Smart Meters

Henneb_84

Hi all,

We had a smart meter installed in March 2017 by British Gas. I have read on here that if your meters are SMETS2 rather than SMETS1 you are able to switch suppliers with no issues.

Any idea how I can tell which version mine is? I have looked on the meters but cant seem to find anything obvious. The gas meter is a Landis & Gyr G370 if that helps anyone!

Also, (and this may be a stupid question) what actually happens if you switch supplier and then can't send the meter readings in automatically anymore? Will you take the meter readings from the smart display or the meters themselves?

Many thanks for any help

MeterMan

Its smets1, Smets2 meters aren't being installed by anybody just yet, but as your meter was fitted in March, I will guess that its got 'R3' all over it. In time your meters will be cross supplier compatible.

But wait until the SMETS2 meters are being installed and then the neysayers will come up with another reason to not have one fitted.

House_Martin

Henneb_84 wrote: »

Hi all,

We had a smart meter installed in March 2017 by British Gas. I have read on here that if your meters are SMETS2 rather than SMETS1 you are able to switch suppliers with no issues.

Any idea how I can tell which version mine is? I have looked on the meters but cant seem to find anything obvious. The gas meter is a Landis & Gyr G370 if that helps anyone!

Also, (and this may be a stupid question) what actually happens if you switch supplier and then can't send the meter readings in automatically anymore? Will you take the meter readings from the smart display or the meters themselves?

Many thanks for any help

Landis and Gyr g370 ultrasonic zigbee meters are available.They are very similar to the g370 model but have the advantage of over the air updates to SMETS2 when it becomes available.
The photos of this meter are on the Landis Gyr website but I can t see any identification of it relating to the ultrasonic zigbee model.They look identical.

Robisere

MeterMan wrote: »

Its smets1, Smets2 meters aren't being installed by anybody just yet, but as your meter was fitted in March, I will guess that its got 'R3' all over it. In time your meters will be cross supplier compatible.

But wait until the SMETS2 meters are being installed and then the neysayers will come up with another reason to not have one fitted.

Guess I'm a NAYsayer then! It comes down to personal choice, based upon experiences from an admittedly few people I know who have had these meters fitted, and wish they hadn't, together with my own feelings that the system has a long way to go before all 'engineers' are actually properly trained in safe, experienced fitting. I don't need a reason, just my own judgement.

I can record and transmit Readings perfectly well from my 2 year old Gas and leccy meters, via my suppliers excellent website. I did that yesterday, and also changed to a new tariff.

Sparx

OP I had SMETS1 meter installed by British Gas early last year. I switched to Iresa earlier this year, the smart meter still 'works' but doesn't send automatic readings over the air to Iresa. I just have to read it manually like a normal meter and give Iresa the readings like before.

In short you can switch provider with the SMETS1 it just probably means it will only work with whoever supplied in the first place. Quite daft really I only found out after it was fitted, then they start using SMETS2... Idiots.

EDIT: Just to add when I was with BG the smart meters worked very well. Readings were auto-magically taken without any issue and the online portal had lots of data, showing me what was using my electricity the most. Quite interesting!

House_Martin

Robisere wrote: »

Guess I'm a NAYsayer then! It comes down to personal choice, based upon experiences from an admittedly few people I know who have had these meters fitted, and wish they hadn't, together with my own feelings that the system has a long way to go before all 'engineers' are actually properly trained in safe, experienced fitting. I don't need a reason, just my own judgement.

I can record and transmit Readings perfectly well from my 2 year old Gas and leccy meters, via my suppliers excellent website. I did that yesterday, and also changed to a new tariff.

British Gas have been installing smart meters now for over 10 years and have a couple of million happy users who prefer them and have had no problems whatsoever.As a meter reader for them I personally have never had a complaint when I have to go and do a "safety check " on the meter.They are only a little confused why BG want to check their meters which have all been working perfectly well providing 100% accurate readings with zero billing problems.The same problems we see on here day in and out are completely eliminated with smart meters..Everyone will get one eventually, even the naysayers ( because they will pay extra if they don t accept one, or they will be mandatory ).Smart switching will come about some time next year, hopefully, and many of the meters fitted by BG will have them updated without having to exchange the meters so smart switching can be made possible.

EachPenny

House_Martin wrote: »

British Gas have been installing smart meters now for over 10 years and have a couple of million happy users who prefer them and have had no problems whatsoever.

Could you please provide a link to any published research which supports your claim.

It seems statistically improbable that a 'couple of million' smart meters could have been installed over a 10 year period leaving all users 'happy' and with 'no problems whatsoever'.

Have a 'couple of million' BG customers not attempted to switch supplier at all over this 10 year period? If so, it would be a remarkable statistical result that every affected BG customer found BG the cheapest and best supplier.

Have a 'couple of million' BG customers not experienced the kind of problems discussed on this forum such as not being able to get a decent signal to transmit the readings? If so, it would be a remarkable statistical result that none of the BG customers live in low-signal areas etc.

Have a 'couple of million' BG smart meters not had a single failure? If so, it would be a remarkable level of reliability of a complex electronic device. If only smartphone and car manufacturers could achieve this level of reliability.

MeterMan wrote: »

But wait until the SMETS2 meters are being installed and then the neysayers will come up with another reason to not have one fitted.

