Octopus Mini - Where Does Gas Data Come From?

Pinner_Boy

Does anyone know if the Octopus Mini gets its gas data from the electric or the gas meter?

I can see 30-minute gas usage in the “Day” tab of the Octopus app since setting up the Octopus Mini.

However, after initially working OK when the meters were installed, other tabs (Month / Year) do not show gas usage.  Electric is fine.

All lights on the comms hub, including GAS are flashing green every 5 seconds, apart from MESH which is permanently off, so that looks good.

Octopus are going down the line of questioning the comms link between the gas and electric meters. 

However, if the Octopus Mini is getting its gas data from the electric meter then we’d be able to rule that out as the point of failure.

Thanks for any enlightenment!

Netexporter

The gas meter only communicated with the electric meter. The electric meter communicates with the outside world and any home devices. 

QrizB

Netexporter said:

The gas meter only communicated with the electric meter. The electric meter communicates with the outside world and any home devices. 

Not quite, but I can understand why you think that.

The gas meter, the electricity meter, the IHD and the Octopus Mini all communicate with the communications hub via the HAN. The comms hub also communicates with the DCC via the WAN.

The comms hub is generally attached to the electricity meter, but it's a distinct part of the system. It can be replaced without replacing the electricity meter, and it can be located separately from the electricity meter if there's a good reason to do so.

You can even have a comms hub without having a smart electricity meter.

MikeyPGT

From my personal experience I would suggest that smart gas meters are more trouble than they are worth!  Mine only bothers to send data when it feels like it - often skipping days at a time and ignoring top-ups.  Since I've swapped from prepayment it's not such a big deal but previously it was woeful ...

Ildhund

Thanks for the clarification, @QrizB, but the question remains unanswered - does the Mini get its gas data direct from the gas meter via the meter's own every-30-minutes MQTT transmission, or from the CH's GPF? I suspect the latter, because otherwise the Mini would have to be located so as to optimize connection to two data sources instead of just one.

pete-20-11

I think there is a gas proxy meter inside the Comms hub. If that is still correct, then the mini would get the data from there. 

I believe the gas meter wakes up every 30 minutes, sends the data to the Comms hub and goes to sleep again to save battery. 

So the mini wouldn't be able to ask the gas meter for a reading as it'd have to catch it at the right moment.

Thus it makes sense that it gets it from the Comms hub. 

MWT

Ildhund said:

Thanks for the clarification, @QrizB, but the question remains unanswered - does the Mini get its gas data direct from the gas meter via the meter's own every-30-minutes MQTT transmission, or from the CH's GPF? I suspect the latter, because otherwise the Mini would have to be located so as to optimize connection to two data sources instead of just one.

It uses the proxy, it does not communicate directly with the gas meter.

Pinner_Boy

That’s brilliant, thanks to everyone who’s replied.

With half-hourly gas updates showing in the Octopus app, the gas data must be reaching the gas meter proxy in the comms hub.  The Mini is getting that gas data and sending it off to Octopus over Wi-Fi / domestic broadband.

Quite why that same data doesn’t show on the daily updates on the Week/Month/Year tabs of the Octopus app, via the DCC, is a mystery to me, but hopefully Octopus will find a reason.

At least I can rule out the link between the gas meter and the gas meter proxy in the comms hub as being the problem.  

Thanks all! 

Pinner_Boy

Whoah, had a look today and all the previously missing gas data is now showing in the Octopus app, every single half-hour of it. 

I'm not sure what fixed this.  Octopus were emailed about lack of gas data in the app last week so they may have done something.  Also I've just got the Bright app set-up and verified, I don't know if that could have nudged something in to action.

Anyway, all sorted, just in case someone has the same problem moving forward this is probably little help in knowing how to fix it!