Smart meters and how Installations work

System

swaledale wrote: »

Thanks. I was just reading the feasibility report actually. Looks like the consultation period closes 20th Jan, so after then they can start to!design the system.!Their newsletter presentation in December outlined a 2017/18 plan for implementation IIRC.

The whole thing may not have been a problem had the housebuilder 'helpfully' not!warned me about it having a smart meter, there should be a big sticker on your front door saying warning,!if you want smart functionality then stay with E.on!

I!still don't see why!E.on can't reconnect my SMETS1 meter to the same service it was on a year or so ago though. Surely that's possible. How do!I get an E.on rep on these forums to notice this post?

Raise a separate thread with E.oN in the title - they will be there almost immediately.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Devizes2008 wrote: »

Hi

I have been with E-ON for about 12 months and am free now to start looking for someone who can offer a better deal. Having said this I'd like to go for a supplier who can also offer a smart meter now and not by end of 2020 when we all should have these.

E-ON cannot install smart meters at my post code yet and don't give me any further information.

A friend living in the same town but at a different post code had theirs installed recently by SSE.

This gave me some ammo to investigate for the reason why some suppliers install these new meters and others don't.

E-ON however, I think, gave me a hint by saying that they weren’t installing in my area.

I called British Gas to try to find out if THEY would install the smart meters in my area.

What I found out is that any of the energy suppliers (I contacted) and their sales teams are useless in terms of giving me the information I am after. All they could say is, what I already knew, that by 2020 we all will have them.

To me this is almost the same thing as searching for a broadband supplier and going on their website showing me that they can supply up to 70mbps but won’t give me the possibility to check if my property is in an area where that speed is actually possible.

Most energy suppliers advertise the new meters, but give no information what-so-ever about being able to supply these or not.

But still with British Gas, I continued asking to speak to someone who had the information I was after. So I was put through to a very nice chap who gave me some (what I think was) useful information….

After giving him my home address he told me that the pipeline owner is SSE. Any other supplier will not be able to remove my current meter and replace it with a new smart meter. SSE will need to authorise that move. The reason for that, he said, was that the supplier installing the new meter would have exclusive access to the meter readings and if I wanted to change supplier in the future this would be a big problem.

This particular zone with the pipelines not owned by the National Grid makes it an area that falls into an IGT category. To confirm this I should check my meter. Its serial number should start with 74 – 77.

I checked, but it doesn’t.

So…. I’m very confused with all this information that I have.

Someone I called from the National Grid said that the meter is of the responsibility of the current gas supplier and not who maintains or owns the pipelines.

Who can help me in understanding what I see as a BIG confusion?

Hello Devizes2008 and sorry you're not able to have a Smart Meter from us at the moment.

As we've advised, they're not available everywhere yet. It depends on things like the actual area, type of property, the strength of the mobile phone signal and the current metering set up. There might also be specific circumstances at individual properties that stop us fitting them. Not saying this is the case here, it's just something that can happen. If you've registered an interest with our website, we'll be in touch as soon as they're available.

Different suppliers are at different stages with the smart rollout so you're doing the right thing in checking the situation with individual companies.

Sorry again we're unable to let you have these meters yet.

Malc

[Deleted User]

Ah, hopefully Malc can help me too

Devizes2008

WOW, I wasn't expecting this reaction to my post. Thanks a million to all who contributed. I feel much more relaxed now that I know that there is a new phase coming.

[Deleted User]

Hope you get your meter soon in the future Devizes2008.

I'm still puzzled by the E.On non-reconnect issue.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

swaledale wrote: »

I have an EON smart meter,!it was installed into our new build last year.!It's a SMETS1 meter but as we didn't go with EON when we moved in (we didn't even know it was Smart when we started our contract with Sainsburys, the cheapest at the time), and the housebuilder had ended their contract with EON, apparently it cannot be made!smart again yet. I was under the impression that the DCC!allowed previously working SMETS1 meters to be reregistered, but it seems EON aren't sure what to do!now, though the chap on the phone there today was really good and tried his best to find out. If we'd know we were getting a smart meter we would have perhaps considered EON's less favourable pricing given the fact that I'd like a Smart!meter for my own various reasons.

What's more, EON also say they cannot provide me with a new energy monitor, even though there should have been one with the!meter when we moved in.

Does anybody!from EON still monitor these forums?

swaledale wrote: »

I'm not sure all SMETS1 meters need a new comms hub, depending where you are in the country and what type it is. Mine's an Elster meter and comms hub with GSM, and am in the Telefonica region, not guaranteed of course but I'd hope that the hardware would support SMETS2 as well, though admittedly I've not!compared the!spec docs for 1 and 2 side by side!

