Which type of smart meter do I have?

john-zxr

Hi,

My energy supplier recently offered me a smart meter replacement for gas and electricity, which I accepted.

Now I find out that older smart meters (SMETS1) may not work as a smart meter if you change supplier due to compatibilities between communication protocols. The newer SMETS2 meters do not have this problem, but the majority of installed meters are the older ones.

My question is, is my meter first or second generation? I was looking for a list of meters or even which suppliers supported which meters, but I cannot find anything after a lot of looking. I could of course phone potential new suppliers and ask if they support my meter, but I would rather just see a list of who supports what to make the process quicker.

My meter is a Liberty 100 (electricity) and the install was done via Tonik energy. Im planning to switch suppliers soon and I dont want my smart meter to turn dumb again when I do. I also dont really want to wait until 2020 for the upgrade to all the old meters to be complete.

Does anyone know where to find a list of who supports what or whether this is a smets1 or 2 meter?

Thanks

John

matelodave

As there are only a couple of hundred SMETS2 meters out there yours is more than likely a SMETS1

Robin9

youtube.com/watch?v=Q7lHdQaJFOw

Does your meter look like this ? If so its a Smets 1 and dreadful to read yourself.

brewerdave

Don't know for sure ,but I think its very likely that Tonik are fitting SMETS1 meters, as so few SMETS2 meters have been fitted, even by the big boys. Unfortunately its likely to go "dumb" on switching.
As to waiting til 2020? My own view is that "adopting" these SMETS1 meters on to the centralised data collection system is NEVER going to happen - it'll be consigned to the "too difficult" box ,so these original meters will ultimately have to be replaced at the consumer's expense:(

john-zxr

Robin9 wrote: »

youtube.com/watch?v=Q7lHdQaJFOw

Does your meter look like this ? If so its a Smets 1 and dreadful to read yourself.

Yes, that's the one.

I can read the meter from the in house display, so thats not much of an issue.

john-zxr

brewerdave wrote: »

Don't know for sure ,but I think its very likely that Tonik are fitting SMETS1 meters, as so few SMETS2 meters have been fitted, even by the big boys. Unfortunately its likely to go "dumb" on switching.
As to waiting til 2020? My own view is that "adopting" these SMETS1 meters on to the centralised data collection system is NEVER going to happen - it'll be consigned to the "too difficult" box ,so these original meters will ultimately have to be replaced at the consumer's expense:(

Great...

I find it surprising there is no supplier compatibility guide anywhere. As if this wasn't the most badly thought out implementation in the first place, this now makes switching even harder, assuming you want your smart meter to remain smart.

Robin9

john-zxr wrote: »

Yes, that's the one.

I can read the meter from the in house display, so thats not much of an issue.

My MIL has this meter (an Eon instal - now the supplier is Flow) and we put the IHD in a drawer. I know it arguement goes that when people know how much energy costs they will cut down. My fear is that when my 97 yo MIL sees the figures she will turn things off , the thermostat down and she will get cold. She think 16 deg is too hot, her house now runs at 22

I manually read it direct from the meter - press 9

john-zxr

john-zxr wrote: »

Yes, that's the one.

I can read the meter from the in house display, so thats not much of an issue.

turns out, i cannot read the meter from the IHD, I just checked. I just assumed that was basic functionality, but no, it's not. Wow, this whole smart meter thing is a bit of a farce...

Robin9

Your thread "Which type of meter do I have? " is quite fundamental.

Does anyone know of a website in the public domain that lists which supplier supplies what make/model of meter and its compatability ?

There was a spokesman for the industry on BCC this moring who I think was speaking a lot of rot when he said that 80% of the meters remained Smart when switching suppliers. I only know of Sainsbury and BG; some seem to regain their Smartness when you switch back.

john-zxr

That list would be very helpful.

Today I have spoken to

npower, they supply meters unique to them that are not compatible with any other provider. Way to go...

Eon, says if your meter is smets2 they can support no matter what, if its smets1, then only if it is on their list. When I asked what was on the list, they couldnt tell me

Tonik, confirmed my meter is smets1, as are all Liberty100 meters, since upgrades have not started yet. It will only require a software update to make it smets2 compliant - apparently.

badmemory

john-zxr wrote: »

It will only require a software update to make it mets2 compliant - apparently.

Apparently the moon is made of blue cheese - I am sure both these comments are completely true!