Replacement Home Display for Smart Meter and battery replacement for SMETS2 meters?

RSTime

Our Smart Meter home display does not seem to be working, I contacted our current providers, Scottish Power, and they said that it would take up to 6 weeks to get a replacement. Obviously far from satisfactory given that we would like to track energy usage 😡

I have also been onto the Scottish Power web site to look at our account and Energy Usage, it is only showing usage up to 18th May and it is now 12th June? We have SMETS2 gas and electricity meters, is it possible that the batteries need replacing? We have had the meters for a few years now.

If we do have a problem with smart meters not working, what timescale can I expect for resolution and is there a requirement for providers to fix? Am I required to provide manual readings in the interim (I appreciate that it would be in my best interest to do so once new caps come into force)?

Thanks in advance.

QrizB

RSTime said:

Our Smart Meter home display does not seem to be working, I contacted our current providers, Scottish Power, and they said that it would take up to 6 weeks to get a replacement. Obviously far from satisfactory given that we would like to track energy usage 😡

Scottish Power are under no obligation to replace your in-home display.

However it's possible that the problem isn't the IHD itself, given the other issue you mention.

I have also been onto the Scottish Power web site to look at our account and Energy Usage, it is only showing usage up to 18th May and it is now 12th June? 

How often do you let SP take a smart meter reading? If you only permit monthly readings, there won't be another until the 18th or so.

We have SMETS2 gas and electricity meters, is it possible that the batteries need replacing?

The electricity meter is powered from the mains, so shpould keep working for as long as you have power. The gas meter does have a battery but it should be good for a decade.

It's possible that the comms hub, which runs the local network including your IHD and sends your meter readings to the DCC and thence to SP, has crashed or developed a fault.

If we do have a problem with smart meters not working, what timescale can I expect for resolution and is there a requirement for providers to fix? Am I required to provide manual readings in the interim (I appreciate that it would be in my best interest to do so once new caps come into force)?

A remote comms hub reset, once SP realise one is required (or you ask) could take days or weeks. Meter replacement, if a reset doesn't work, could take months.
Whether you need to provide manual readings will depend on the terms of your contract with SP but it's in your own best interests to do so on a regular basis.

Have you looked at the meters themselves recently? Does eveything look as it should? Are the LEDs on the comms hub flashing once every 5-ish seconds as they should?

RSTime

Thanks for your detailed reply, and raises some issues. I had a look at our meters, not been in the meter box for some time! The lights on the electric meter are happily flashing away but there are no lights on the gas meter, I have attached photos.

I think I asked for our readings to be collected frequently (every 30s or minute at the time). 

If the energy provider is not obliged to replace a faulty in-home display, what are consumers expected to do? I suspect most consumers will have an expectation that the provider has a responsibility? Are consumers expected to purchase a replacement (and if so where from)?

Given the cost of energy, again, if there is a meter fault then I would expect (hope) that issues would be resolve in a reasonable time. Does the regulator have any expectations?

I appreciate you may not have all the answers but thanks again for the response.

Mobtr

it’s probably not a fault with the meter more likely an issue with the comms hub as QrizB said. The meter will still be working and recording your usage but unfortunately communication between your meter & DCC has stopped. Speak to SP again & ask them to check last time they had smart readings & if they can arrange to have the comms hub rebooted. Might fix the issue, might not. Unfortunately it’s probably in the T’s & C’s that they cannot guarantee your smart meters will always work as smart meters due to issues outside of their control, of which this may be one 

FreeBear

RSTime said: If the energy provider is not obliged to replace a faulty in-home display, what are consumers expected to do? I suspect most consumers will have an expectation that the provider has a responsibility? Are consumers expected to purchase a replacement (and if so where from)?

Hildebrand do a range of aftermarket displays and access widgets - https://shop.glowmarkt.com/products/display-and-cad-combined-for-smart-meter-customers - Not particularly cheap, but at least the stuff is available.

I would much prefer the setup that they have in the Netherlands and other parts of Europe - Smart meters are equipped with a data port that the home user can plug a computer into and access data directly.

QrizB

FreeBear said:

I would much prefer the setup that they have in the Netherlands and other parts of Europe - Smart meters are equipped with a data port that the home user can plug a computer into and access data directly.

Or bluetooth/WiFi and an embedded web server, or an app, or something. The whole idea of a bespoke IHD is very turn-of-the-century, akin to the proprietary wireless interfaces of the non-smart energy monitors.

Maybe SMETS3 will be better!

Ectophile

If the energy provider is not obliged to replace a faulty in-home display, what are consumers expected to do? I suspect most consumers will have an expectation that the provider has a responsibility?

A lot of the smart meter advertising was greenwash.  If you sign up for them, you get an IHD, so you can see your usage and save energy.

But the energy suppliers have no interest in the IHD.  It plays no part in them reading the meters remotely.  So the IHD comes with a 12 month warranty.  If it goes wrong after that, it's not their problem.  Most people will have stopped looking at them, and shoved them in a drawer, within 12 months.  All the time they are plugged in, they are using your electricity, not saving it.

Ultrasonic

Ectophile said:

If the energy provider is not obliged to replace a faulty in-home display, what are consumers expected to do? I suspect most consumers will have an expectation that the provider has a responsibility?

A lot of the smart meter advertising was greenwash.  If you sign up for them, you get an IHD, so you can see your usage and save energy.

But the energy suppliers have no interest in the IHD.  It plays no part in them reading the meters remotely.  So the IHD comes with a 12 month warranty.  If it goes wrong after that, it's not their problem.  

And yet the OP actually reported that Scottish Power were apparently prepared to provide a replacement. Not the typical response I'd agree but some credit may actually be due here. 

RSTime

QrizB said:

FreeBear said:

I would much prefer the setup that they have in the Netherlands and other parts of Europe - Smart meters are equipped with a data port that the home user can plug a computer into and access data directly.

Or bluetooth/WiFi and an embedded web server, or an app, or something. The whole idea of a bespoke IHD is very turn-of-the-century, akin to the proprietary wireless interfaces of the non-smart energy monitors.

Maybe SMETS3 will be better!

Agree, use of a smart meter is very clunky. Provider stores all the data so why the additional cost of an IHD?

brewerdave

Ultrasonic said:

Ectophile said:

If the energy provider is not obliged to replace a faulty in-home display, what are consumers expected to do? I suspect most consumers will have an expectation that the provider has a responsibility?

A lot of the smart meter advertising was greenwash.  If you sign up for them, you get an IHD, so you can see your usage and save energy.

But the energy suppliers have no interest in the IHD.  It plays no part in them reading the meters remotely.  So the IHD comes with a 12 month warranty.  If it goes wrong after that, it's not their problem.  

And yet the OP actually reported that Scottish Power were apparently prepared to provide a replacement. Not the typical response I'd agree but some credit may actually be due here. 

What Customer Services with utility companies actually say and do ,are two very different things !!