SMETS2 and meter readings

chocwow

I've been asking EON for over a year if they can guarantee SMETS2 meters but all they say is "we can't say" and I refuse to tie myself to a single company which is all you get with smets1. And what happens when 2G/3G and 4G are abandoned in a couple of years? "we can't say" is thier reply. When I ask if the IHD can show actual meter readings all I get is "we can't say" Being disabled means I can't access any of my meters never mind pressing all sorts of buttons to get meter readings on the smart meter display. Ah, say EON we'll read the meters every three months. I never saw a meter reader in about 10 years but I'm only a disabled fool customer trying to get reliable info.

QrizB

So far as I'm aware, no installer is fitting SMETS1 meters now.

If anyone knows otherwise, please say so.

[Deleted User]

Suppliers are no longer fitting SMETS1 meters as they do not count towards the smart meter rollout and then can get fined for doing so. My SMETS2 meters were fitted nearly 4 years ago.

SMETS2 meters connect to the DCC Network via a WAN (wide area network). The IHD connects to the communications hub via a HAN (Home Area Network). Yes, the IHD will show actual meter readings but these are fast becoming irrelevant to billing. My electricity bills are based on 30 minute usage not index readings.

As far as communications are concerned, I doubt that the Government has agreed to Telefonica turning off the existing network within the lifetime of the present communications hubs. It is these hubs that will have to be replaced not the smart meters.

Please don’t believe everything that you read on MSE. Smart meters work and I say that as someone in his 70s. There are now more smart meters installed than analogue meters and it only a question of time before suppliers deem your meters to be end of life. When this occurs, the supplier has the legal right to fit smart meters with or without your permission.

Verdigris

I would say it is vanishingly unlikely that E.on are still fitting SMET1 meters. E.on have been pretty proactive in their smart meter program, through M Group, who do the installations for them. The SMETS1 stock would have run out long ago. I certainly saw SMETS2 examples of the meter they use, before I retired a year and a half ago.

Upzeecreek

Eon fitted our smart meter last Oct. I asked meter fitter if it was Smets 2 and he said that's all they fit now. 

QrizB

chocwow said:

And what happens when 2G/3G and 4G are abandoned in a couple of years?

2033 isn't "a couple of years".

From https://www.smartme.co.uk/technical.html

The government and UK mobile network operators have agreed to phase out 2G and 3G mobile networks by 2033 in order to free up bandwidth for 5G and future 6G services. This includes Telefónica (O2) who provide the Smart Meter communications for the Central and Southern regions of the UK.
This change will require the replacement of communications hubs on the Smart Electricity Meters in the Central and Southern regions of the UK. To this end the DCC plan to have 4G single band Communications Hubs available in 2023, with dual band to follow in Q2 2024.

Ultrasonic

I had a smart meter fitted by EOn in October 2020. It's SMETS2 and you can see the raw readings on the IHD. I'm surprised that when asked over the phone the EOn representative didn't give a straight 'yes' to both questions as I can't see anything else being the case personally.

MWT

Ultrasonic said:

I had a smart meter fitted by EOn in October 2020. It's SMETS2 and you can see the raw readings on the IHD. I'm surprised that when asked over the phone the EOn representative didn't give a straight 'yes' to both questions as I can't see anything else being the case personally.

The meter readings don't usually extend to showing the individual registers on the IHD, so it would be yes if you were on a single-rate tariff, but no if you are on E7 for example...

Ultrasonic

MWT said:

Ultrasonic said:

I had a smart meter fitted by EOn in October 2020. It's SMETS2 and you can see the raw readings on the IHD. I'm surprised that when asked over the phone the EOn representative didn't give a straight 'yes' to both questions as I can't see anything else being the case personally.

The meter readings don't usually extend to showing the individual registers on the IHD, so it would be yes if you were on a single-rate tariff, but no if you are on E7 for example...

Noted. As you'd guess I only have a single-rate electricity supply and so wouldn't have noticed that.

chocwow

Thanks all for the comments.  When you get to nigh on 70 I would say 2033 is a mere "couple of years" Eon now tell me they can't locate the MAM/MOP numbers to the meters, hardly surprising since the street name was changed 50 years ago. Eon (and other suppliers) have refused to accept photos that show this data but are quite happy to bill based on the readings on those same displays. Eon also tell me I'd get smets1 or SMETS2 depending on circumstances but will get nothing now due to lack of MAM/MOP info. Here's my gas meter in a tiny cupboard under the stairs. I can't even see the display.

QrizB

chocwow said:

Here's my gas meter in a tiny cupboard under the stairs. I can't even see the display.

You could hold your phone out at arm's length and take a photo of the display. Job done plus you get a time-and-date-stamped record of the reading.