No space for 2 smart meters

greenguppie

@minkeyme

You say your electricity smart meter is in a cupboard, but your non-smart gas meter is outside.

Is the cupboard inside the property, or a cupboard accessed from outside the house (often near the entrance door)? I ask because you refer to the electricity smart meter being "inside".

As for the gas meter that is "outside", presumably you mean outside but in a meter cupboard of some approved type? (usually accessed by a triangular meter cupboard key).

I'm trying to envisage how the current gas supply pipe to the gas meter will be transferred to the site the current electricity meter is located at.
If the cupboard that houses the electrity meter is inside the property, is the wall the meter is located on the interior side of an external wall?
How far is that from where the gas meter is currently located, albeit on the exterior of the external wall?

Did the BG fitter provide you with any reason he was seeking to move the location of the gas meter from "outside" to "inside"?
(That may depend on the answers to my questions above as to what you mean by those terms)
Normally, preference is given nowdays to fit a gas meter to the external side of an external wall, especially where such a site already exists.
Using the existing gas meter location would also minimise installation work such as extending/moving existing gas supply pipes.

 

minkeyme

Thank you all for the comments and questions. I’m coming to the conclusion that I’ve either partially misunderstood what they are trying to do (most likely) or it’s going to be a bigger job than anticipated. I’m going to attempt to “speak” to someone at BG today and try to get some clarification. I shall update when I have so you know where I got to. In the meantime thank you again for taking the time to help me.

[Deleted User]

A key point is that if a supplier has deemed your existing gas meter to be end-of-life, then the meter has to be replaced. If there is any movement of gas pipes involved then this cost will fall to you. Your electricity supplier is correct in that a working electricity meter is just that -  a working meter.

theoretica

I have a vague idea of reading that when you have both gas an electricity meters changed you only need one of them to have the full communication unit.  The gas meter (battery powered) sends readings to the electricity meter which then sends them in.  So maybe the  issue is not wanting to move the whole gas meter (and pipes etc) but needing an extra communication unit with access to power as the current electricity meter won't do the job.  Maybe a bit garbled and misremembered - but a two part gas meter makes sense to me.

[Deleted User]

theoretica said:

I have a vague idea of reading that when you have both gas an electricity meters changed you only need one of them to have the full communication unit.  The gas meter (battery powered) sends readings to the electricity meter which then sends them in.  So maybe the  issue is not wanting to move the whole gas meter (and pipes etc) but needing an extra communication unit with access to power as the current electricity meter won't do the job.  Maybe a bit garbled and misremembered - but a two part gas meter makes sense to me.

Not vague at all. The communications hub that connects to the DCC network sits above the electricity meter and it is powered by it. The gas meter has to be paired to the communications hub. Distance can be an issue. There are no communications hubs available for gas meters as there is no way to power them. Moreover, communications hubs connect to a highly secure network. A second communications hub would require a complete redesign of the network.

 All Gas meters are battery powered and they only communicate with the communications hub once every 30 minutes to preserve battery life.

niktheguru

I share some slight confusion with the other posters here.

Is your meter defective or fully working? Are you desperate to have a smart meter or not bothered? If you're not bothered then just leave as is and provide regular gas meter readings.
Like others have said, you shouldn't have to "pay" for the gas meter to be moved or replaced in this scenario.
I also dont really understand why they want to move your gas meter to inside. Presumably its not miles away from your electric meter and would be able to communicate with the transmitter connected to the SMETS1 electric meter.

I would tell british gas that you dont want the meter moved and they should replace it in the current location unless there is a specific reason they cant.

If you're desperate for a smart meter and british gas don't play ball, its often easier to move your gas to the same supplier as the electricity (even if only temporarily) and then ask that company to upgrade your gas meter to a smart meter. If they have responsibility of both the meters then there wont be any to and fro-ing between suppliers regarding responsibility. Then once changed and working you are free to switch back (but probably not ideal time with current rising prices to be moving to and from suppliers, unless you are on an expensive tariff already)

niktheguru

Dolor said:

theoretica said:

I have a vague idea of reading that when you have both gas an electricity meters changed you only need one of them to have the full communication unit.  The gas meter (battery powered) sends readings to the electricity meter which then sends them in.  So maybe the  issue is not wanting to move the whole gas meter (and pipes etc) but needing an extra communication unit with access to power as the current electricity meter won't do the job.  Maybe a bit garbled and misremembered - but a two part gas meter makes sense to me.

Not vague at all. The communications hub that connects to the DCC network sits above the electricity meter and it is powered by it. The gas meter has to be paired to the communications hub. Distance can be an issue. There are no communications hubs available for gas meters as there is no way to power them. Moreover, communications hubs connect to a highly secure network. A second communications hub would require a complete redesign of the network.

 All Gas meters are battery powered and they only communicate with the communications hub once every 30 minutes to preserve battery life.

This is for SMETS2 meters.
For some SMETS1 meters the communications hub is a separate entity sitting near the electricity meter and connected to it via cables. The SMETS2 meters have the comms hub directly connected to the meter, usually sitting on top of it. 

For all intents and purposes they do the same job though.

slipthru

minkeyme said:

Thank you all for the comments and questions. I’m coming to the conclusion that I’ve either partially misunderstood what they are trying to do (most likely) or it’s going to be a bigger job than anticipated. I’m going to attempt to “speak” to someone at BG today and try to get some clarification. I shall update when I have so you know where I got to. In the meantime thank you again for taking the time to help me.

Good luck with that. I've found British gas call centre to be most useless. But on the plus side they still fit non smart meters as i recently got one installed.

Carrot007

niktheguru said:

This is for SMETS2 meters.
For some SMETS1 meters the communications hub is a separate entity sitting near the electricity meter and connected to it via cables. The SMETS2 meters have the comms hub directly connected to the meter, usually sitting on top of it. 

For all intents and purposes they do the same job though.

I have had, (er) at least 3 smets1 meters. one had an external hub. The other was internal (well a extension module which is what I assume you meant for smets2.

And as for OP the dcc have no say in what the supplier does with the meter. I would assume BG just don't want to do the job and the call centre is making up random excuses, it would be the usual expectation for a front line call centre. I am with BG and asked them to replace my smets1 meter (in this case it is not with the dcc and not doing a lot), but again they do not care as as  per the govenment mandate there is a smart meter there. Whether it works remotely or not was not specified. As such they would ratehr change real dumb meters! (this one has an external hub, the previous at the same property did not).

[Deleted User]

As others have pointed out, the issue here is two meters and two suppliers. Each supplier is responsible for the meter that supplies its product. Clearly, one supplier and two meters makes this problem easier to resolve. If a supplier deems a meter to be end-of-life then it has to be changed with something. Before people start shouting they will fit a dumb smart meter, I was told recently by a Registered DCC User that there is no such thing as a dumb smart meter. The meters still have to be commissioned to allow firmware updates and monitoring (eg, gas battery life). Moreover, based on my experience last year, a gas meter that hasn’t been commissioned will just show a scrolling ‘awaiting to be commissioned message’. The ‘dumbness’ is that the supplier does not use smart meter readings for billing purposes.