Smart meter not registered - any advice?

goblet12

I moved into a new build property 6 years ago which had SMETS1 meters installed. We lost the smart functionality immediately as we switched suppliers, however the electricity meter regained smart functions a couple of years ago, which I now know was due to the upgrade. I have asked our supplier why the gas one isn't functioning as a smart meter. First, I was told that it was probably due to its location, maybe too far from the electric one or that there was interference, and an engineer could be sent out. When I explained they were both next to each other on the outside of the property, I was told that this was a difficult fix and I needed to have them replaced. I looked the meters up on the Citizen's Advice Bureau webpage. The electricity one is registered but the gas one isn't. When I asked my supplier about this, they confirmed "your gas meter is not registered as a smart meter, while your electric meter is a first-generation smart meter. To enable communication with both meters, we would need to replace them with second-generation smart meters."

I just don't believe them - I don't see why they can't register the gas meter as a smart meter and ensure that the software is updated over the air. Does anyone have any insight or knowledge about this? Am I just being too cynical? I'm loathe to have the disruption of replacing them if it's not needed, especially as you hear about people's bills being messed up when meters are changed. The first supplier we switched to when we moved in had to register the meters and I remember one of them being a bit of a faff; I wonder if it was the gas one and it wasn't registered properly. We've never had any issue with billing while we've lived here.

molerat

The big problem is the gas meter is not stand alone smart, it communicates through the electric meter so if they are not communicating you cannot upgrade the gas meter to make it smart and communicate through the electric meter - catch 22 really.

MikeJXE

Yes you are being cynical 

The reason bills being messed up are the people do not keep their own record as in old meter last read new meter first read 

It’s all very simple to do your own checks and keep photos 

debitcardmayhem

I had smets1 meters and occasionally the gas one sent data, but most times it didn’t . I got my provider Octopus to sort it so I could use tracker for gas. They arranged for new meters to be fitted, During this time I spent 13 weeks in hospital, but we still managed to get them fitted, and because they missed my appointment (because I was hospitalised, not their fault) they even gave me credit for that, gift horse and mouth so I told them there was no need, but they said “no we didn’t fulfill our commitment” ergo credit. Whilst in hospital they arranged an appointment with my wife, fitted the meters and hey I saved 10%+ on my gas since. 
If you have “upgraded” smets1 leccy meter there is no reason to believe your “smartl” gas will work, don’t blame the messenger, work with them and ask for new meters.

matelodave

AS the introduction of smart meters was a piecemeal fiasco, and was left to the energy suppliers to do their own thing and  not actually co-ordinated by anyone, they ended up with a random selection of systems and meter types, which although the basic meter specs were (or should have been) based on SMETS1 they didn't all communicate in the same way. Gas  meters need to talk to an associated electricity meter to communicate with the supplier so all in all it was a buggers muddle

It took until the SMETS2 specs and the DCC got up and running before there was much integration but by then there were thousands (if not millions) of random SMETS1 meters out there which had to be integrated and enrolled onto the DCC.

However that took a lot of testing of each meter type and relied on the energy suppliers to get their fingers out and move their customers over. Again there was no real incentive for them to do it especially as they were being hassled to keep installing new SMETS2 meters.

Even now there are meters (both gas and electric) out there that may never be upgraded and TBH gas meters only have a life of around ten years before the batteries die (probably less in a lot of cases) so there's even less incentive to sort them out if they are getting towards their end of life.

goblet12

Thanks, everyone, for your comments - this is all helpful information!