I just don't see why E.on can't at least reactivate it as a SMETS1 meter.

As far as the in home display goes, I don't see why they can't send a new one, I'm a new customer to them. Or at least allow me to purchase one. They can't not have a!system for replacing them after 12 months, plenty will get broken or stop working after then, as well as the!new customer scenarios.

swaledale wrote: »

Thanks. I was just reading the feasibility report actually. Looks like the consultation period closes 20th Jan, so after then they can start to!design the system.!Their newsletter presentation in December outlined a 2017/18 plan for implementation IIRC.

The whole thing may not have been a problem had the housebuilder 'helpfully' not!warned me about it having a smart meter, there should be a big sticker on your front door saying warning,!if you want smart functionality then stay with E.on!

I!still don't see why!E.on can't reconnect my SMETS1 meter to the same service it was on a year or so ago though. Surely that's possible. How do!I get an E.on rep on these forums to notice this post?

Hello swaledale and sorry to sound dense but do we supply you at the moment? From your posts, I understand we originally supplied the development and installed smart meters. You then changed to Sainsburys but not sure who you're with at the moment.

If you're not with us, the current supplier will need to deal with this as they'll have responsibility for the meters even though we installed them. This is the same for all meters - smart or traditional. I'll still try to help though.

A lot depends on when and what type of meter was fitted. Earlier meters fitted during the Foundation stage will more than likely lose certain smart features when switching which won't be able to be restored even if they return.

The Smart Meter rollout has been going on for some time now and different suppliers are at different stages. The aim is for customers to be able to switch supplier without losing smart capability and the central database you mention, the Data Communications Company or DCC, will help once it's fully up and running. We're also looking to move to SMETS 2 meters but this won't be until later in the year.

From what you've said, to become fully smart again, I suspect the meter will need changing. If we do supply, you can register through our website to have this done. There's no charge and our Smart Meter specialists will be in touch to let you know when this can be done. We'll fit an Energy Display at the same time.

All our smart installations are set up with these displays and one would've been included when they were first fitted at the property. It could be with the builder but guessing here. Displays need to be individually set up by the technician to work with the particular meter at the property. They're not something we would send out without a technician. This would be the same if we were responding to a faulty or damaged display.

Sorry again if I've misunderstood swaledale but hope it's of some interest.

Malc

[Deleted User]

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hello swaledale and sorry to sound dense but do we supply you at the moment? From your posts, I understand we originally supplied the development and installed smart meters. You then changed to Sainsburys but not sure who you're with at the moment.

If you're not with us, the current supplier will need to deal with this as they'll have responsibility for the meters even though we installed them. This is the same for all meters - smart or traditional. I'll still try to help though.

A lot depends on when and what type of meter was fitted. Earlier meters fitted during the Foundation stage will more than likely lose certain smart features when switching which won't be able to be restored even if they return.

The Smart Meter rollout has been going on for some time now and different suppliers are at different stages. The aim is for customers to be able to switch supplier without losing smart capability and the central database you mention, the Data Communications Company or DCC, will help once it's fully up and running. We're also looking to move to SMETS 2 meters but this won't be until later in the year.

From what you've said, to become fully smart again, I suspect the meter will need changing. If we do supply, you can register through our website to have this done. There's no charge and our Smart Meter specialists will be in touch to let you know when this can be done. We'll fit an Energy Display at the same time.

All our smart installations are set up with these displays and one would've been included when they were first fitted at the property. It could be with the builder but guessing here. Displays need to be individually set up by the technician to work with the particular meter at the property. They're not something we would send out without a technician. This would be the same if we were responding to a faulty or damaged display.

Sorry again if I've misunderstood swaledale but hope it's of some interest.

Malc

Hi Malc,

Sorry for being unclear...

I'm now with E.On again so yes I am a customer. When I moved into the property as its first occupant, we weren't told that the supplied meter was smart and to register with anyone we liked, so naturally I just check the market for the cheapest supplier and went with Sainsburys. Then I found out we had a smart meter and were supposed!to get an IHD with it. I actually suspect the IHD was set up and is around somewhere, with the builder probably hidden away in their stores. So!the only people that have benefitted from the smart meter have been the builders!

