Smart meter connectivity and provisioning. 2 questions.

milgo

With Octopus and recently had smart meters fitted, (Landis Gyr E470 type 5424 Electric with WNC UBC-TN6 SKU1 Cellular comms hub & Landis Gyr G470 672 SMETS2 Gas). The gas meter is not sending readings back to Octopus, who I have spoken to about this and they have tried a remote reset (of the comms hub I presume) but still no readings getting back to them. 

Q1. Will the gas meter continue to try and make a connection to the comms hub and hence transmit readings to the supplier or is that it for now?!

Octopus smart meter support did say to contact them in 2022 as there was a possibility that a new (updated) comms hub could be available that if/when fitted would enable the gas meter to communicate with it

Now, since installation I have instigated a move of my gas supply to ZOG.  

Q2. Would there be any point in pursuing ZOG to get the gas meter to connect to the comms hub and hence transmit readings?

Interestingly, I have experience with other properties where I am responsible for gas & electric that have smart meters fitted and the distance between the meters is substantially greater that that of the recent Octopus installation and they have been working fine for some time.

Thanks

[Deleted User]

You can try with Zog but I have found that their knowledge of smart metering is somewhat basic. That said, as your gas supplier they are responsible for trying to fix the broken connection.

I also think that the CS team at Octopus may be putting out some misleading information. I believe that they are talking about the new dual band comms hub. My limited understanding is that this is being rolled out to improve HAN connection: the network that supports the link to your IHD. 

Is the present hub showing a gas paired LED? 

milgo

Is the present hub showing a gas paired LED? 

Not too sure.  I'll try to get that confirmed.  It is certainly not showing anything gas on the IHD.

brewerdave

Zog aren't installing SMETS2 currently and (as far as I'm aware) can't read them.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

don't rely on smart meter sending readings, nor IHD working correctly.

Take your own meter readings, at least once a month and send to your supplier, also, set up a wee spreadsheet, and keep an eye on usage and payments.

QrizB

brewerdave said:

Zog aren't installing SMETS2 currently and (as far as I'm aware) can't read them.

I'm pretty sure someone reported that Zog can read DCC-enrolled smart meters, but I'm struggling to find it with the forum search!

[Deleted User]

brewerdave said:

Zog aren't installing SMETS2 currently and (as far as I'm aware) can't read them.

Yes, they can. I switched to them 10 days ago. They applied their security certificates to the meters by 8am and had a validated smart meter reading 2 hours later. My Final Statement from my old supplier was emailed to me the following day. 

I have pointed out to them that their messaging and website need to be updated. They are still asking for manual meter readings.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] said:

Hi,

don't rely on smart meter sending readings, nor IHD working correctly.

Take your own meter readings, at least once a month and send to your supplier, also, set up a wee spreadsheet, and keep an eye on usage and payments.

If the gas meter hasn’t been commissioned properly then the end user may not be able to see any manual readings. The gas meter is the last thing to be commissioned. The process times out after 59 minutes by which time the installer has moved on. If there is a gas paired LED, the supplier can attempt to commission the meter remotely or, as happened in my case, they call the homeowner and talk them through the commissioning process.  My gas meter needed 2 button presses!

milgo

[Deleted User] said:

[Deleted User] said:

Hi,

don't rely on smart meter sending readings, nor IHD working correctly.

Take your own meter readings, at least once a month and send to your supplier, also, set up a wee spreadsheet, and keep an eye on usage and payments.

If the gas meter hasn’t been commissioned properly then the end user may not be able to see any manual readings. The gas meter is the last thing to be commissioned. The process times out after 59 minutes by which time the installer has moved on. If there is a gas paired LED, the supplier can attempt to commission the meter remotely or, as happened in my case, they call the homeowner and talk them through the commissioning process.  My gas meter needed 2 button presses!

@[Deleted User] that's interesting to know, regarding instances whereby the customer can assist in the commissioning after the engineer has left. I did have an email conversation with the smart meter team about the gas meter not being connected and asked if there was anything that I could do at my end to help resolve the issue.  Button presses of the meter was not something mentioned by the smart meter agent.  Perhaps they could see remotely that that would not be an option to resolve the issue.

@[Deleted User] I totally agree with what you have said and have been providing regular meter reads and keeping records for the past 5 years following a billing dispute with a provider. With smart meters I like the convenience that they bring such as automatically submitted reads and the ability to read the meters remotely and in comfort when I so choose.

[Deleted User]

milgo said:

[Deleted User] said:

[Deleted User] said:

Hi,

don't rely on smart meter sending readings, nor IHD working correctly.

Take your own meter readings, at least once a month and send to your supplier, also, set up a wee spreadsheet, and keep an eye on usage and payments.

If the gas meter hasn’t been commissioned properly then the end user may not be able to see any manual readings. The gas meter is the last thing to be commissioned. The process times out after 59 minutes by which time the installer has moved on. If there is a gas paired LED, the supplier can attempt to commission the meter remotely or, as happened in my case, they call the homeowner and talk them through the commissioning process.  My gas meter needed 2 button presses!

@[Deleted User] that's interesting to know, regarding instances whereby the customer can assist in the commissioning after the engineer has left. I did have an email conversation with the smart meter team about the gas meter not being connected and asked if there was anything that I could do at my end to help resolve the issue.  Button presses of the meter was not something mentioned by the smart meter agent.  Perhaps they could see remotely that that would not be an option to resolve the issue.

@[Deleted User] I totally agree with what you have said and have been providing regular meter reads and keeping records for the past 5 years following a billing dispute with a provider. With smart meters I like the convenience that they bring such as automatically submitted reads and the ability to read the meters remotely and in comfort when I so choose.

The average CS member would not be able to help. I was doing it in concert with the Head of the supplier’s smart meter team who had re-set up my meter for commissioning and was monitoring the process at his end. 

milgo

Ah okay! As soon as I can confirm the status of the gas LED (do you know if i'm looking for a solid or flashing LED) then I might be able to go the same or similar route to yourself to get if online.