Smart Meter Monitors being withdrawn?

J0D0

I moved into a new house with an electricity smart monitor in November and in July the monitor stopped showing usage data, and reported an electricity METER service issue.  BG, my supplier, has refused to address this issue.  They say the monitor is at fault, when the monitor says the meter is at fault.
Despite the monitor being under a year old they refuse to send out a replacement (contrary to what their website says).
Further, they tell me that the monitors are being withdrawn and in future people will have to rely on using the BG App.  Their App does not tell you what energy you are using today.
The concept of smart meters was sold on the basis that we could see what we were using instantaneously and turn things off to cut usage.  Doesn't this change do away with any value in having a smart meter and mean that the whole smart meter roll out programme is a waste of money?

Mstty

Open up a complaint with BG.

Ask them for a deadlock letter if they refuse to fix the IHD or replace it. If they don't respond for 8 weeks then take it to the energy ombudsman service. 

QrizB

Mstty said:

Open up a complaint with BG.

Ask them for a deadlock letter if they refuse to fix the IHD or replace it. If they don't respond for 8 weeks then take it to the energy ombudsman service. 

This is likely to be a futile exercise.

BG are only liable for the IHD if they supplied it.

J0D0 said:

The concept of smart meters was sold on the basis that we could see what we were using instantaneously and turn things off to cut usage.  Doesn't this change do away with any value in having a smart meter and mean that the whole smart meter roll out programme is a waste of money?

The in-home display (IHD) is not your smart meter. The smart meter is fixed to a wall, most probably inside a meter cabinet. It is an accessory supplied free-of-charge when the smart meters are first installed.

Replacement IHDs are available to purchase. Last time I checked they started at about £50.

CSI_Yorkshire

J0D0 said:

Doesn't this change do away with any value in having a smart meter and mean that the whole smart meter roll out programme is a waste of money?

No, because live data on the IHD is not the only thing that smart meters do.

400ixl

I would say the new BG Energy app does show usage by the half hour for the current day, by the day for the current week, by the week for the current month and by the month for the current year. But it would appear it lags behind by a couple of days for me so is only useful from a historical point of view.

The Bright App which you can download for free is more up to date and is around 12 hours behind real time.

Most people use the IHD in the early days and make their adjustments, it is then probably more used for trending (if at all) to see if anything changes.

born_again

J0D0 said:

The concept of smart meters was sold on the basis that we could see what we were using instantaneously and turn things off to cut usage.  Doesn't this change do away with any value in having a smart meter and mean that the whole smart meter roll out programme is a waste of money?

I wonder how many people do this?
As I only have turned on what I need, so to me the IHD is just a device, that is using (allbeit a small amount) something I do not need.

brewerdave

My IHD is "in a cupboard" - but I do have sympathy with the OP. Whatever the super knowledgeable people on here might say - the TV ads for the mass public still stress the value of the monitor ,front and centre !! 

[Deleted User]

The Electricity Supply Licence Condition 49 Part B spells out a supplier’s obligations re IHDs. It is not an easy read!

Swipe

Well my IHD saved my bacon once again. I noticed this morning glancing at the display, that both the IHD and (after checking) the smart meter had lost the tariff and standing charge info. On further investigation, it appeared that EDF had also been unable to get readings from the SM for the last 2 months and had been over estimating my nightly usage by 2000 units per month, thus eating into my credit balance on the app. This was swiftly rectified by EDF customer services within an hour of sending them an email highlighting the issues. Had I not noticed this on the IHD, I'm sure I would have been greeted next month by an email telling me my monthly direct debit amount wasn't enough and had been increased.

BST22_01

New to this forum but thought I’d share my experience in this overall area. Bought a new house and after a shambolic number of months BG finally got my name, address and builder handover readings correct (it took them many attempts). They then moved me to their new ‘improved’ billing platform and after a number of equally shambolic transitional bills I found that my smart meter no longer ‘worked’. The wall mounted unit just says ‘Withdrawn’. There are no consumption figures / readings etc. Just that one word … I never received an IHD therefore my ‘smart meter’ is now dumber than any previous dumb meter and tells me nothing. I’ve complained repeatedly to BG … apparently this is a widespread consequence of customers being migrated to their new ‘improved’ billing platform. I am told it is an ‘industry problem’ and hence not a BG problem. I am therefore supposed to trust BG when they tell me how much I owe them. Now given their previous performance how confident am I in that … Does anyone know if energy suppliers have a licence obligation to provide customers with a meter that actually provides readings … ? Thanks. 

Scot_39

400ixl said:

I would say the new BG Energy app does show usage by the half hour for the current day, by the day for the current week, by the week for the current month and by the month for the current year. But it would appear it lags behind by a couple of days for me so is only useful from a historical point of view.

The Bright App which you can download for free is more up to date and is around 12 hours behind real time.

Most people use the IHD in the early days and make their adjustments, it is then probably more used for trending (if at all) to see if anything changes.

I'm not sure how accurate and upto date - but a summary description of how data is or can be read  - including apps and alternatives IHDs - depending on how geeky you are

https://www.smartme.co.uk/meter-data.html

It seems to suggest DCC uploaded user data "normally" daily - but then says Loop can get 2 hourly DCC data - can someone expand / explain ?