Must I have a Smart Meter?

EssexHebridean

Yes - as already said above, there has been some emails sent to folk who don't actually have an RTS controlled set-up. This appears to be an overly "belt & braces" approach to those who have old style E7 meters. 

It's possible to check the certification period of your current meter online. 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1126202/schedule-4-december-2022.pdf

Green_Driver

Can someone give me advice /reassurance please?
I have received the same message from Octopus, I am on Economy 7& electric only, I am concerned because I do not have a mobile phone signal where I live (Cornwall), I rely on Wifi (which sometimes fails) to receive a signal . Do I need a mobile phone signal for the smart Meter to work ?
I have heard that most of the problems with smart meters are related to poor signal strength 

bob2302

AFAIK it doesn't stop you using E7, it just means you have to submit some manual readings.

mmmmikey

Green_Driver said:

Can someone give me advice /reassurance please?
I have received the same message from Octopus, I am on Economy 7& electric only, I am concerned because I do not have a mobile phone signal where I live (Cornwall), I rely on Wifi (which sometimes fails) to receive a signal . Do I need a mobile phone signal for the smart Meter to work ?
I have heard that most of the problems with smart meters are related to poor signal strength 

Hi, a smart meter is basically a bog-standard meter with a few extra gizmos bolted on so it can send readings to your energy provider. In your part of the world it needs a mobile signal to send the readings through, and without a mobile signal that bit of the smart meter won't work. However, it will still work as a bog-standard old fashioned meter and you'll be able to read it like you have done before. So in a nutshell, you need a mobile signal for the smart meter to work fully, but it will work perfectly well without it, you just have to take readings manually like you have done before.

ICMCD

Here's my meter. Do you think it's an RDS one?

I don't need an Economy 7 meter; it was here when I moved in twenty-odd years ago but I have oil-fired heating and nowadays the meter's only significant overnight use is for the dishwasher.

That was useful information about smart meters needing a mobile 'phone signal to work fully. The signal in these parts is never more than one "bar" and often non-existent. I rely on Wi-Fi Calling.

Ildhund

Green_Driver said:

I have heard that most of the problems with smart meters are related to poor signal strength 

That will certainly account for a good proportion of the 'problems' we hear about. Poor O2 mobile signal - even 2G, which is quite good enough for smart meter communications - seems to be a common problem across the south-west, probably especially in Cornwall. This is where a mesh solution could prove useful in many cases, where a meter outside the WAN zone piggy-backs on another one not so far away that is in contact. However, that requires different comms hubs on the meters involved, and it seems that DCC (who own and retain responsibility for the comms hubs) are often reluctant to play ball. I don't know why.

You might check with some of your neighbours within a mile or two to see if any of them have a SMETS2 meter and, if so, whether it's in communication with the supplier. That would be a good thing to point out when arranging for your meter exchange.  

Onemoreriver

ICMCD said:

My electricity supplier, Octopus, has sent me the following e-mail. My question is simple: do I have to accept a smart meter if I don't want one?   "The service that switches your meter from peak to off-peak is ending on 30 June 2025. To ensure that your heating and hot water supply isn’t affected, we’ll need to upgrade your existing meter before this date."

Hi I had the same email. I just called them today and the phone conversation I had with Octopus revealed very different information from the impression that the email gives.  The email is very misleading.  It says they need to change our meters 'to ensure' that we can continue to use Economy 7.  But it turns out there is only a small chance that the meters will be affected.  About 90% won't be!  The Octopus energy person on the phone confirmed this to me.   At first she said that the meter 'will not work' after the switch off, and that they 'had to' change the meters but as the conversation went on, I asked her a series of questions such as 'so the meter definitely won't work' and 'is it only some meters that won't work' and 'do you know what type of meter I have and so whether it will continue to work or not"?  The upshot was, that 90% of meters will continue to work fine, and they haven't even tried to gather information about what type of meter each customer has.   So 'to ensure' that meters will work after the long wave switch off, they want to blanket change all of them, which would lead to most being changed without need.   Clearly they are using this to push huge numbers of people to have smart meters, who don't need them.   In my case, they had actually already told me a couple of years ago that a smart meter would not work at my location, due to lack of signal, so God alone knows what they are playing at.   I really need my Economy 7, I only have storage heaters, and I get up at the crack of dawn to do washing, drying, hoovering and dishwashing.  They have caused me  - and a lot of other people it sounds like  - much needless stress.

QrizB

Onemoreriver said:

But it turns out there is only a small chance that the meters will be affected.  About 90% won't be!  The Octopus energy person on the phone confirmed this to me.   At first she said that the meter 'will not work' after the switch off, and that they 'had to' change the meters but as the conversation went on, I asked her a series of questions such as 'so the meter definitely won't work' and 'is it only some meters that won't work' and 'do you know what type of meter I have and so whether it will continue to work or not"?  The upshot was, that 90% of meters will continue to work fine, and they haven't even tried to gather information about what type of meter each customer has.

The phone support person seems to be going off-script. If they genuinely don't know what type of meter you have (and generally, they do), there's no way they can tell you that "90% will be fine".

Can you tell us the make and model of your meter? Or post a photo? There's a lot of knowledge on this board, we might be able to give you a better idea.

Onemoreriver said:

I really need my Economy 7, I only have storage heaters, and I get up at the crack of dawn to do washing, drying, hoovering and dishwashing.  They have caused me  - and a lot of other people it sounds like  - much needless stress.

Is odd that someone like you who relies on your E7 to such a degree is so willing to risk being one of those that loses it.

MeteredOut

QrizB said:

Is odd that someone like you who relies on your E7 to such a degree is so willing to risk being one of those that loses it.

This is the crux of the matter Onemoreriver. If you don't want a smart meter, you can quite easily stall things, possibly for years.

But if yours is one of the meters that does stop working come the switch off, who will you blame when you suddenly lose your overnight cheap electricity until such time that a smart meter is installed?

EssexHebridean

Had we still been on E7 and relying on storage heaters and the activation of the off-peak circuit, I would not have been taking any chances whatsoever with this. Ultimately it's just a tech upgrade at the end of the day - when my mobile phone stops being supported for security updates, I don't mess about hoping that my banking etc will be OK and all my apps will carry on working, I replace it!