Smart meters only give "estimated" readings....

sandra_jean

victor2 said:

Glad you now understand it @sandra_jean - you're far from being alone in being confused by the smart meter issue.

I have an elderly relative who constantly refers to her IHD as the smart meter and gets confused when it shows high gas usage when the boiler is not actually firing, because it was running when the 30 minute snapshot was taken. It doesn't matter how many times, and different ways I explain it, it doesn't sink in.

As already said, the TV ads about smart meters, showing someone looking at the IHD, don't help at all.

My grey cells are elderly too...but then I imagine you all guessed that from the outset! 😂

wild666

Unless you actually turn the boiler off the meter will still be running using gas as the pilot light will be working 24/7. The temperature for water to the radiators needs to be maintained. My boiler heats water when I don't have the heating on and in summer when I used no heating the temperature for the boiler kept kicking in a few times per day but I only used 2kWh of gas per week. It also heats the water to the hot taps, which I personally never use, hot water for me comes from a kettle as I want to use as little water as possible being on a water meter.  

[Deleted User]

vic_sf49 said:

BG customer services don't understand the difference either.

I was trying to report my smart gas meter (on the wall outside), as they were no longer getting/pulling readings from either meter, but the gas meter display was showing black squares where the numbers would be.  I'd pressed the button to wake the meter up as usual, but no numbers.

They kept telling me to restart it, or unplug it for 30 mins, even though I repeatedly explained/shouted "NOT THE IN HOME DISPLAY GADGET" at them on chat.

Luckily the meter kicked itself up the behind, and started displaying numbers again.

 

I think that you mean that some CS staff members are either not properly trained or were asleep in the class. A number of suppliers have a dedicated smart meter team to deal with complex issues.

victor2

[Deleted User] said:

vic_sf49 said:

BG customer services don't understand the difference either.

I was trying to report my smart gas meter (on the wall outside), as they were no longer getting/pulling readings from either meter, but the gas meter display was showing black squares where the numbers would be.  I'd pressed the button to wake the meter up as usual, but no numbers.

They kept telling me to restart it, or unplug it for 30 mins, even though I repeatedly explained/shouted "NOT THE IN HOME DISPLAY GADGET" at them on chat.

Luckily the meter kicked itself up the behind, and started displaying numbers again.

 

I think that you mean that some CS staff members are either not properly trained or were asleep in the class. A number of suppliers have a dedicated smart meter team to deal with complex issues.

Maybe they even know the difference between an IHD and a smart meter!

t0rt0ise

wild666 said:

Unless you actually turn the boiler off the meter will still be running using gas as the pilot light will be working 24/7. The temperature for water to the radiators needs to be maintained. My boiler heats water when I don't have the heating on and in summer when I used no heating the temperature for the boiler kept kicking in a few times per day but I only used 2kWh of gas per week. It also heats the water to the hot taps, which I personally never use, hot water for me comes from a kettle as I want to use as little water as possible being on a water meter.  

Most boilers don't have a pilot light any more. What a waste of money that was.

sandra_jean

t0rt0ise said:

wild666 said:

Unless you actually turn the boiler off the meter will still be running using gas as the pilot light will be working 24/7. The temperature for water to the radiators needs to be maintained. My boiler heats water when I don't have the heating on and in summer when I used no heating the temperature for the boiler kept kicking in a few times per day but I only used 2kWh of gas per week. It also heats the water to the hot taps, which I personally never use, hot water for me comes from a kettle as I want to use as little water as possible being on a water meter.  

Most boilers don't have a pilot light any more. What a waste of money that was.

I have turned the hot water off as much as is possible with my boiler, i.e. down as far as the temperature will go, 40 degrees. Nor do I use hot water from the taps. I've put clips on them to remind me! My shower is electric, and if I want hot water I use the kettle. The £0.27 gas standing charge remains at that until I switch on the gas heating. I don't know about a pilot light - I thought I was being asked if the blue light on the front of the boiler was being referred to. That definitely extinguishes when I turn the wall thermostat off.

Raxiel

sandra_jean said:

t0rt0ise said:

wild666 said:

Unless you actually turn the boiler off the meter will still be running using gas as the pilot light will be working 24/7. The temperature for water to the radiators needs to be maintained. My boiler heats water when I don't have the heating on and in summer when I used no heating the temperature for the boiler kept kicking in a few times per day but I only used 2kWh of gas per week. It also heats the water to the hot taps, which I personally never use, hot water for me comes from a kettle as I want to use as little water as possible being on a water meter.  

Most boilers don't have a pilot light any more. What a waste of money that was.

I have turned the hot water off as much as is possible with my boiler, i.e. down as far as the temperature will go, 40 degrees. Nor do I use hot water from the taps. I've put clips on them to remind me! My shower is electric, and if I want hot water I use the kettle. The £0.27 gas standing charge remains at that until I switch on the gas heating. I don't know about a pilot light - I thought I was being asked if the blue light on the front of the boiler was being referred to. That definitely extinguishes when I turn the wall thermostat off.

Is it a Worcester boiler by any chance? Their Greenstar range (and possibly others) have a blue light that comes on whenever the boiler is operating. That's just an LED indicator though, they don't have a pilot light.

Heating water with gas is generally cheaper than using electricity, although if you have to run the tap a long time for a small amount of hot it can be a bit of a wash.

markin

Do you have a hot water tank?

If you do turn the water heating off compleatly, it's pointless heating it to 40c if it's not being used.

Grandad2b

t0rt0ise said:

wild666 said:

Unless you actually turn the boiler off the meter will still be running using gas as the pilot light will be working 24/7. The temperature for water to the radiators needs to be maintained. My boiler heats water when I don't have the heating on and in summer when I used no heating the temperature for the boiler kept kicking in a few times per day but I only used 2kWh of gas per week. It also heats the water to the hot taps, which I personally never use, hot water for me comes from a kettle as I want to use as little water as possible being on a water meter.  

Most boilers don't have a pilot light any more. What a waste of money that was.

The energy from the pilot light went into the water in the boiler and circulated by convection to the DHW cylinder. Not very useful in the summer but not really anywhere near as wasteful as some would have you believe.
If you're not using your hot water taps then perhaps you don't need a DHW system at all.