Octopus Energy, new smart meters - IHD questions

rubble2

Last Friday we had out meters updated by Octopus. We originally had a SMETS 1 smart electricity meter and a non-smart gas meter, we didn't have the IHD device linked to the original electric meter but it connected ok to Octopus and we could see useage via the Octopus app.

With the new meters (both smart - Electric now SMETS-2 compliant) we have been given a new IHD, first question : are they all so difficult to connect to the meters? Our meters are externally situated on the outside wall of an integrated garage and we can barely get a signal on the IHD anywhere in the house. The IHD is now in the upstairs bedroom which shares the same external wall as that in which the meters are situated but we have a 'one bar' signal strength.

The fitter had trouble getting a signal as well and suggested leaving the IHD in the garage - I may as well just go outside and manually read the meters.

Second question - alongside the signal strength indicator on the IHD there is an orange triangle symbol with an exclamation mark inside, I cannot find any information about what this symbol means. The fitter left a booklet from Octopus which has minimal  information and appears to be for a different IHD (ours is a GEO trio II model, the booklet refers to an IHD 3).

The IHD is showing 'Awaiting Data' on both the electric and Gas sides of the screen and looking online Octopus seem to suggest that it could take up to 14days for the new meters to connect to their system - how can it take this long? is it something that needs to be done manually by Octopus?

If I now look on the app, I am shown one electric meter and two gas meter options but no meaningful information is showing regarding useage.

The fitter seemed to be in a real rush to get things done as he had another installation to go to but I feel that we have been left with insufficient information on what to expect and how to take advantage of the potential benefits of the new meters.

Anyone else got any real life experience about what we are experiencing and what we should realistically expect?

Thanks

EssexHebridean

https://support.geotogether.com/en/support/solutions/articles/7000031050-trio-ii-touch-button-user-guide

That looks to be the user manual for yours which might help a bit? 

MWT

rubble2 said:

Anyone else got any real life experience about what we are experiencing and what we should realistically expect?

The signal strength issue is common, initially at least, I would keep it in the garage so you have a stronger connection until you can confirm that it is properly linked  to both meters and reporting use.

After that move it elsewhere and even one bar will be enough if it is steady. We have our meters similarly located and the strongest signal in the rest of the house is 2 bars and that has been fine.

Do take a look at the comms hub which is located on top of the electricity meter and check there are no faults showing there (tell use what the lights are doing and we can help).

Generally the electricity meter connection is almost immediate by if not should not take more than 48 hours.

The gas meter can be more of a problem as the process for connecting to it often takes longer than the engineers want to spend, so it is left to time-out. Often the supplier can send a re-pairing command to the meter to sort this out...

Swipe

I now keep my IHD on the inside of the external kitchen wall where my smart meter is located. It gets 3 bars like that. I did try it in an adjacent room (about 12 feet away) with 1 bar of signal but it just kept disconnecting and reconnecting every other day.

[Deleted User]

Home Area Network (HAN) interference is an issue. HAN uses the Zigbee wifi network which doesn’t cope well with metal objects and foil-backed wall insulation. ‘Awaiting data’ usually means that the distance between the IHD and the comms hub needs to be reduced. There is now a solution to this problem.

All smart meter installations are covered by a Code of Practice: SMICOP which covers faults:

5. FAULT RESOLUTION 5.1.Procedures for Handling Faults

It is each Member’s responsibility to ensure that;

5.1.1.If a fault is identified with the Smart Metering System during the Installation Visit, the Customer is made aware of the problem, what the resolution is likely to be, who will be resolving the fault, and the approximate timescales of the resolution;

5.1.2.The Customer is provided with contact details for additional information related to the Smart Metering System fault, for example should they wish to check progress;

5.1.3.It is made clear to the Customer that they will not be charged for rectifying the Smart Metering System fault;

5.1.4.Information is provided as to who the Customer is to contact if they identify a fault with the Smart Metering System;

5.1.5.If the IHD, if provided, is found to be faulty within 12 months of Installation, the IHD is either repaired or replaced17; and

5.1.6.The Customer is informed about their rights in relation to components of the Smart Metering System that are identified to be faulty.

I would email the Octopus Smart Meter team:

smart@octopus.energy

Apprise them of the fact that the installer has installed a system that requires a dual-band communications hub to allow you to use the supplied IHD in your home. 

To answer your other points: the supplier has to to remove your existing meter details from the two National databases; enter your new meter serial numbers and then send out bespoke security certificates to each meter before the commissioning process is completed. Electricity usually commissions first followed by gas. It can take three weeks or so. You will (should) get two messages on the IHD: ESME commissioned and GSME commissioned. 

Smart meters are highly secure devices and work on the principle of ‘one meter: one supplier’. The security certificates are part of the GCHQ-level layered security. Your meters will not react to an instruction until it is confirmed that the request has come from an approved source. The team at Octopus are pretty switched on when it comes to sorting out smart meter issues:

https://octopus.energy/blog/solving-smart-meter-issues-octopus-energy/

rubble2

Thanks for all the responses.

I had a look at the comms hub (see attached) and the row of lights are all flashing green in unison, not sure if that is normal or if it may point towards the orange warning symbol on the IHD.

Also, in contradiction to what has been suggested, I seem to be getting useage data for the gas on the Octopus app but nothing yet for the electric useage.

The IHD has now been moved to the garage and is getting a signal strength of 3 bars but I still get the 'awaiting Data' message for both gas and electric.

Alnat1

It's not been a week yet since install, give them a chance. Not much was going to happen over the weekend anyway.

If it's not sorted in a couple of weeks, maybe give them a call then. 

[Deleted User]

Alnat1 said:

It's not been a week yet since install, give them a chance. Not much was going to happen over the weekend anyway.

If it's not sorted in a couple of weeks, maybe give them a call then. 

Yes, gas can take 3 weeks before the GSME Commissioned message is received.