Struggling with Octopus SMETS2 Landis and Gyr Gas Meter Reading

Ryan_Holden

Hi Folks.

Earlier this year I had SMETS2 meters installed by Octopus. I have noticed that bills are not regularly generated so I thought I'd enter them myself. Electricity is no issue, but I'm struggling with the gas.

I used their "ultimate guide to reading your meter" to get the reading. I can't post the link as I'm new here.

My meter is the meter with the equal sized A and B buttons to the right of the screen.

I was unable to find the "total act export" screen so I submitted the "energy bill" screen of 544 kwH. I figured this is, at my rate of 0.07 pence per kWh, basically £40.

But my balance then plummeted from £99 credit to -£311 Debit, around £410. 

Now, 1m3 gas is about 10.5 kWh, so am I supposed to be entering readings in m3 instead of kWH? 544 m3 would equate to about £400, or is that just a coincidence?

We use less than £0.60 a day of gas here at the moment, so there's obviously an error. Would appreciate any input before Octopus come back to me.

Ryan_Holden

AS it happens, I've managed to enter the m3 value and return my balance to about £88 which is what I expected with the difference, but this is a m3 reading. But entering kWh doesn't compute at the right rates, I'm confused!

MWT

Ryan_Holden said:

I was unable to find the "total act export" screen so I submitted the "energy bill" screen of 544 kwH. I figured this is, at my rate of 0.07 pence per kWh, basically £40.

It looks like you are confusing the instructions for the electricity meter with the gas.

For the gas meter just press either button once to wake it up and you will see the 'Meter Index' displayed, that is the reading you submit.

macman

You enter the cu m reading, which is what the meter measures, just the same as you did when you had a dumb meter. The conversion to kWh is done in the billing process, because it's a dynamic conversion which varies with the calorific value.
As you surmise, you've been billed for 544 cu m: 10.5 times too much.

Ryan_Holden

Superstar, thank you very much for that. It's stupid as the meter reading guide is wrong, but I've managed to enter the correct reading of 54 m3 and so I've been billed what I'd expected.

Thanks for that quick reply macman, you've put my mind at rest.

MWT

Ryan_Holden said:

AS it happens, I've managed to enter the m3 value and return my balance to about £88 which is what I expected with the difference, but this is a m3 reading. But entering kWh doesn't compute at the right rates, I'm confused!

Ryan_Holden said:

Now, 1m3 gas is about 10.5 kWh, so am I supposed to be entering readings in m3 instead of kWH? 544 m3 would equate to about £400, or is that just a coincidence?

  That is more like 11.2kWh not 10.5, but you can never get an exact conversion without knowing the calorific value adjustment, so the billing shown to you on the meter is just a rough estimate and cannot be considered as accurate.

Just submit the meter index and Octopus will calculate the correct kWh.

Ryan_Holden

Many thanks MWT, appreciate it. My value is super approx so I accept there's a bit of error.