I left Sainsburys in October when a good deal!came up with E.on and was told at the time that my meter!would become smart again, because it's a SMETS1 meter (Elster model with their AM110R comms hub attached and!working with signal) and it could be attached back to the E.on system outside of the DCC. I've chased this up yesterday and was now told that they weren't sure what to do about making it smart again. The chap was really helpful and tried his best to find out how to make it happen but I don't think there was anybody working that day who could help resolve this.

I've read the proposals for adopting!SMETS1 meters into the DCC next year which is a longer term solution, but for now I!think it just needs the right person at E.on to look at this and issue the right commands to the meter to re-adopt it into the legacy SMETS1 system.

I did register for a new meter in the hope this would be a SMETS2 meter and they were doing it in my area, but alas not. Not holding out hope!for that just yet as I'm sure E.on have plenty of SMETS1 meters!in stock to get rid of!first.

Can you help find the right person at E.on who can reconnect the meter properly? Happy to share contact details etc or take a call.

FYI, my gas is via an IGT (Energetics) who aren't even picking up the phone let alone giving anyone an idea if they will be bothering with smart upgrades!any time before they are forced to, so that's just a dumb meter and I'm not so bothered about that as nothing can be done. But for electricity, I'd actually like the functionality that E.on went to the trouble of installing!

Thanks

System

swaledale wrote: »

I've read the proposals for adopting!SMETS1 meters into the DCC next year which is a longer term solution, but for now I!think it just needs the right person at E.on to look at this and issue the right commands to the meter to re-adopt it into the legacy SMETS1 system.


Thanks

Not all regions in England have gone DCC live so no supplier is going to be stupid enough to install a second generation smart meter in a region which does not have DCC connectivity. As the DCC is still in a testing phase, the Government has sensibly given suppliers a reduced total of meter installs for the next 12 months (1500 each for the Big 6) and it will allow them to include new first generation meter installs in that total.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

swaledale wrote: »

Hi Malc,

Sorry for being unclear...

I'm now with E.On again so yes I am a customer. When I moved into the property as its first occupant, we weren't told that the supplied meter was smart and to register with anyone we liked, so naturally I just check the market for the cheapest supplier and went with Sainsburys. Then I found out we had a smart meter and were supposed!to get an IHD with it. I actually suspect the IHD was set up and is around somewhere, with the builder probably hidden away in their stores. So!the only people that have benefitted from the smart meter have been the builders!

I left Sainsburys in October when a good deal!came up with E.on and was told at the time that my meter!would become smart again, because it's a SMETS1 meter (Elster model with their AM110R comms hub attached and!working with signal) and it could be attached back to the E.on system outside of the DCC. I've chased this up yesterday and was now told that they weren't sure what to do about making it smart again. The chap was really helpful and tried his best to find out how to make it happen but I don't think there was anybody working that day who could help resolve this.

I've read the proposals for adopting!SMETS1 meters into the DCC next year which is a longer term solution, but for now I!think it just needs the right person at E.on to look at this and issue the right commands to the meter to re-adopt it into the legacy SMETS1 system.

I did register for a new meter in the hope this would be a SMETS2 meter and they were doing it in my area, but alas not. Not holding out hope!for that just yet as I'm sure E.on have plenty of SMETS1 meters!in stock to get rid of!first.

Can you help find the right person at E.on who can reconnect the meter properly? Happy to share contact details etc or take a call.

FYI, my gas is via an IGT (Energetics) who aren't even picking up the phone let alone giving anyone an idea if they will be bothering with smart upgrades!any time before they are forced to, so that's just a dumb meter and I'm not so bothered about that as nothing can be done. But for electricity, I'd actually like the functionality that E.on went to the trouble of installing!

Thanks

Thanks for coming back to me swaledale. Much clearer now.

As I mentioned, being able to return all the smart features depends on the particular meter. You're right, we've a specialist area that look after everything 'Smart' and these are the best people to talk to. Contact details are on our website.

As a company rep, I'm not allowed to post phone numbers or links here but if you drop an email to the address in my Profile, I'll be happy to point you in the right direction.

Thanks swaledale.

Malc

[Deleted User]

Hengus wrote: »

Not all regions in England have gone DCC live so no supplier is going to be stupid enough to install a second generation smart meter in a region which does not have DCC connectivity. As the DCC is still in a testing phase, the Government has sensibly given suppliers a reduced total of meter installs for the next 12 months (1500 each for the Big 6) and it will allow them to include new first generation meter installs in that total.

DCC 1.2 is live in both the North and Central/South regions, as of 25th November. The confirmation of this is here: https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/consultations/dcc-consultations/dcc-plan-and-implementation-milestones/

Agree 1.2 is a limited phase though.

Malc - thanks will drop an email over...