EDF can't give me the special heat pump tariff

barriepreece

I am getting incredibly frustrated with EDF. We had a heat pump fitted just over a year ago by them and it is working perfectly well. HOWEVER, we are in a rural area and have no mobile signal at our property, having to rely on wi fi calling. So the smart meter (which they insisted I had installed) cannot supply information to EDF and I have to do manual readings which, incidentally they no longer remind me to do once a month as I have a smart meter…………

So, when we did the deal for the heat pump EDF advised that we would then be eligible for their Heat Pump Tariff (not as generous as e.g. Octopus but even so..) I pointed this out to them now some 15 months ago. Initially they said they would try to get the smart meter on the SMETS system remotely but this proved impossible. So they said they would arrange for an engineer to visit. That was 13 months ago and despite frequent chasing they are still unable to find a single engineer to visit us. We are not that remote, being on the Wales/England border in the Marches.

Anyone else have a similar problem either with EDF or another supplier and, if so, how are you getting on resolving it?

TadleyBaggie

I don't think Starlink will help with their smart meter issue, it needs to use the existing terrestrial network.

zxzxzx

….which is why I said ‘no help with your issue’.

barriepreece

Odly enough I installed Starlink a month ago and increased the internet from 22 Mb to 200 Mb. Very happy with that but as has already been said, nothing to do with the mobile signal. I am hoping they can get it to work on the SMETS system rather than the normal phone one and the meter certainly is capable of it. Just that they simply can't organise getting an engineer out.

QrizB

There are various things that can be done where the standard smart meter communications hub doesn't manage to connect.

Are you in the north (where they use long range radio) or in the south (where they use the cellphone network)? Options will differ depending on where you are.

If you don't know, you can tell by the number of LEDs on the comms hub. Two LEDs in the north, five LEDs in the south.

barriepreece

We are in mid Wales. EDF confirm that it is a SMETS 2 meter so should - in theory - link on to that network. But - and it's a big BUT - they need to send a meter engineer to try to set it up which is what they have been promising for 13 months and are still saying that it is in the hands of their appointments team. I suspect that with most people having so called smart meters they have got rid of all the engineers. probably a max of two for the whole of mainland UK.

QrizB

I suspect that with most people having so called smart meters they have got rid of all the engineers

The last numbers I saw suggested that 70% have smart meters and 30% don't, so they're nowhere near the end of the rollout.

My experience with EDF some years ago was similar; my smart gas meter stopped reporting readings and EDF made sympathetic noises but never actually did anything. After six-ish months I switched to Octopus and they fixed it within the next three.

barriepreece

Maybe threatening to leave and demanding they waive the termination penalty will do the trick

FreeBear

If you struggle to get a signal for your phone, then it is unlikely a smart meter will send data to EDF (or any other supplier). An external aerial on the comms hub might work, but not all engineers will fit one.

Switching your internet to Starlink will do nothing to improve the smart meter communications - the two use completely different networks.