Octopus Tracker

la531983

Telegraph_Sam said:

la531983 said

Suppose all you can really do then is make sure after a period of cheap rates send a reading in straight away, so they cant "smooth" it to their advantage to assign more to the more expensive days.

I thought smoothing was triggered only when there had been.a loss of data which is presumably the exception? Sending in readings more or less frequently isn't going to change anything?

The person I replied to is a tracker customer on a normal meter, they will apply the smoothing mechanism to him all the time. 

MultiFuelBurner

Or until his product expires as then they will need a smart meter to be able to sign back up to tracker.

Griffindog

wadeo0 said:

For someone without working smart meters who is on the tracker does anyone have any insight as to if there is an optimal time/frequency of providing manual readings to get the most from the tariff? (without doing them every day obviously!) At the moment I send them readings on the 10th, 20th and last day of the month and I think they just average it out. Anyone doing anything better/different?

Before I had smart meters installed I submitted readings any time and they applied the reading as the previous day. If you want accurate bills you need to submit daily readings. If you just send periodic readings you will get charged on the industry standards. It doesn’t really matter if prices are fairly stable but if there is a variation you can work it to your advantage. If you submit a reading at 11pm tonight for the last 24 hours it will be charged at yesterday’s unit rate.

Telegraph_Sam

I think each of these interesting replies needs to be read in the knowlege of whether the backround is smart or non-smart meters, otherwise misunderstandings are predictable.
For my part as a smart meter (G & E) user I have adopted a belt & braces "solution": Once a month I submit manual readings. To avoid being totally dependent on the hi-tec. The bills - usually - come through a few days later. Only at this point do I go through the detail. Which means that if there are any mid month glitches I only find out late in the day or not at all.  I have not yet made intensive use of Lipman, gas tracker, my smart energy, & co. Nor - to my knowledge - have "industry standards" been applied.Likewise smoothing.
Any suggestions for improvements to the above routine would be read with interest!

la531983

Yes. Don't bother submitting manual readings. 

Telegraph_Sam

My point is: Without a manual fall-back I am totally in Octopus' hands in the event of any disagreement over what goes on behind the scenes. Whilst uploading a meter reading once a month is normally no great hassle and can help establish the true facts.

masonic

Telegraph_Sam said:

I think each of these interesting replies needs to be read in the knowlege of whether the backround is smart or non-smart meters, otherwise misunderstandings are predictable.
For my part as a smart meter (G & E) user I have adopted a belt & braces "solution": Once a month I submit manual readings. To avoid being totally dependent on the hi-tec. The bills - usually - come through a few days later. Only at this point do I go through the detail. Which means that if there are any mid month glitches I only find out late in the day or not at all.  I have not yet made intensive use of Lipman, gas tracker, my smart energy, & co. Nor - to my knowledge - have "industry standards" been applied.Likewise smoothing.
Any suggestions for improvements to the above routine would be read with interest!

Smart meters automatically send index readings once a month anyway (even if you're on a fully smart tariff like Agile). You can see your reading history in the app (no longer on the website due to their latest "upgrade").

Telegraph_Sam

Tks for reminding me about the app - which I suppose works only on a mobile? I had been searching the site for the reading history which I now religiously keep on paper

Spoonie_Turtle

Telegraph_Sam said:

Tks for reminding me about the app - which I suppose works only on a mobile? I had been searching the site for the reading history which I now religiously keep on paper

Should work on a tablet too, if you have one.

masonic

Telegraph_Sam said:

Tks for reminding me about the app - which I suppose works only on a mobile? I had been searching the site for the reading history which I now religiously keep on paper

Yes, you will now need a smartphone (or BlueStacks) to see this. I suspect the website will eventually have this feature restored.