Smart meter install - what to watch out for?

MarzipanCrumble

Scrounger said:

Ask the fitter to install an isolator switch. 

This will make any future upgrades on your consumer unit much easier.


Scrounger

Yes, do that!  But check it is free.  Octopus was but it may not be free from others.

t0rt0ise

dharm999 said:

Ayr_Rage said:

@dharm999 the electricity meter and the attached communications hub are powered by the incoming supply.

The gas meter is battery powered.

Neither need a socket.

That’s really helpful, thanks, as I was worried about how they are powered.  Does the battery in the gas meter need changing frequently?

The battery can't be changed. When it runs low, the meter will be changed. It should last at least ten years.

gm0

Agree re isolator. Most will do it for a nominal charge (for the part essentially)

Height above the DNO main 100A fuse - distance between that and any obstruction above the current meter is a critical measurement.  Smart Meters have a comms device. Often fitted on top. So the total height is often more than an old single rate electronic "dumb" meter. 

If the distance between the DNO fuse (below) the meter and the CU's or anything else above - on a flat surface - is too tight - then you have two things one owned by you  tails, splitter blocks and consumer units) and the other owned by the DNO (the main fuse). The smart meter installer isn't going to move these around to make it fit.  So gets a bit ugly if that happens.  Dumb meter remains. Smart meter visit appointment fails.

I didn't want to pay the DNO to move the supply.  Richard Turpin.  So I reluctantly refreshed the CUs a bit early and made some other carpentry adjustments and sorted out my issues that way.  So the next smart meter install - should actually succeed. 

Very old installations from the 80s or earlier - which had the bigger black cases and Ferraris spinny disk ones should be fine - these were mostly bigger devices than the 90s electronic meters - so the problem is largely limited to "after" electronic and "before" smart for the supply going in.  But builders are creative - so who knows.

SAC2334

What to watch out for ? more than just switching the meters
 .My Octopus fitter went round my home poking his nose into ..Gas Fire ,Gas oven , gas grill and burners and the gas boiler . My friend who had her smart meters fitted 2 weeks ago told me he was even trying to get into the loft to check something out  up there.
So if you don't want to embarrass yourself in front of a stranger  clean the oven and grill out as he's going to ask you to light it while he checks the flame 

Gas fire failed his beady eye when it lit ok for a minute but failed to light again .He checked that the fake coals were in correct position. They were not on my gas fire .He failed it and "condemned it " by leaving a sheet of paper with the faults to rectify .
I ve never actually used the gas fire in the 8 years I ve lived in the house so I m not too bothered about it .

Maybe all this H and S is a case of Suppliers fitting smart meters and are covering their  rear ends in case of future claims after the new meters have been fitted. 

victor2

Ayr_Rage said:

....

Make sure you take your own meter readings on the old meters, the installer should leave a card with the final old meter readings and the starting readings of the new meters.

^^This^^
Take photos of the old meters showing the readings just before they are replaced if you can, and check that the new meters have a card or sticker on them indicating the old readings.
Does your latest bill have actual readings on it and not estimates? Assuming it does, the next bill will show two lots of usage - one for the old meter, and one for the new, for each supply.