Smart Meter Installation - Why is inside access needed if meters are outside?

SonOfPearl

I recently moved my dual-fuel supply to Octopus and they have now told me that my (non-smart) electricity meter is past its certification date and needs to be replaced with a smart meter. Nothing mentioned about the gas meter, even though it's very likely the same age.

The Octopus website says that even if meters are outside the property, inside access is needed to the property so that "our contractor can conduct safety checks inside your home before and after the work is completed". Does anyone know what these checks are? Do they just need to access the consumer unit, or is there more to it than that? 

Also, is there a way of checking for myself the age of my meter and its expiration date? How long are meters supposed to last? Call me suspicious but it seems odd that my old supplier EDF was perfectly happy with the state of my meters but as soon as I moved to Octopus they are claiming they need to be replaced.

debitcardmayhem

Gas tests normally, boiler etc.

Robin9

Electric - to check if Neutral/Live have been transposed

Netexporter

As per the previous answers. Essentially safety checks/measures.

As far as far as your last paragraph is concerned. EDF are not known for being well organised/efficient. As a new customer to Octopus (and, in theory most suppliers) you will be the new squeaky wheel and there will be a checklist of items, including meter validity, that they will be going through.

When you have a smart meter you will then have available a world of tariffs not available to dumb meters. The range of innovative TOU tariffs is probably one of the main reasons people choose Octopus.

MikeJXE

I had my electric smart meter fitted on Monday

The engineer plugged a device into a socket in the hall and 4 or 5 lights lit up

He switched off the mains at the consumer unit  then went out to change the meter 

He then came back in, switched the mains back on and retrieved his device 

Netexporter

Just suppose suppliers were allowed to change meters without access to the property. If the spike when they pulled the main cut-out fuse tripped the consumer unit, and the customer was away on holiday, they might not be best pleased to come home to an awful pong and a rancid freezer to clear out.

With gas, if the boiler was old, with a pilot light, there could be a leakage of gas from the unlit pilot, which could have reached a critical mixture with air in the house, just waiting for somebody to come home and switch on a light to detonate the bomb.

SonOfPearl

debitcardmayhem said:

Gas tests normally, boiler etc.

My boiler is in the garage, so they will need access there I suppose. Do they test gas appliances or just the boiler? e.g. I have a gas hob in the kitchen. 

QrizB

SonOfPearl said:

debitcardmayhem said:

Gas tests normally, boiler etc.

My boiler is in the garage, so they will need access there I suppose. Do they test gas appliances or just the boiler? e.g. I have a gas hob in the kitchen. 

When my smart gs meter was fitted, yes they checked the oven & hob too.

FreeBear

Netexporter said: With gas, if the boiler was old, with a pilot light, there could be a leakage of gas from the unlit pilot, which could have reached a critical mixture with air in the house, just waiting for somebody to come home and switch on a light to detonate the bomb.

There should be a cutout device to stop the gas flowing in the event of the pilot light going out.

If the meter fitter can not gain access to check appliances are safe, he/she will cap the gas supply at the meter.

Ildhund

SonOfPearl said:

... if meters are outside the property, inside access is needed to the property ...

There is also the question of commissioning the IHD. There's not much point in checking that it's working outside the back door when you need it to be operative inside, e.g. in the kitchen. The fitter is bound to check that it's working before he leaves.

SonOfPearl said:
Also, is there a way of checking for myself the age of my meter and its expiration date? 

Probably. There may be a sticker on the meter giving the month and year it was certified, or its serial number may give a clue. The first two digits are often the year of certification. 
  


This one came of age last April, so is very likely to be life-expired. How long certification lasts for varies from type to type.

Spoonie_Turtle

Ildhund said:

SonOfPearl said:
Also, is there a way of checking for myself the age of my meter and its expiration date? 

Probably. There may be a sticker on the meter giving the month and year it was certified, or its serial number may give a clue. The first two digits are often the year of certification. 
  
…

This one came of age last April, so is very likely to be life-expired. How long certification lasts for varies from type to type.

Which the OP can find here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schedule-4-uk-nationally-approved-electricity-meters