Smart meter installed last month...am I stuck with first utility?

rothchick

So I agreed to have a smart meter installed by Siemens in July as First Utility offered this to me free of charge and now my deal is ending 30th September. I had someone visit my property yesterday to make sure new meter was installed correctly and working fine and when I aked him if I can just switch he said that most other suppliers are not covered on this new meter and it may not work. He said if I switch I will have to provide my own readings which I'm fine with but I am really concerned that I really shouldn't have allowed this smart meter to be installed
I like the way it works and I like seeing how much energy I use, but the prices quoted by first Utility for another plan are a lot more than when I did the comparison through the energy club.

Help??

molerat

If you want it to work as a smart meter then you will have to stay with FU. If you change supplier it will become just a meter and you will have to submit readings which are more difficult to take than with a non smart meter.. Your in home display will also have limited, if any, functions. I am afraid you, along with millions of others, have been conned by the government and suppliers into adopting flawed first generation technology.

matelodave

It will still work as a meter but it wont send readings back to your new supplier so you'll have to revert to reading it yourself and sending in your own readings.

It's nice to have it automatically read but not a big deal to do it yourself.

The in-home display should still work by telling you what you are using but wont give billing info but it depends what meter you've got and how it's set up.

We all know it's daft, probably even the government does as well but that's what happens when you try to please everyone, you end up annoying nearly everybody and pleasing no one at all.

Frozen_up_north

Been there, got a useless "smart meter" from E.On, switched to Scottish Power, who can't remotely read it, in process of a switch to EDF... no issue with switching suppliers, except they can't remotely read the meter.

I just wish these smart meters were readable by other suppliers. Yes I know about the central facility that isn't yet working. The indoor remote display didn't support peak/off peak rates either... another half baked IT project peddled by Government that doesn't work.

System

rothchick wrote: »

So I agreed to have a smart meter installed by Siemens in July as First Utility offered this to me free of charge and now my deal is ending 30th September. I had someone visit my property yesterday to make sure new meter was installed correctly and working fine and when I aked him if I can just switch he said that most other suppliers are not covered on this new meter and it may not work. He said if I switch I will have to provide my own readings which I'm fine with but I am really concerned that I really shouldn't have allowed this smart meter to be installed
I like the way it works and I like seeing how much energy I use, but the prices quoted by first Utility for another plan are a lot more than when I did the comparison through the energy club.

Help??

On a positive note, Ofgem has mandated that suppliers must find a way of migrating these legacy meters on to the new Data Communications Company by 2020. When this 'upgrade' has taken place, you will have a smart meter that provides data to all suppliers.

PS: If First Utility told you that the smart meter is free then they might have been a bit economical with the truth. Smart meters are like the NHS. Free at the point of delivery but paid for out of taxes and, in the case of smart meters, through future charges on your energy bill.

matelodave

molerat wrote: »

If you want it to work as a smart meter then you will have to stay with FU. If you change supplier it will become just a meter and you will have to submit readings which are more difficult to take than with a non smart meter.. Your in home display will also have limited, if any, functions. I am afraid you, along with millions of others, have been conned by the government and suppliers into adopting flawed first generation technology.

In what way are they more difficult to take - I can just go out and read my consumption on the meter dispaly in the same way as I always did but I've also got the benefit of reading it from the comfort of my armchair using the IHD at the moment.

I'm not sure if the IHD will die if I change suppliers but I dont expect the meter to go awry and start giving random, difficult or erroneous readings - it just wont send them back to the supplier and my IHD wont get updated with billing info.

molerat

matelodave wrote: »

In what way are they more difficult to take - I can just go out and read my consumption on the meter dispaly in the same way as I always did but I've also got the benefit of reading it from the comfort of my armchair using the IHD at the moment.

I'm not sure if the IHD will die if I change suppliers but I dont expect the meter to go awry and start giving random, difficult or erroneous readings - it just wont send them back to the supplier and my IHD wont get updated with billing info.

Have you seen the E.On advert where they are rummaging deep into the cupboard to read the meter and the smart meter puts a stop to all that ? Can you read your meter from 6ft away with a torch like I can, I bet not, you will have to go right up to it and press buttons whilst holding a torch in your mouth, paper in the other hand and pen between your toes. Not fun when it is buried at the back of the understairs cupboard.

House_Martin

Hengus wrote: »

On a positive note, Ofgem has mandated that suppliers must find a way of migrating these legacy meters on to the new Data Communications Company by 2020. When this 'upgrade' has taken place, you will have a smart meter that provides data to all suppliers.

PS: If First Utility told you that the smart meter is free then they might have been a bit economical with the truth. Smart meters are like the NHS. Free at the point of delivery but paid for out of taxes and, in the case of smart meters, through future charges on your energy bill.

BG have been fitting meters for years which can be updated over-the-air, or can be easily upgraded without changing the meter.
Only the very early ones using a sim card instead of a hub will need to be changed.
BG who have installed 4 million smart meters have been fitting Landis and Gyr E470 electric smart meters and Libra 310 /p310 smart gas meters. The latter can be updated without a meter switch to meet SMETS2 WAN standard.
We will not know how this works until the DCCC goes live, whenever that may be.

System

The experts at The Data Communications Company might well be of the view that they went live nearly 9 months ago:

DCC Release 1.2 now live

On 8 November 2016, DCC received notice from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), that the Secretary of State has directed that the relevant provisions of the Smart Energy Code (SEC) are activated to enable DCC to offer Enrolment and Communication Services to Users in the Central and South Regions, in accordance with the Scope of DCC Release 1.2. This direction means that, in addition to the pre-existing Services that DCC offers, DCC is nally live to communicate with meters on its production platform in the Central and South Regions.

On 25 November 2016 BEIS confirmed that DCC is ready for operations in the North Region.

DCC Live Letter - Central and South

DCC Live Direction Letter - Central and South

DCC Live Letter - North

DCC Live Direction Letter - North



Release 1.3

The data communications functionality (Release 1.2) is ready for live operations. DCC is consulting with SEC Parties on a plan for delivering more functionality (known as Release 1.3).



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The Programme delivery is overseen internally by a sound governance structure (see below) and externally by governance that includes DECC and industry.You can find out more about these activities and DCC's progress on them elsewhere in this website. If you have specific queries please get in touch with us at contact@smartdcc.co.uk.

rothchick

Thank you! I had a bit of a panic moment! Off to do some more comparisons

GandyP

Hi I have changed from SSE tu First Utility( FU). My Dumb SSE meter handset still displays meter readings via the menu and also the daily Gas and Elec energy in kWh commencing 0:00 hrs and current usage rate kW/h for both Gas and Elec. The energy usage rates are based on interval readings of 5min for electricity and 30min for gas. I have been unable to get any information on the following questions from First utility.

a) What are the FU handset interval reading rates for Electricity 5min or 30min or other
b) What are the FU handset interval reading rates for Gas 30min or other.
c) How frequently are the FU readings uploaded to your account
d) How soon can you access the FU readings graphs etc on your account after FU aquire the information.

I would appreciate answers from any FU smart meter users.
Regards Andy