced the Smart Meters with Normal ones that will require manual reading anyway?


Am I missing something here? Why didn't they just fix the thing?

I used to be able to read normal meters myself but the font is so small and the meters so low down that it is impossible for me. Hopefully I will be able to read the replacement meters and input my readings. Plus I am hoping that it will be easier to change suppliers if I haven't a smart meter that cannot be read by anyone but the installing company. I may well be wrong, time will tell.

StopIt

Lanzarote1938 wrote: »

I used to be able to read normal meters myself but the font is so small and the meters so low down that it is impossible for me. Hopefully I will be able to read the replacement meters and input my readings. Plus I am hoping that it will be easier to change suppliers if I haven't a smart meter that cannot be read by anyone but the installing company. I may well be wrong, time will tell.

I wouldn't bank on the former and the latter isn't really a problem if your smart meter reported correctly to the smart box.


The normal meter would still need manual reading, making changing supplier no different to a smart meter that only works with one provider.


I am in that boat as my smart meter is a BG unit but I am currently with Scottish Power and about to switch again. The Smart Box still lets me see my usage in real time, and thus put in meter reads without having to go near the meters themselves. The only things it cannot do is tell me usage cost, and report back to Scottish power. Essentially though I can see my usage in real time and thus can update SP whenever I want with 100% accurate data.

If you have just got your meter fixed, you could've done the same. Instead, you're likely to get a hard to read manual meter with no recourse at all.