smart meters when with different companies for elec and gas

niktheguru

Hey guys,
Heres a question that i've struggled to find the answer to.
For those who want a smart meter but who are with two different companies for the electricity and gas.
As I understand it, the company providing the utility e.g. electricity, is responsible for fitting the electric smart meter, and you have to go to the gas company to provide the gas smart meter. You cannot ask one company to replace both.
If you wanted a smart meter in this scenario I'm assuming you need to change the electricity one first, and then the gas (as the electricity one is connected to the WAN transponder thing (additional box) and then when the gas smart meter is installed it is connected to the electricity WAN transponder for sending its meter readings.
(From what i've been told you cant just have a smart gas meter without a smart electricity meter)

Say if the two companies you have your utilities with do not fit the same BRAND of smart meter, does that cause a problem with connections?
Also, would you then need two IHDs or one?

I currently have 2 SMETS1 meters fitted by british gas. I like many on here switch to the cheapest tariff every year. I moved back to british gas for the gas last year as it was the cheapest. They couldn't get my gas meter to become smart again because despite my electricity meter being fitted by british gas it no longer belonged to them (at least thats what the installer said) and so he couldn't touch it, and as it was working as a dumb meter there was no way for the gas meter to get a signal to send readings.
I am thinking of going with octopus for electricity soon for one of their smarter tariffs, so may need to get the electricity meter changed to one of their smets2 ones (as it seems like it will be decades before these Smets1 meters are upgraded "remotely"). If they are willing to do that, will it then be easy to activate the british gas smart meter, or will that just need replacing or waiting till the smets1 is upgraded.

Hope anyone with some knowledge about this can help?
(and yes i do understand i can just give manual readings!!)

Verdigris

It is unlikely that a supplier will change an existing smart meter. As you electric meter is SMETS1, and not with the original supplier, it will almost certainly be dumb. Somebody I know had SMETS2 meters fitted by BG. She then moved her electric account to Octopus, having checked that both meters would stay smart. It hasn't been a total success. It worked for a while but, last I heard, the gas readings weren't being relayed by the the electric meter and they were still trying to sort it out. With SMETS1 meters you will need to wait for the firmware updates to go out before they will(may) work properly.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

niktheguru

Thanks Verdigris,
British gas were actually willing to upgrade my smets1 meters to smets2, but the engineer then refused because I didn't have electricity with them and said replacing the gas one on its own wouldn't work as he was "not allowed " to touch the WAN transponder thing that is attached in the electric cupboard near the electric meter.
Octopus have said they would be willing to change the meter if I wanted to use one of their smart tariffs, whether they actually do would be another thing entirely!

Verdigris

British gas were actually willing to upgrade my smets1 meters to smets2,

The earlier BG Landis & Gyr meters are not upgradable by firmware update, so perhaps that is why they were initially willing to upgrade. I'm a recently retired meter reader, so heard lots of stories from consumers over the years. One thing seemed to be constant, that suppliers were inconsistent with their smart meter policies, they seem to change policy with the wind.

If you are wanting to go to Octopus for their Agile tariffs it may be worth waiting for your gas contract to expire (or pay the early exit penalty) and then get Octopus to replace both meters. You could change gas supplier later with a reasonable chance of the gas meter staying smart. You definitely need the electric meter to be working properly to get the Agile benefits.

niktheguru

sorry, when i meant upgrade i meant "replace", rather than a firmware upgrade. They sent the engineer round to do it, but he said he'd only do it if he changed both (if i was with british gas for both), but totally get what you are saying. there are indeed so many inconsistencies!!

Verdigris

Yes, I understood that. It is just that some meters won't take a firmware upgrade so I surmised that is why they were willing to replace, in your case. Usually they'll just say wait for the electronic upgrade. (probably as a ruse to stop you changing supplier, says my cynical mind)

The whole smart meter roll-out is a shambles, IMO. It should never have been left to individual suppliers. It should have been done by a neutral third party. The non-upgradable meters were just a means to inhibit customer churn. Only now, since SMETS2 became mandatory, is the program anything like fit for purpose. Practically a whole decade has been wasted and the completion date recedes ever further into the future.

niktheguru

Verdigris said:

Yes, I understood that. It is just that some meters won't take a firmware upgrade so I surmised that is why they were willing to replace, in your case. Usually they'll just say wait for the electronic upgrade. (probably as a ruse to stop you changing supplier, says my cynical mind)

The whole smart meter roll-out is a shambles, IMO. It should never have been left to individual suppliers. It should have been done by a neutral third party. The non-upgradable meters were just a means to inhibit customer churn. Only now, since SMETS2 became mandatory, is the program anything like fit for purpose. Practically a whole decade has been wasted and the completion date recedes ever further into the future.

Definitely agree with you there. SMETS2 is what they should have started with!