Cannot have a smart meter..........

Gandalf644

I have a ‘complex' electricity meter (one physical meter with two mpans or something) due to having storage heaters on the former npower ‘super tariff system, where the storage heaters had an afternoon boost in addition to the overnight charging. (There is no mains gas where I live). 

My housing association last month ripped out the entire storage heating system and replaced it with a brand new air source heat pump, with huge radiators etc. This new system is connected to the ‘normal’ side of the meter (actually on straight E7 on a now very cheap deal until July 2022 which was formerly needed for the hot water tank). 

This heating system change has rendered the super tariff storage heater side of the complex meter redundant (in fact the wires etc for it have been removed from the meter).

Being disabled, I cannot read the meter myself as it is too low down and around a corner in a cupboard. I am on the Priority Services Register both with my supplier (eon.next who superseded npower) and Northern Powergrid. Npower/eon.next should send a meter reader round every three months, but this has only been done once in the past eighteen months!

In the past, I did ask for a smart meter, to both save them the need to send a meter reader and also so that I didn’t get estimated bills. However they said I couldn’t have one due to being on a complex meter system which is incompatible with smart meters.  

Even the Ombudsman Service came down on their side and said I couldn’t have one fitted due to the complex nature of the existing meter.

However, now that the ‘complex’ side of the meter is no longer used, I asked eon.next again if I could have a smart meter fitted. They have refused again, saying it is because I have currently have a complex meter which is incompatible with a smart meter.

I explained that the complex system is no longer in use and that all that is required is a ‘bog standard’ E7 Smart meter, but they have again refused due to currently having this complex meter (albeit no longer used as a complex meter).

Can anyone help by explaining where I go next? I am both trying to save them a job in having to send a physical meter reader round and also make sure my electricity usage is correctly billed.

I don’t know what my new energy usage will be on this new air source heat pump vs the old storage heaters, so I do want to be able to monitor it as and when it needs to start for the winter.  

Many thanks.

Reed_Richards

Housing associations do their own thing.  When I, as an individual, had an ASHP installed last December a condition of the subsidy was that it has its own electricity meter so I can see exactly how much electricity it uses.  Nobody has to read this meter, it's just there for information.  Perhaps you have one, although it's probably equally inaccessible to you.

Sorry this does not answer the main thrust of your question.  Hopefully your heating costs will be roughly one third of what they were previously.  And you should already be using your heat pump for hot water, even if not yet for heating.    

Gandalf644

Reed_Richards said:

Housing associations do their own thing.  When I, as an individual, had an ASHP installed last December a condition of the subsidy was that it has its own electricity meter so I can see exactly how much electricity it uses.  Nobody has to read this meter, it's just there for information.  Perhaps you have one, although it's probably equally inaccessible to you.

Sorry this does not answer the main thrust of your question.  Hopefully your heating costs will be roughly one third of what they were previously.  And you should already be using your heat pump for hot water, even if not yet for heating.    

Sorry, I should have clarified - the heat pump is heating the new hot water tank overnight.

I just stayed on the E7, which under the old system was used for the immersion heater in the old tank, but is a cheaper rate overall that going single rate with the ASHP currently. 

The Housing Association tried to speak with eon.next about changing the meter but due to data protection etc eon.next would not engage. After I gave eon.next authority for the Housing Association to speak on my behalf, they got the same response as I got (above).

QrizB

Gandalf644 said:

In the past, I did ask for a smart meter, to both save them the need to send a meter reader and also so that I didn’t get estimated bills. However they said I couldn’t have one due to being on a complex meter system which is incompatible with smart meters.  

Even the Ombudsman Service came down on their side and said I couldn’t have one fitted due to the complex nature of the existing meter.

However, now that the ‘complex’ side of the meter is no longer used, I asked eon.next again if I could have a smart meter fitted. They have refused again, saying it is because I have currently have a complex meter which is incompatible with a smart meter.

I explained that the complex system is no longer in use and that all that is required is a ‘bog standard’ E7 Smart meter, but they have again refused due to currently having this complex meter (albeit no longer used as a complex meter).

Can anyone help by explaining where I go next?

I'd go back to E.ON Next. Don't ask for a smart meter but do explain that your complex meter is redundant and you would like to have it removed.

Keu

Gandalf644 said:

I have a ‘complex' electricity meter...

You must be the only consumer who desperately wants a smart meter, feedback I have seen says they record higher usage, the energy companies response. "they are more accurate than the credit meters so we were under charging you before" what a con

Be careful what you wish for, maybe get a selfie stick and video the meter reads.

imeach

As a side note, having a smart meter doesn't mean you won't see a meter reader again unfortunately.
Meters still need to be seen, be they smart, dumb, prepayment etc despite the fitters saying you will never see a meter reader again

Tokmon

Keu said:

Gandalf644 said:

I have a ‘complex' electricity meter...

You must be the only consumer who desperately wants a smart meter, feedback I have seen says they record higher usage, the energy companies response. "they are more accurate than the credit meters so we were under charging you before" what a con

Be careful what you wish for, maybe get a selfie stick and video the meter reads.

What a load of rubbish! Where have you seen this feedback and how have they shown this to be the case?

These are calibrated meters that have been shown to read accurately. If they were somehow set to record higher usage then this can easily be proven and would be big news.