Smart Meter not working for gas.

BrianCuthbert57

I don’t think this has been asked before,   My disabled mother-in-law has smart meters that were working fine, then without warning the gas meter has stopped sending readings.  The supplier says they only get blank readings for gas and that this is an industry wide problem and there is nothing they can do,

I feel that this is a brush-off from them, especially as this happened before and at that time they told me the problem was poor mobile signals in the area, even though the electricity readings were working fine,   Both gas and electricity readings are sent from the communications hub within the electricity meter, so if the electricity reading was working then the mobile signals were fine.  After I caught them out with this disinformation they replaced the meters and they worked fine until recently,

so my question is, if this really is an industry-wide problem, is anyone also having this difficulty?

Spoonie_Turtle

How old is the gas meter?  It may be that the battery's died (which would count as an industry-wide problem because it happens, and instead of replacing the battery they change the meter for some reason).

Has anyone looked at the meter since the readings stopped?

[Deleted User]

As consumers, we all blame our suppliers when smart meter issues are not resolved as quickly as we might wish. Sadly, suppliers have very few levers to pull to put things right. The DCC is responsible for the network and all communications hubs. Meter and device manufacturers build and certify their meters/devices for deployment on the DCC network. They are also responsible for meter/device firmware updates.

InvertedVee

[Deleted User] said:

As consumers, we all blame our suppliers when smart meter issues are not resolved as quickly as we might wish. Sadly, suppliers have very few levers to pull to put things right. The DCC is responsible for the network and all communications hubs. Meter and device manufacturers build and certify their meters/devices for deployment on the DCC network. They are also responsible for meter/device firmware updates.

I agree with this. Perhaps it's inevitable that the retail energy suppliers get all the negative publicity because, apart from the wind turbines and power stations, they're the only visible part of the industry. 

DCC appears to me to have a very low public profile relative to its importance.  It's not clear how tightly they're held to account by OFGEM and BEIS.

I was interested to read DCC's latest business development plan. It's certainly got a lot on its plate and a large (>£700m/year) budget to spend. DCC's performance is crucial in sustaining a fairer market, reaching net-zero targets and securing a healthy industry.

BrianCuthbert57

thanks for comments it’s a Liberty 200 gas meter.   It’s only 2 years old and I can see the display myself ok, except it’s in my elderly mother-in-laws house which is 26 miles away!  Appreciate the DCC is critical here, but my beef with the energy supplier is they tried to fob me off before by blaming 3G/4G signals in the area, and this time they have given me 2 different excuses so feels like a fob off again!

MattMattMattUK

BrianCuthbert57 said:

thanks for comments it’s a Liberty 200 gas meter.   It’s only 2 years old and I can see the display myself ok, except it’s in my elderly mother-in-laws house which is 26 miles away!  Appreciate the DCC is critical here, but my beef with the energy supplier is they tried to fob me off before by blaming 3G/4G signals in the area, and this time they have given me 2 different excuses so feels like a fob off again!

The supplier is beholden to the DCC, they are the unfortunate middle man in this situation. It is unfortunately not something that they can solve and they will only be giving you information, either generic or specific, that they get from the DCC. I think that there is a lot the energy suppliers are to blame for, I just do not think that this appears to be one of them.