Smart meter goes dumb after two years

Reed_Richards

I had a smart meter installed in August 2023.  At the time the installer said the signal was weak but it worked fine and I bought an EV on the strength of being able to charge it cheaply overnight and moved onto a Time of Use tariff that relies on half-hourly meter readings.  In March 2024 there was an 11 day outage when no readings were received but then it went back to working as normal.  But last month the half-hourly readings stopped being received and this time there has been no recovery.  My supplier sent an engineer who just fitted a new comms hub but it hasn't helped.  If I cannot remain on the TOU tariff I will be hundreds of pound worse off each year.

The WAN light on the comms hub flashes green every 5 seconds which is supposed to indicate normal communication (I'm on the northern Long Range Radio WAN).  This is hugely frustrating and I'm concerned about the extra costs I may have to face.  Any suggestions?

born_again

I guess all you can do is go back to supplier & complain. Just watch, as some suppliers will just put you straight to variable tariff if not receiving data.

Do you do a lot of miles?
As even variable tariff is cheaper than petrol. OK is going to cost more than off peak cost.

Reed_Richards

At the moment I'm using an average of 15 kWh overnight and less than 1 kWh daytime (because I have solar panels and a battery).  So 15 kWh at the overnight rate saves me about £2.50 (+VAT) each day and that will increase in winter as I heat with an ASHP.  

mmmmikey

Not really a good solution but if you can't get the communications fixed I'm wondering if E7 would be a "less bad" option than single rate, especially as you have a battery system.

But getting ahead of myself really, be much better to get the communications working if that can be done.

Reed_Richards

It's perverse because I get exactly 7 hours of cheap rate electricity so a meter with two registers measuring the day and night usage would provide all the necessary information, but my tariff seems to depend on half hourly data.

I have now caught the WAN light on the meter flashing every two seconds, which is supposed to mean that it is trying to establish a connection.  After a short while it goes back to one flash every 5 seconds, which is supposed to mean that a connection has been established.  So maybe the connection is being dropped sometimes and this is happening too frequently to get the half-hourly data?      

born_again

Reed_Richards said:

At the moment I'm using an average of 15 kWh overnight and less than 1 kWh daytime (because I have solar panels and a battery).  So 15 kWh at the overnight rate saves me about £2.50 (+VAT) each day and that will increase in winter as I heat with an ASHP.  

Ah, so  it's not just EV then. 👍

MattMattMattUK

Reed_Richards said:

It's perverse because I get exactly 7 hours of cheap rate electricity so a meter with two registers measuring the day and night usage would provide all the necessary information, but my tariff seems to depend on half hourly data.

I have now caught the WAN light on the meter flashing every two seconds, which is supposed to mean that it is trying to establish a connection.  After a short while it goes back to one flash every 5 seconds, which is supposed to mean that a connection has been established.  So maybe the connection is being dropped sometimes and this is happening too frequently to get the half-hourly data?      

The data is not transmitted half hourly, it is transmitted in chunks, I think from reading on here it can store and transmit up to 90 days worth of half hourly data. 

You could request that they fit an additional arial if that is possible with your house, that can increase the signal strength, it does not fix it in every occasion, but it can make a difference in marginal cases. 

Baldytyke88

You need something like - "TP Link 300Mbps Universal Wi-Fi Range Extender".

Does your smart meter work via wifi or a mobile signal?

Reed_Richards

My smart meter works on the Arqiva Long Range Radio network, the norm for Scotland and the north of England.

Ildhund

MattMattMattUK said:
You could request that they fit an additional arial ...

Aerials aren't available for LRR connections. Remedies for situations like this include (1) a flying lead to relocate the comms hub by up to 1.5m from its current position; (2) a mobile phone hub to connect via 2G/3G/4G if DCC allow, or (3) a home-grown dipole passive repeater like those being used successfully by enterprising EV owners in CSP North.

Reed_Richards

The engineer tried connecting the comms hub on a flying lead instead of directly to the meter but that did not work.  The length of the lead was very short, only about half a metre.  I don't know if LRR aerials are feasible/available.