There are many very good reasons to not have a smart meter, it just happens that the SMETS1/SMETS2 issue is currently the most obvious one.

When the SMETS issue is resolved, people will then need to have a think about whether smart meters are a good idea when they continue to be promoted by the very same people who gloss over the SMETS issue, and in some cases appear to be deliberately misleading consumers into having obsolete technology installed in their homes.

House_Martin

EachPenny wrote: »

Could you please provide a link to any published research which supports your claim.

It seems statistically improbable that a 'couple of million' smart meters could have been installed over a 10 year period leaving all users 'happy' and with 'no problems whatsoever'.

Have a 'couple of million' BG customers not attempted to switch supplier at all over this 10 year period? If so, it would be a remarkable statistical result that every affected BG customer found BG the cheapest and best supplier.

Have a 'couple of million' BG customers not experienced the kind of problems discussed on this forum such as not being able to get a decent signal to transmit the readings? If so, it would be a remarkable statistical result that none of the BG customers live in low-signal areas etc.

Have a 'couple of million' BG smart meters not had a single failure? If so, it would be a remarkable level of reliability of a complex electronic device. If only smartphone and car manufacturers could achieve this level of reliability.



There are many very good reasons to not have a smart meter, it just happens that the SMETS1/SMETS2 issue is currently the most obvious one.

When the SMETS issue is resolved, people will then need to have a think about whether smart meters are a good idea when they continue to be promoted by the very same people who gloss over the SMETS issue, and in some cases appear to be deliberately misleading consumers into having obsolete technology installed in their homes.

Find your own link ! they are out there.Last time I checked on BGs roll out was several years ago when they had fitted 1.25 million smart meters and their latest adverts state that "millions, plural , are enjoying the benefits of smart meters.
I don t think you realise how long BG have been fitting these..over a decade at least now and so far in front of the foreigners like EDF, Scott Power and Npower and Eon who have only just got their act together recently as the usual "johnny come latelys "because they are the worst suppliers when it comes to paying out for anything, they do not even run proper Revenue Protection Units, or send round meter readers for safety checks very much..They cheat OFGEM who do not pounce on suppliers like these and nearly all the micro suppliers.
Of course there have been a few faults in BGs huge roll out so far but the customers I ve met when I ve visited to sort out such things as sim failures or non communicating meters have not been upset about it and I have NEVER had a complaint whatsoever from anyone who has a working smart meter.
BG should be applauded for the way they run their business, the only supplier to take theft of energy seriously unlike the foreigners who are not interested and they allow their customers to steal energy at will and do nothing much to stop them..Smart meters are needed badly for this purpose because dumb meters are useless when the foreigners come in and make a mess of it all.
I ve said this before about BG in that they retain a loyal customer base who never switch much at all. None of the others can come near to British Gas..its all in the name !

EachPenny

House_Martin wrote: »

Find your own link ! they are out there.Last time I checked on BGs roll out was several years ago when they had fitted 1.25 million smart meters and their latest adverts state that "millions, plural , are enjoying the benefits of smart meters.
...
Of course there have been a few faults in BGs huge roll out so far but the customers I ve met when I ve visited to sort out such things as sim failures or non communicating meters have not been upset about it and I have NEVER had a complaint whatsoever from anyone who has a working smart meter.

That's a bit rude. All I was asking was you provide a link to support your statistical claims. If your source of information is adverts then I think I understand why you are reluctant to provide links to the research.

I'm not querying the number of smart meters installed, only your claim that everybody who has had one installed is happy and hasn't had problems with them.

On your final point quoted above, in a further development it has been revealed that members of the Ursidae family prefer to defecate in areas of land dedicated to aboriculture.

Bigphil1474

Not so sure about the heaped praise about BG. I expect many of their 'loyal' customers are those that are massively overpaying on standard variable tariffs because they've not bothered, or have been unable to, find out how expensive BG are. That's my own personal sweeping statement of course.
Why would everyone want a smart meter? I can go in the cupboard with my phone in my hand, read what's on the meter, tap a few buttons on the phone, and my meter reading is off to my supplier. Even if you have a smart meter, common sense would tell you that you should read the meter yourself regularly anyway, to make sure it isn't in error. Just seems to be either a way of making meter readers redundant, or to deal with people who are too lazy to do their own readings and get a shock after years of estimated ones and find they owe a fortune.

EachPenny

Bigphil1474 wrote: »

...Just seems to be either a way of making meter readers redundant...

Given that two of the greatest smart meter supporters on here appear to be meter readers it would seem unlikely this will happen. (Turkeys/Christmas etc...)

My guess is they will be redeployed doing other things like 'safety checks', replacing batteries, fixing non-working sims, replacing non-working meters (except BG ones) etc. All of these tasks will require a higher level of training and knowledge - therefore the redeployed meter readers will need to be paid more.

Which leads to the question... if all the meter readers are redeployed to fixing non-working smart meters and carrying out 'safety checks' (and possibly paid more for doing it) then how will smart meters save the energy companies money? Especially given the higher capital (leasing) costs of smart meters and the costs of running the central hub to collect and distribute the data.

Is it possible the idea that smart meters will reduce the cost of house visits is - like most of the other claims made about smart meters - a bit of a fib?