Smart meter questions

strenger

I'm with Scottish Power and have just had smart meters installed. There's a few things I don't understand and can't find the answer to anywhere.

1) Every time I turn on the in-home display unit I get the same two messages that say nothing except "Welcome to the benefits of smart meters". I delete them but every time I turn the display on I get the messages again. How can I stop that?

2) When I switched it on this morning it says "Used so far today: 98p" of electricity despite the fridge being the only thing running overnight. Pretty sure my fridge doesn't cost 3 quid a day to run so what's going on there?

3) In the account information section it says "Bill so far this period: £5.98". What is the period and how can I see it? The manual says I can use the calendar but all that ever says is "waiting for historical data". 

mmmmikey

Hi - for your IHD (in home display) to work properly it needs to be left running all the time so it get the data it needs from the smart meter. This is a process that can take some time when you first switch it on and it's really just a question of having to wait a day or so for it to catch up. So in answer to your questions:

1) If you swicth it on and leave it on you won't have this problem, and I suspect that once it's fully up and running if you swicth it on and off again you'll no longer get the message either

2) The costs display include the standing charge, so the 98p represents a day's standing charge and 2kWh of use. It may be this is just an anomolous reading as the IHD sets itself up. So I'd check again in a day or so to make sure this is correct. Also worth knowing that the IHD gets the tarriff information from the smart meter and this is not always correct, either initially or when it changes from time to time. This doesn't effect your bill but it does mean the costs shown on the IHD are wrong. Most folk here recommend using the kWh setting on the display to monitor usage because once it's up and running that info is accurate and reliable.

3) On mine the period is a calendar month - i.s. it always starts again at the beginning of the month. You need to leave it switched on for a couple of days for it to get all the historical data, remembering that if this is a new meter it won't have data from the begnning of the month.

(If I've got any of this wrong perhaps another forumite could correct it)

[Deleted User]

The one thing that installers never tell you is that there are a number of industry processes that the supplier has to follow to complete the commissioning of a smart meter system. Before it can update the meter tariff information it has to send out bespoke security certificates to each meter. This is part of the GCHQ-level layered security built into our smart metering. The meter will only respond to an instruction if it is from an expected source. Once the commissioning processes are complete you will get two messages: ESME Commissioning Complete and GSME Commissioning Complete.

This Octopus blog explains more:

Once you’ve had your meters installed, it can take up to 14 days for us to connect to your meter and in-home display (it’s usually much sooner but we’re reliant on industry processes, and these can slow things down). You don’t need to get in touch with us about this, we’re already on it.During that time, we won't be able to take automatic readings from your meter, and your In-Home Display won't work.

While we're waiting for your meter to connect, you might receive an email asking for a meter reading. You don't need to do anything if you get this email because your final meter reading from your old meter will have been taken already by our engineer.

Once your meters are fully connected, you’ll see your smart meter data in both your online account under “your meters”, and on your In-Home Display . If they aren’t there yet, it means we’re still busy connecting. If it’s been longer than 14 days, get in touch.

strenger

Thanks guys, that helped a lot 

strenger

Well I'm still getting a "Welcome to the benefits of smart metering, press OK to confirm" every single day even though I've left the meter on. I press OK, delete it, and sooner or later I'll get another one. Sometimes I get two in one day. I wonder what's causing it?

Gerry1

The meters are always on.  They're fixed to the wall.  You're referring to your In Home Device.