smart meter shenanigans

mondyman

I had been with British Gas for years on smart meters with no problems. When the latest price hike was announced (which was going to add around £300 PA) I decided enough was enough & switched to Scottish Power (annoyingly British Gas had a deal that was featured on Martin's program not long after switching that would have matched the deal I'm on! Why oh why do your suppliers not say this when you ask to switch??!!).


Anyway, the switch went through but for some reason (which I guess I now know why!) the electric took longer. Because the meters are SMET1 they should turn into dumb meters.


British Gas sent me a final bill which all looked correct, Scottish Power had requested my opening readings which I had provided.


I was then shocked a few weeks later when our opening readings meant we had "used" £280 of electric in 4 WEEKS! This is basically impossible.


Looking at 12 months bills prior to the switch our average monthly electric usage is 310kWh, the highest being 411kWh over December (lots of Christmas lights!).


The discrepancy has happened during the switch, British Gas' final bill had a smart meter reading of 14416 on March 20th, which based on previous usage is correct, however Scottish Power requested our opening readings on March 16th, our electric meter was showing 15997 on that date (!), I have a picture to prove this too. So that's 1581kWh difference!!


I have been monitoring what the meter has been reading since the 15997 reading and it seems correct.


So the big coincidence is how the smart meter has managed to have a fit when switching suppliers!


I've raised a complaint with both suppliers and they are "looking into it".


Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Is it even technically possible for a meter to jump like this?!



How on earth can British Gas have a correct reading on a LATER date?!

Carrot007

I'm bet scottish power were reading a different smart meter to yours and using their readings.


There systems are useless (well, probably not, systems are systems and just do what they are meant to, it's usually the idiots using them, or maybe designing them) and mess up at the slightest provocation.


Did you never check your reads against the actual meter, and meter not the IHD? If not why not.

mac.d

If you've been with British Gas for a while, were you ever on one of the Free Time tariffs with them (you got free electric either a Saturday or Sunday)? If so, or if you're unsure, check there's not a couple of different readings on the meter (total, rate 1 etc). And be aware, the small display unit (IHD) will only show the total meter reading, and not different rates that are on the meter.

mondyman

Scottish Power haven't read any meter, I've provided the readings. The IHD reading matches what is on the meter. Do you mean British Gas have been reading another meter?! The meter serial number is on the bills and that matches the meter.

wild666

mondyman wrote: »

I had been with British Gas for years on smart meters with no problems. When the latest price hike was announced (which was going to add around £300 PA) I decided enough was enough & switched to Scottish Power (annoyingly British Gas had a deal that was featured on Martin's program not long after switching that would have matched the deal I'm on! Why oh why do your suppliers not say this when you ask to switch??!!).


Anyway, the switch went through but for some reason (which I guess I now know why!) the electric took longer. Because the meters are SMET1 they should turn into dumb meters.


British Gas sent me a final bill which all looked correct, Scottish Power had requested my opening readings which I had provided.


I was then shocked a few weeks later when our opening readings meant we had "used" £280 of electric in 4 WEEKS! This is basically impossible.


Looking at 12 months bills prior to the switch our average monthly electric usage is 310kWh, the highest being 411kWh over December (lots of Christmas lights!).


The discrepancy has happened during the switch, British Gas' final bill had a smart meter reading of 14416 on March 20th, which based on previous usage is correct, however Scottish Power requested our opening readings on March 16th, our electric meter was showing 15997 on that date (!), I have a picture to prove this too. So that's 1581kWh difference!!


I have been monitoring what the meter has been reading since the 15997 reading and it seems correct.


So the big coincidence is how the smart meter has managed to have a fit when switching suppliers!


I've raised a complaint with both suppliers and they are "looking into it".


Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Is it even technically possible for a meter to jump like this?!



How on earth can British Gas have a correct reading on a LATER date?!

Did you by any chance go on to British Gas free time tariff? If you did the meter reading, if you just took the total read, could include the free time units that were used as part of the free time on a Saturday or Sunday. My meter still adds the free time units to a separate reading on the meter. If you press A & B together on the meter for a few seconds it will cycle through time, date, daily charge, then eventually get to three readings TOTAL, ACT 1 & ACT 2. The total is the combined read of ACT 1 & 2 the ACT 1 is the reading used in the times not used for free time & ACT 2 is the free time reading.

It took me 7 months to find this out when I moved from British Gas and if you moved before the end of the free time tariff it keeps adding the units every Saturday or Sunday, mine still does.

badmemory

Are you sure the BG reading is an actual because it is after SP took over & I believe that the losing supplier loses access to the smart meter as soon as a new supplier takes over.

mondyman

Hi. Thanks for the replies. Yes i was on the freetine tarriff at one point!! The BG reading was sn actual read(via smart). SP took control on the 21st or 22nd( need to check) but asked for the reads on the 16th. I'll go and try button presses on the meter as didn't know any of this!!!

mondyman

Bingo! I did wonder whether the freetime had anything to do with this!! Sure enough act1 is what I'd expect!!! Many thanks everyone.

mac.d

The British Gas meter I've seen clearly is different from what wild666 has, its the Landis+Gyr E470 meter, and you just press the green button to cycle through the readings. It's explained on the British Gas website and it even mentions Free Time.

How to take a reading on a smart meter
1. Tap the green A button 3 or 4 times to go through the options.
2. Keep scrolling through options until the meter reading display screen shows "Rate 01 Act Imp". This shows your meter reading. If you have a Home Energy Freetime tariff , press the button again for "Rate 02 Act Imp" for the second rate reading.
3. If you go too far, keep pressing the button. It'll loop back around.

Just remember its Rate 1 you are looking for, and be aware that the IHD doesn't show this as the meter reading, it shows the total which is no use.