SMETS1 smart meters to have ‘full functionality’ from May

Uxb1

brewerdave wrote: »

Think I read recently ,that over 60% of the population are still with BG and their "regional" leccy Co. :eek:

Well when they read on here about the disasters with the low cost suppliers and the hours people waste on the phone on them have Direct bebit disasters and the rest they probably conclude that the likely cost of their time in sorting all this stuff out is rather more than the imagined savings.

Bark01

Enrolment S1 into the DCC does indeed start at the end of May but its going to take a year to be fully implemented.

This is the revised plan that was provided by the DCC 2 weeks ago.

The plan provides for three SMETS1 capability releases:
• an Initial Operating Capability (IOC) on 26 May 2019 comprising the Aclara,
Honeywell Elster and Itron meters currently operated by CGI IE;
• a Middle Operating Capability (MOC) on 30 September 2019, comprising the
Honeywell Elster meters currently operated by MDS and, if directed by Government
the Secure Meters group;
• a Final Operating Capability (FOC) on 12 December 2019 comprising Landis + Gyr
meters currently operated by either BG SMSO, DXC or CGI IE and, if directed by
Government, the EDMI meter group

https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/media/3057/smets1-lc13-revised-plan.pdf

Any S1 meters not enrolled into the DCC will need to be replaced with S2 meters by the end of next year.

brewerdave

Uxb1 wrote: »

Well when they read on here about the disasters with the low cost suppliers and the hours people waste on the phone on them have Direct bebit disasters and the rest they probably conclude that the likely cost of their time in sorting all this stuff out is rather more than the imagined savings.

Whilst I agree that the last 12 months have been pretty disastrous for a large number of people ,its worth saying that the savings derived from regular switches, have been tremendous in the preceding years.

For example ,I calculated a year or so ago, that I had "saved" ~ £3.5k over 8 years by moving around when compared with typical SVTs.

In one year (2016) I actually saved the equivalent of ~ £300pa just by switching tariffs as they were released WITHOUT actually moving supplier (EON):)

matelodave

Bark01 wrote: »

Enrolment S1 into the DCC does indeed start at the end of May but its going to take a year to be fully implemented.

This is the revised plan that was provided by the DCC 2 weeks ago.


https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/media/3057/smets1-lc13-revised-plan.pdf

Any S1 meters not enrolled into the DCC will need to be replaced with S2 meters by the end of next year.

Anyone who's been involved in project planning will recognise this as an extremely ambitious plan with so many dependencies and individual participants that it's unlikely to be fulfilled especially when it come to the software testing and verification

If I were a betting man I'd be forecasting a slippage rate of about a week a month if not a bit more - so add around three to six months

Michaelw

xman wrote: »

For us with the SMETS1 version, some good news here (I THINK)

Way clear for second cohort of first-generation smart meters to be enrolled on central network

My meter was installed by British Gas and I need to change supplier/tariff pronto as their new tariff will be expensive from next month... Not sure if I should stick with BG for a few months until SOMEBODY tells me the meter has been updated? or move anyway and hope for the best...

If you do switch check the suppliers service record and how quickly they will attend if a fault develops,theres potential for problems with these battery powered gas meters,like prepayment meters they can cut off the supply.Having the old gas card version of the L&G they tend to fail in cold weather outside in around two winters and will the new supplier have to change the meter then the battery?I would rather pay more with British Gas and have a good service the price under the cap is near identical in prepayment as small suppliers.

The smart meter favors the supplier as they have total control if the customer fails to pay the bill,instead simply switching to prepayment mode.

matelodave

Michaelw wrote: »

If you do switch check the suppliers service record and how quickly they will attend if a fault develops,theres potential for problems with these battery powered gas meters,like prepayment meters they can cut off the supply.Having the old gas card version of the L&G they tend to fail in cold weather outside in around two winters and will the new supplier have to change the meter then the battery?I would rather pay more with British Gas and have a good service the price under the cap is near identical in prepayment as small suppliers.

The smart meter favors the supplier as they have total control if the customer fails to pay the bill,instead simply switching to prepayment mode.

What happens if you dont pay for the gas in a prepayment meter? Does it still keep delivering gas, irrespective or does it shut off?

I really don't know as I've never had one

[Deleted User]

matelodave wrote: »

What happens if you dont pay for the gas in a prepayment meter? Does it still keep delivering gas, irrespective or does it shut off?

I really don't know as I've never had one

Hopefully the latest ones will be doing the sensible thing and shut off completely when the batteries go dead. forcing the occupier to get on the phone promptly. We change the batteries on the old meters when they are due after around five years.Smart prepays I think they are going to exchange the whole meter rather than spend 3 minutes slotting in a new battery.
I know only too well that if they shut down leaving the valve open, which they certainly can do, many customers will sit back for years on what they consider to be free energy and make absolutely zero effort to contact the supplier. So of course its more desirable for the supply to cut off when the battery dies. Cue silly comments about poor old pensioners freezing to death !
Ripping out the batteries on the old gas prepays is still a major fiddle in the hope it shuts down leaving valve open. The meters do display a low battery warning on the lcd screen, so they are forewarned.. "Call Help " is also displayed for other faults which they also completely ignore sometimes.

Michaelw

matelodave wrote: »

What happens if you dont pay for the gas in a prepayment meter? Does it still keep delivering gas, irrespective or does it shut off?

I really don't know as I've never had one

The L&G prepayment gas meter I had was identical to the G370 smart meter with a card slot,the gas supply did remain on I had a warning of a five * display before it went totally blank a day later.I was with Ebico SSE at that time however many with smart meters have complained of the supply being cut off.

I mentioned this several times simply because of the inconvenience of having to wait in four hours for a meter exchange,some forums of smaller suppliers people have been off supply for days'.The rules are different for prepayment customers which are likely to obtain a priority service.My advice is with these meters is service is priority not just price,they can and do fail more likely outside.

matelodave

I'm not asking what happens when the batteries run out I want to know what happens when the money runs out - do they keep delivering and racking up arrears or do they shut the supply off.

AFAIK that's what happens with leccy what about gas.

The question is pertinent to both smart and non-smart meters

Actually what I really want to know is whether all this whining and whinging about smart meters being capable of shutting of the supply is any different from a pre-pay that shuts the supply off if it runs out of money. Simple question

[Deleted User]

matelodave wrote: »

I'm not asking what happens when the batteries run out I want to know what happens when the money runs out - do they keep delivering and racking up arrears or do they shut the supply off.

The question is pertinent to both smart and non-smart meters

They rack up standing charges which remain unpaid Hundreds of pounds can rack up..This is one of the obvious ways to spot an energy thief. They will shut supply off once the emergency credit is used up.
Some have accrued many years of standing charges in a normal household with obvious energy usage ..Dead giveaway except for long term vacants