Who owns my smart meter

SueLSE

I had a smart meter installed when I was with Bulb. I changed to E.on in April 2021 with a fixed deal which ended 6th April this year. I was switched to E.ON Next and the Smart Meter was fine through both changes. But after 6th April, when the price shot up in line with everyone else to their variable rate, the smart meter carried on working but still showing the old (and cheap) rate. I asked their customer services, via Messenger, and was originally told that it could take a couple of weeks to update, but to reboot the smart meter display, whilst standing close to the main meter outside. I’ve done this several times, but it still shows the old rate. I messaged customer services again , and their response was that the smart meter display unit only had a year warranty on it, and therefore there was nothing they could do. I asked who owned it, and he said they (ie E.on Next) did. I pointed out it was supplied by Bulb, but that made no difference. It was out of warranty, he didn’t offer me a replacement. I would like to keep an eye on how much I am spending each day now that prices have shot up. Any clues anybody?

pochase

You will need to buy a third party product.

See information in this thread from earlier today.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6357456/smart-meter-online-data#latest

Gerry1

Just read the meter on the wall and do the sums.

• For electricity, just take the difference in the kWh readings and multiply by the your price per kWh.  (Don't forget the other register if you're on a two-rate tariff such as Economy 7: the registers may be labelled R01 and R02 or similar).
  

• For gas it's similar but there's an extra stage.  You take the difference in the volume readings and then multiply by 11.2 if it's a metric meter (m3) or by 32 if it's an imperial meter (ft3).  Those figures are slightly approximate because the 'strength' of the gas varies a bit but it's near enough.  You now have the kWh usage so you can multiply it by your price per kWh.

Of course, you also need to add the daily charges for your region and method of payment (typically 32p - 52p for electricity and 27.22p for gas).

If you are getting the rates from a bill, add 5% for VAT.  If you are getting the rates from a quotation, the VAT will already have been included.

SueLSE

I would just like to see my device and instantly know what I’m spending, and not have to do mathematical calculations. It’s my hunch that there’s nothing wrong with the device, it just hasn’t been updated by E.ON Next with the current rates. Has anyone else had this problem?

MWT

If the IHD is showing the consumption, but not the correct price then there is really nothing wrong with the IHD, it is as you suspect, your current supplier has not updated the meter with the current tariff.

Reed_Richards

SueLSE said:

 Has anyone else had this problem?

If you read enough posts on this forum you will see that there is little if any support for the In-Home Device (IHD) that you get with your smart meter.  If they go wrong then you are on your own.

Edit: See for example https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6357494/smart-energy-in-house-monitor-no-support

[Deleted User]

SueLSE said:

I would just like to see my device and instantly know what I’m spending, and not have to do mathematical calculations. It’s my hunch that there’s nothing wrong with the device, it just hasn’t been updated by E.ON Next with the current rates. Has anyone else had this problem?

Your supplier is responsible for your smart meters - even when they were not the supplier at the time that the meters were installed. Suppliers have the ability to set 48 by 30 minute tariff data across 4 registers each day; however, pushing tariff information to a meter costs the supplier money for each transaction. That said, most suppliers will update data as tariffs change by sending messages to your ESME and GSME (the meters). If the data is missing or incorrect, then raise a complaint.

To my knowledge, Octopus Energy is the only supplier that offers a tariff that changes in 30 minute chunks each day (Octopus Agile). Rather than go through the process of updating tariff costs each day, Octopus just sets the daily standing charge and an average kWh unit rate. 

SAC2334

Dolor said:

SueLSE said:

I would just like to see my device and instantly know what I’m spending, and not have to do mathematical calculations. It’s my hunch that there’s nothing wrong with the device, it just hasn’t been updated by E.ON Next with the current rates. Has anyone else had this problem?

Your supplier is responsible for your smart meters - even when they were not the supplier at the time that the meters were installed. Suppliers have the ability to set 48 by 30 minute tariff data across 4 registers each day; however, pushing tariff information to a meter costs the supplier money for each transaction. That said, most suppliers will update data as tariffs change by sending messages to your ESME and GSME (the meters). If the data is missing or incorrect, then raise a complaint.

To my knowledge, Octopus Energy is the only supplier that offers a tariff that changes in 30 minute chunks each day (Octopus Agile). Rather than go through the process of updating tariff costs each day, Octopus just sets the daily standing charge and an average kWh unit rate. 

I was going to ask you if suppliers get charged by the DCC (Capita) for obtaining a reading and other info but you have just answered my query.
 Have you any idea how much these transactions cost given that I ve found that some suppliers are reluctant to obtain readings and carry on estimating even with a smart meter. This baffled the customers who complained about it to me often on my meter reading rounds .

 The first smart meters I saw were back in approx. 2008 when BG were trialing their own .It did nt take long until BG were rolling out their own L and G  smart electric meters and Siemens smart gas meters with their own fitting teams on good bonus fitting around 12 a day   .This was before they were ratified by OFGEM and way before any other suppliers . They carried on installing at a great pace independitly of the  DCC for many years.

They were obligatory back then but I can t recall anyone being upset about them or making a fuss as they do now.
 BG s early smart meters worked fine with no estimated readings and were not connected to the  DCC
The Labour party were in power and smart meter fitting was mandatory with Ed Miliband being the Energy minister.
The idea that the householder could have any input on what type of meter was fitted in a property  had not become fashionable. You got what you got and hard luck if you did nt want one .