SMETS1 smart meters to have ‘full functionality’ from May

Biggus_Dickus wrote: »

I had a quick read through the entire article (can’t get back into it again without subscribing) and I think it said something along the lines of "11 out of 12 of installed meters are STILL WORKING in smart mode ";...can that possibly be true?,... or did I read it incorrectly?:doh:

Depends how you define smart mode - does smart mode mean that they are sending info back to the supplier or does it mean that they are communicating with the IHD.

Mines still smart insofa as I can see what going on and I can recover historical data going back 13 months but it hasn't communicated with the supplier who installed it several years ago or any of the other three that I've had since it was installed.

Don't forget there will be a fair proportion of people who've had one foisted on them by their supplier who wont have bothered changing suppliers before or since the smart meter was installed.

I'm guessing that despite all the advertising, cajoling and other incentives, the proportion of customer who actively switch suppliers is still fairly low so it's entirely possible that most smart meters are still smart

matelodave wrote: »

Depends how you define smart mode - does smart mode mean that they are sending info back to the supplier or does it mean that they are communicating with the IHD.

Mines still smart insofa as I can see what going on and I can recover historical data going back 13 months but it hasn't communicated with the supplier who installed it several years ago or any of the other three that I've had since it was installed.

Don't forget there will be a fair proportion of people who've had one foisted on them by their supplier who wont have bothered changing suppliers before or since the smart meter was installed.

I'm guessing that despite all the advertising, cajoling and other incentives, the proportion of customer who actively switch suppliers is still fairly low so it's entirely possible that most smart meters are still smart

If the 11 out of 12 figure means full smart functionality then 92% of all installed Smart meters are functioning exactly as intended;...by that measure the smart-meter roll-out programme has obviously been a resounding success. :j

Those who constantly whinge and moan about Smets1 meters and their lack of interopabilty should start giving the people in charge of the Smart-meter rollout programme the credit they richly deserve.

I for one will be singing their praises from the rooftops from now on!

xman wrote: »

For us with the SMETS1 version, some good news here (I THINK)

Way clear for second cohort of first-generation smart meters to be enrolled on central network

My meter was installed by British Gas and I need to change supplier/tariff pronto as their new tariff will be expensive from next month... Not sure if I should stick with BG for a few months until SOMEBODY tells me the meter has been updated? or move anyway and hope for the best...

Your post just shows how ridiculous and wrong the article referred to in post #1 only three days ago was.

May to October in three days! That is some slippage.

Don't wait, switch from BG ASAP so you don't get ripped off while waiting for your meter to support interoperability between suppliers.

You won't find it hard to switch a much cheaper tariff using the many comparison sites and don't forget cashback.

I doubt very much that any large migration to the DCC will happen in the short term.

I guess it will be a long slow and painful progress and you could end up waiting a year or more for it to happen even if you stay with your present supplier.

If you consider that there are supposed to be over 11 million smart meters out there (September 2018 figures - so even more by now), they wont all go over at the same time.

Neither will all the suppliers get their systems in place for it to happen in the near future so it will end up being a phased migration. Possibly supplier by supplier rather than on a random basis although it's conceivable that they might take the opportunity to do it when they enrol a new customer with an existing smart meter.

I haven't seen a migration plan (assuming that one does actually exist) and therefore don't know which suppliers might have signed up for the first tranche

However, that said looking a the vast amount of useless bumpf coming out from the various agencies, it appears that only meter that are currently working in smart mode will be enrolled because it's the only way they can download the firmware/software updates.

I don't know where that leaves meters that are currently operating in the non- smart (ie dumb mode). Can they be reactivated remotely will they need to send a little man around to do it.

It's up to you if you want to hold your breath and hope that it happens this year (or even next) in which time you could have saved yourself several hundred pounds rather than sitting on your hands.