Wireless Smart Meter

TimeLord1

Hi, I'm hoping someone will be in the know about energy smart meters and just explain whose internet WiFi they're actually using.

Can they pull down your home, broadband or interfere with speeds? I've spoken to a couple of electricians and a gas boiler fitter; none of them seemed to know the answer.

Obviously they're using the household electricity, minimal cost to home owners. 

TadleyBaggie

They connect to mobile networks, not to your WiFi. So can have no effect on your broadband.  

MattMattMattUK

TimeLord1 said:

Hi, I'm hoping someone will be in the know about energy smart meters and just explain whose internet WiFi they're actually using.

When you say "wireless smart meter", do you mean the actual smart meter or the IHD? As TB says the smart meters themselves use mobile/data networks (varies in different parts of the country), the IHD uses a direct local connection to the meter.

TimeLord1 said:

Can they pull down your home, broadband or interfere with speeds? I've spoken to a couple of electricians and a gas boiler fitter; none of them seemed to know the answer.

A smart meter certainly cannot pull down your home, nor interfere with your broadband or wifi network.

TimeLord1 said:

Obviously they're using the household electricity, minimal cost to home owners. 

The smart meter itself uses energy from the pre-meter side, so no cost to the home owner, the IHD uses a nominal amount of power, most are between 2-8 watts (the power supply will be rated higher) with the display active, less when the display goes to sleep.

Frozen_up_north

Octopus offer a WiFi hub that allows you to remotely view your energy use in real time, in fact the installer suggested forgetting about the "normal" in house display and to use the free WiFi hub, as it is much more useful.

The smart meters communicate to the normal in house display and to/from a gas meter using Zigbee (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zigbee), which uses the 2.4 GHz band, the same as 2.4 GHz home WiFi.

Rodders53

It's all explained in detail here if you care to read through the information on the site Explaining UK Smart Meters clearly and without bias

Exact frequencies used will depend on the precise kit installed and location in the UK.

DE_612183

I think the OP may be referring to the IHD ( In House Display ) - this is normally linked to your WiFi so I guess could have some impact - although the data flowing is very minimal...

Frozen_up_north

DE_612183 said:

I think the OP may be referring to the IHD ( In House Display ) - this is normally linked to your WiFi so I guess could have some impact - although the data flowing is very minimal...

The meter and IHD are not connected to your WiFi, unless you have a hub (like the free optional hub from Octopus). The meter(s) and IHD use Zigbee, not your WiFi

Ayr_Rage

DE_612183 said:

I think the OP may be referring to the IHD ( In House Display ) - this is normally linked to your WiFi so I guess could have some impact - although the data flowing is very minimal...

Normal IHDs have nothing to do with home WiFi networks, though as above, they use frequencies in a similar band but will not interfere with your home network.

How would you input the code to connect to your router?

DE_612183

Frozen_up_north said:

DE_612183 said:

I think the OP may be referring to the IHD ( In House Display ) - this is normally linked to your WiFi so I guess could have some impact - although the data flowing is very minimal...

The meter and IHD are not connected to your WiFi, unless you have a hub (like the free optional hub from Octopus). The meter(s) and IHD use Zigbee, not your WiFi

My IHD is linked to my wifi - I had to enter the password etc to connect - perhaps it's a different model to some.

TimeLord1

MattMattMattUK said:

TimeLord1 said:

Hi, I'm hoping someone will be in the know about energy smart meters and just explain whose internet WiFi they're actually using.

When you say "wireless smart meter", do you mean the actual smart meter or the IHD? As TB says the smart meters themselves use mobile/data networks (varies in different parts of the country), the IHD uses a direct local connection to the meter.

@MattMattMattUK

I was referring to the IHD positioning to the hub after reading it was unlikely to cause significant interference; there's a theoretical possibility of minimal disruption if they are very close.

TimeLord1 said,

Can they pull down your home, broadband or interfere with speeds? I've spoken to a couple of electricians and a gas boiler fitter; none of them seemed to know the answer.

A smart meter certainly cannot pull down your home, nor interfere with your broadband or wifi network.

Is this depending on it's location?

TimeLord1 said:

Obviously they're using the household electricity, minimal cost to home owners. 

The smart meter itself uses energy from the pre-meter side, so no cost to the home owner, the IHD uses a nominal amount of power, most are between 2-8 watts (the power supply will be rated higher) with the display active, less when the display goes to sleep. 

Who picks up pre-meter in the long run every household standing charges ?

Thanks for your input!!

TimeLord1

DE_612183 said:

Frozen_up_north said:

DE_612183 said:

I think the OP may be referring to the IHD ( In House Display ) - this is normally linked to your WiFi so I guess could have some impact - although the data flowing is very minimal...

The meter and IHD are not connected to your WiFi, unless you have a hub (like the free optional hub from Octopus). The meter(s) and IHD use Zigbee, not your WiFi

My IHD is linked to my wifi - I had to enter the password etc to connect - perhaps it's a different model to some.

Yes the octopus app equipment uses your broadband, as long as you pay for it.