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Smart meters purpose?

Marvel1
Marvel1 Posts: 7,324 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
So smart metere are meant to be easier and send readings for you for accurate bills.

So looking through my parents bills, they have it quarterly.  So looking through the readings are estimated, why? It says "This bill - estimated" and [E] next to the reading numbers.
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Comments

  • EssexHebridean
    EssexHebridean Posts: 23,164 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Marvel1 said:
    So smart metere are meant to be easier and send readings for you for accurate bills.

    So looking through my parents bills, they have it quarterly.  So looking through the readings are estimated, why? It says "This bill - estimated" and [E] next to the reading numbers.
    Ok - time to work out why the smart meter might not be sending readings then.

    it’s probably worth trying to work out how long they’ve been getting estimates for too, as that might give a clue to whether it is something like an earlier SM which went dumb on supplier change or something else.

    also, make sure they are supplying monthly readings from now so their bills are correct.
    🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
    Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00
    Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
    Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00
    SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculator
    she/her
  • what did the supplier say the reason was?
  • Marvel1
    Marvel1 Posts: 7,324 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    No change of suppler, the supplier give the smart meter.  The supplier is SSE

    Will be phoning why.
  • EssexHebridean
    EssexHebridean Posts: 23,164 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 3 March 2023 at 5:22PM
    Which meter - gas, or electric?

    Try downloading the app “Bright” and getting set up on there to see if that can see the readings.
    🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
    Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00
    Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
    Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00
    SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculator
    she/her
  • Marvel1
    Marvel1 Posts: 7,324 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Which meter - gas, or electric?

    Try downloading the app “Bright” and getting set up on there to see if that can see the readings.
    Electric

    Looking at the IHD, the reading is the same as the meter itself.

    Will give the app a go too.
  • Hi,
    is electric meter flashing or is it stuck on same reading?
  • 7Phil
    7Phil Posts: 496 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    The smart meter might be transmitting the readings monthly but not exactly when the bill is generated. This means that the reading they use when the bill is generated is still an estimate but only between the days the reading went in and the date of the bill.

    Do the readings still roughly match what's on the bill?
  • 7Phil said:
    The smart meter might be transmitting the readings monthly but not exactly when the bill is generated. This means that the reading they use when the bill is generated is still an estimate but only between the days the reading went in and the date of the bill.

    Do the readings still roughly match what's on the bill?
    That isn’t quite true. Smart meters transmit nothing. The comms hub acts like a mobile phone. It is connected to the DCC Network waiting for a call. Depending on the agreed reading profile, the supplier’s system will send out an instruction to the comms hub to ‘pull’ data from the meters. As I understand it, the response will contain up to 4 index readings per meter and XML files containing usage data.

    If an estimate has been used, this may be down to a temporary connectivity issue. That is, the supplier sent an instruction to retrieve data and got no response. Clearly, for those consumers on a 30 minute profile where data is pulled once every 24 hours, this isn’t an issue. The supplier estimates against the previous day’s smart reading or it waits until one is received the following day.
  • Marvel1
    Marvel1 Posts: 7,324 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    So more info, this is for the photo of the meter, cannt see in photo but WAN is flashing on and off.



    How do i get the reading on the meter?
  • MattMattMattUK
    MattMattMattUK Posts: 9,849 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    Marvel1 said:
    So more info, this is for the photo of the meter, cannt see in photo but WAN is flashing on and off.



    How do i get the reading on the meter?
    It is showing the reading, 1768.
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