Gas smart meter is broken

dragonrider100

Hi
I don't seem to be getting anywhere with EDF since I had a smart meter fitted 2 YEARS AGO!!
The gas meter has never worked there is no display and several people that have come to read the meter have said that they cannot access any information.
I have contacted them numerous times ,sent photos and have been told that an engineer will have to come out but I have never seen one.
My worry is that my gas usage has decreased in the effort to save some money but I presume the payments I am making are complete guess work and based on my previous usage.
How can I prove how much gas I have actually used and see if they owe me money? Or if this is not possible surely there must be a procedure to follow to work out a fair charge for both of us. 

DE_612183

are you sure it's not just the meter display thats working - your meter could still be recording and sending data to the supplier - which maybe why they are not concerned - are your bills definitely based on estimates?

If so write to the complaints department and say if they don't sort it out within 14 days you want a deadlock letter to take to the ombudsman.

MWT

dragonrider100 said:

My worry is that my gas usage has decreased in the effort to save some money but I presume the payments I am making are complete guess work and based on my previous usage.

What do your bills show?

Are the meter readings marked as 'Estimated' or 'Smart' ?

EssexHebridean

Assuming that the bills are estimates this could well be a failed battery in the Gas meter. Presumably you have already made a formal complaint to your supplier about this? If so, and if that was over 8 weeks ago, then you could now escalate to the Ombudsman. 

The issue with the meter display not working even if it IS sending readings, would be that firstly you are not able to check those readings are correct, and secondly, if the battery has already caused the screen to fail, I would be concerned that the meter was going to stop sending readings fairly shortly anyway! 

Largs

If your display is broken I would be yanking the heating up, this happened to my bezzy and they had to estimate usage based on historial use.

FreeBear

Largs said:

If your display is broken I would be yanking the heating up, this happened to my bezzy and they had to estimate usage based on historical use.

If the meter is still reporting usage to EDF, then the gas bill will go through the roof.

Not the best advice without knowing if the meter is completely dead or if it is just the display at fault.

mac.d

I know someone who had a similar situation, also with a newly installed smart meter, and I helped them by continually chasing it up. 

If you've not already done so, send an email raising it as a complaint (so that the clock is then ticking on the 8 weeks before it can be taken to the ombudsman). Make the point in your complaint about reducing your gas usage to save money, so therefore paying based on estimates is unfair and you want the meter fixed urgently.

imeach

Hundreds or thousands, or maybe millions of these blank screens and unfortunately EDF are one of the worst to do anything about them. 
Although there nearly all as bad. 
Very rarely see these replaced, visit after visit 😡

SAC2334

Even though the meter is just two years old it could just be a flat battery .
Smart gas meters installed without the smart electric meter will flatten the battery much sooner than the estimated ten years battery life as the meter will be trying to pair with the electric meter continually .
Smart gas meter cannot be linked by the DCC as this is only possible through the smart electric meter ..

Gerry1

EssexHebridean said:

The issue with the meter display not working even if it IS sending readings, would be that firstly you are not able to check those readings are correct, and secondly, if the battery has already caused the screen to fail, I would be concerned that the meter was going to stop sending readings fairly shortly anyway! 

It could be far worse than that, if the gas smart meter's battery is failing it's likely to operate the Shut Off Valve before long. 

QrizB

Gerry1 said:

EssexHebridean said:

The issue with the meter display not working even if it IS sending readings, would be that firstly you are not able to check those readings are correct, and secondly, if the battery has already caused the screen to fail, I would be concerned that the meter was going to stop sending readings fairly shortly anyway! 

It could be far worse than that, if the gas smart meter's battery is failing it's likely to operate the Shut Off Valve before long. 

There have been lots of people on the forum with smart gas meters with flat batteries, and I don't recall a single one where that resulted in the shutout valve closing.