Smart Meters

House_Martin

badmemory wrote: »

So 3 hours on and no-one has an answer to this! It is not a minor issue in a mostly gas using house, nobody is prepared to state that when a battery fails you will still be able to heat & cook! No low battery warning! Not even a "you can replace the battery yourself" notification. How many reasons does a reasonable person need to not have a smart meter fitted?

Batteries in gas meters have been around for over a decade at least. Dumb credit meters have had failing batteries in all this time no one made a fuss over it on here .Hopefully they should shut the valve off and that will force the occupier to get on the phone
.Many fail leaving the gas valve open and when these are prepayment meters in many cases the occupier would not contact the supplier for a gold pig ! Why would they ? they don`t have to top up anymore and its not their fault so all is well. Messing with the batteries in these meters is a common fiddle where the occupiers hope that the meter valve stays open when it shuts down.
A bigger fiddle is to simply take the meter off and "assist " the valve to open and stay open.. The meter should display "off " "and "call help " , which they do not do in the main if they are receiving unregistered gas
Smart gas meters have the battery fail function connected to the server.
I have seen various codes displayed on Siemens type E6 meters when the batter is low.B, B3, F, and low battery spring to mind.
I have not seen any low battery displays on the modern Siemens smart gas meters but have seen a few "blank screens " which indicate a battery fail.Sometimes pressing the black button as well as the usual red button will display a reading.

badmemory

I have understood that we are all thieves (even if only energy ones). I just want to know if I am stupid enough to change to smart meters, will my gas turn off so I have no heating etc just because some stupid battery goes flat. This is not rocket science but just a simple question with a yes or no answer.

AndyCF

badmemory wrote: »

I have understood that we are all thieves (even if only energy ones). I just want to know if I am stupid enough to change to smart meters, will my gas turn off so I have no heating etc just because some stupid battery goes flat. This is not rocket science but just a simple question with a yes or no answer.

From various reading, it does seem to vary but for Smart's the general answer does seem to usually be 'yes it will shut off' , although this could be due to some of them being in 'prepay' mode so 'default = closed' rather than 'open' , this is my primary reason for not having a Smart Gas, otherwise I'd be happy with one (or a Smart Gas without a cutoff solenoid valve within = fine)

Battery on in home display = no, not that I am aware, there's no indication (sadly)

House_Martin

badmemory wrote: »

I have understood that we are all thieves (even if only energy ones). I just want to know if I am stupid enough to change to smart meters, will my gas turn off so I have no heating etc just because some stupid battery goes flat. This is not rocket science but just a simple question with a yes or no answer.

You understood wrongly ! with a modern smart meter I hope and pray that the gas meter shuts the valve off if in the unlikely event that the battery fails before its 10 year lifespan, it should do, its designed to do that and its no big deal if it does. You may well have a credit meter with a battery in it now, extremely common meters, and as I have pointed out YOU or anyone else has nt been banging on about it until smart meters came into use.It suits your agenda to have a poke now at smart gas meters with batteries for some unknown reason. Your next gas meter , smart or dumb will have a battery in it. Live with it and stop complaining about it.Get a standby electric fire if it bugs you that much .
I ve certainly got a couple of electric fires in the garage for that purpose. I don t trust my new combi boiler at all with its 6 to 10 year lifespan, its already had two call outs leaving me without heating but I m not complaining on here about Gloworm Combi boilers
The prepayment users who s batteries fail with the meter passing unregistered gas who fail to contact the supplier cannot be described as thieves.Only when they take the meter off and assist the valve to stay open will I describe them as thieves, and there`s a surfeit of those users around
The supplier will be aware of the low battery signal on a smart gas meter and it should never get into the position of shutting off the gas supply .

badmemory

I do find it interesting that none of the power cos with posting priveleges ever comment on these threads with real concerns as they probably don't impact current profits. I suspect that a yes or no answer is way beyond them & their co authorisation.

House_Martin

nxdmsandkaskdjaqd wrote: »

What happens to the meter if battery dies after the 10 years?

They are exchanged at the property, then hopefully they will be put back into service with a new battery installed in the workshop.
It is not uncommon to see gas meters re installed in other properties when they are just a few years old.

badmemory

House_Martin wrote: »

The supplier will be aware of the low battery signal on a smart gas meter and it should never get into the position of shutting off the gas supply .

How many weeks will it take to replace that flat battery? 2 days would be too long. You are obviously selective in the threads you read as I have read several which refer to their gas being turned off & taking some time to be turned back on.

Norman_Castle

House_Martin wrote: »

You understood wrongly ! with a modern smart meter I hope and pray that the gas meter shuts the valve off if in the unlikely event that the battery fails before its 10 year lifespan, it should do, its designed to do that and its no big deal if it does. You may well have a credit meter with a battery in it now, extremely common meters, and as I have pointed out YOU or anyone else has nt been banging on about it until smart meters came into use.It suits your agenda to have a poke now at smart gas meters with batteries for some unknown reason. Your next gas meter , smart or dumb will have a battery in it. Live with it and stop complaining about it.Get a standby electric fire if it bugs you that much .
I ve certainly got a couple of electric fires in the garage for that purpose. I don t trust my new combi boiler at all with its 6 to 10 year lifespan, its already had two call outs leaving me without heating but I m not complaining on here about Gloworm Combi boilers
The prepayment users who s batteries fail with the meter passing unregistered gas who fail to contact the supplier cannot be described as thieves.Only when they take the meter off and assist the valve to stay open will I describe them as thieves, and there`s a surfeit of those users around
The supplier will be aware of the low battery signal on a smart gas meter and it should never get into the position of shutting off the gas supply .

It appears the answer is, yes it will shut the gas off, as they are designed to do that.

Not sure why this can't be answered without defensive opinions. Whether this is a good or bad thing or if the battery would be replaced before it failed is a separate question.

Nick_C

The possibility of the battery in my smart gas meter failing does not worry me. I understand that the supplier is monitoring the battery level, and will send someone out to replace the battery or the meter before it fails.

Similar technology exists with my Hive thermostat. This uses AA batteries which should last at least a year before being replaced by the consumer. Hive monitor the battery level remotely and send out emails when the batteries need to be replaced.

This monitoring and alert system works well for Hive. I have no reason to believe a similar system won't work equally well for smart gas meters.

nxdmsandkaskdjaqd

Nick_C wrote: »

I understand that the supplier is monitoring the battery level, and will send someone out to replace the battery or the meter before it fails.

I have no reason to believe a similar system won't work equally well for smart gas meters.

However, if you have changed supplier, the smart meter becomes dumb, therefore No ONE is monitoring the battery!