Gas Smart Meter

skind56

In 2021 Shell installed a smart meter for electricity but not gas. This was due to the gas meter being in the garage so the signal would, apparently, not be strong enough. The engineer intimated that future gas smart meters may have stronger signals. Recently moved to Octopus so sent a message asking if they could install gas smart meter and got following reply “Thank you for the email. I don't think Octopus would be able to install it ,if a previous engineer said it cant be fitted”. Maybe that is true but how can I confirm that?

Brie

I don't think you can as you are not (presumably) a qualified gas engineer.  They may have to come out and see for themselves.

BarelySentientAI

There isn't really any difference between today's meters and 2021 SMETS2 meters.  Sounds quite plausible to me that if the location was unsuitable then, it's still unsuitable now.

Mark_d

There are different brands/models of smart meter and yes, some do have stronger signals.  Octopus would need to send out an engineer and check whether their elec and gas smart meters could communicate between your house and your garage.  Perhaps they're reluctant to potentially change your elec smart meter if they're not required to do so.

I had an elec smart meter fitted by Avro energy just before they went bust.  The installer also worked for other suppliers and he told me that Avro were fitting cheaper meters - whereas if I'd been with another supplier I could have had an elec meter in my flat which communicated with a gas meter in my garden.

Other than having to take meter reads when prices change, and when I change supplier, I can't see any disadvantage in sticking with legacy metering.

katejo

An Octopus engineer has just (4 days ago) fitted an electric and gas smart meter in my house. The electric one is inside and the new gas meter is outside on the front of my house. I queried whether the gas one would be too far away and whether it would work. I was told it would but it hasn't yet. The info supplied says it can take 2 weeks for both meters to work so I will wait that long before going back to them but I have my doubts.

Rodders53

There are now two Home Area Network frequencies that can be used for gas to electric smart meters... one high frequency, shorter range and another lower frequency with longer range...
Standard Comms Hubs only use the former short range frequency.
Dual Band hubs can use both...
https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/our-smart-network/current-programmes/dual-band-comms-hubs/

That is a 'fairly recent' development and may cost the supplier more money to install.  

One may need to kick and scream to get the supplier to install the Dual Band version if the Standard can't work with it.  It's unclear to me from reading if the smart gas meters need to be changed to support the lower frequency band, though.  (The Comms hubs sit atop the electric smart meter and will be easily swapped).

Scot_39

skind56 said:

In 2021 Shell installed a smart meter for electricity but not gas. This was due to the gas meter being in the garage so the signal would, apparently, not be strong enough. The engineer intimated that future gas smart meters may have stronger signals. Recently moved to Octopus so sent a message asking if they could install gas smart meter and got following reply “Thank you for the email. I don't think Octopus would be able to install it ,if a previous engineer said it cant be fitted”. Maybe that is true but how can I confirm that?

Upgrading both meters to dual band comms for HAN might solve your problem - but like home WiFi it's all to do with distance and obstructions like walls between.


The original HAN only good for few M with a wall or door or two in the way (12-15m max according to different reports in free air).  Some sites like smartme estimate only suitable for c70% of installs (including flats).

The dual band gives more distance.  Was estimated to cover an additional 26% of installs by smartme website.  But they don't quote a free air distance.

They also quote costs £24 more and available since 2021.

Scot_39

katejo said:

An Octopus engineer has just (4 days ago) fitted an electric and gas smart meter in my house. The electric one is inside and the new gas meter is outside on the front of my house. I queried whether the gas one would be too far away and whether it would work. I was told it would but it hasn't yet. The info supplied says it can take 2 weeks for both meters to work so I will wait that long before going back to them but I have my doubts.

The fitter should have been able to see the home area network HAN connection come up almost right away.

Did you get an in house display ?

Does that show current gas and electric use ?

IHD and gas to electric uses HAN. 

The 2 weeks sounds more like wide area network WAN reporting being setup and used by your supplier for smart reading billing.  Again the WAN network connection itself normally tested at install.

Two independent electronic networks in one sense  - han think local router wifi to laptop etc and wan think your router connection to isp - but just as you need both to get internet data - with smart meters you need both operating i.e. gas to (normally electric meter mounted) comms hub on han and comms hub wan to DCC network to get gas readings to supplier.

katejo

Scot_39 said:

katejo said:

An Octopus engineer has just (4 days ago) fitted an electric and gas smart meter in my house. The electric one is inside and the new gas meter is outside on the front of my house. I queried whether the gas one would be too far away and whether it would work. I was told it would but it hasn't yet. The info supplied says it can take 2 weeks for both meters to work so I will wait that long before going back to them but I have my doubts.

The fitter should have been able to see the home area network HAN connection come up almost right away.

Did you get an in house display ?

Does that show current gas and electric use ?

IHD and gas to electric uses HAN. 

The 2 weeks sounds more like wide area network WAN reporting being setup and used by your supplier for smart reading billing.  Again the WAN network connection itself normally tested at install.

Two independent electronic networks in one sense  - han think local router wifi to laptop etc and wan think your router connection to isp - but just as you need both to get internet data - with smart meters you need both operating i.e. gas to (normally electric meter mounted) comms hub on han and comms hub wan to DCC network to get gas readings to supplier.

Still nothing for gas on my in house display (awaiting data is the only display) so I checked the new external meter today and the display is completely blank. I didn't look at it when it was fitted because the engineer said it would take up to 2 weeks. I will email Octopus today
 

northernsparky

After having problems with my electric Smart Meter, Octopus sent an engineer around and they did a comms reboot test, ended up replacing the communications hub ( which sits on top of the Electric smart meter). 

However they left the premises without “pairing” the Gas meter to the new communication hub.  So no gas smart meter readings, and a job not properly done.

So after a further7 weeks of complaining they sent another engineer around , who spotted straight away the gas meter was not paired. He then fitted a new Gas meter, paired it to the Comms hub , and an hour or so later the IHD showed both Gas and Electric usage. 

As others have said, the IHD should show the Electric readings almost straight away.  

I’m afraid only perseverance will get the outcome you need. 

Scot_39

katejo said:

Still nothing for gas on my in house display (awaiting data is the only display) so I checked the new external meter today and the display is completely blank. I didn't look at it when it was fitted because the engineer said it would take up to 2 weeks. I will email Octopus today
 

Isnt this normal on some if not many smart gas meters - screen goes into sleep mode to preserve battery life - i.e. you have to wake it up by pressing a button to read the display ?

Some generic reading guidance here

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/your-energy-meter/how-to-read-your-smart-gas-meter/

Google your specific meter type if that isn't a good enough set of clues.