I think I am reading my Smart electricity meter wrong

cat8986 · 10 July 2018 at 12:36PM

The reason I believe I am reading my meter incorrectly is because (in a nutshell);
Previous provider Npower used the outgoing tenant's meter reading of 2302 to estimate my opening meter reading on 8 March 2018.
I have no photographic evidence of the meter reading this number, but when I took a picture two weeks later on 23 March 2018. it was 4014.
I was living at the property before the tenants and my final reading on 30 June 2017 was 1676.
So I believe 2302 is an accurate reading. How could it jump to 4014 in not only two weeks, but between 30 June 2017 it being 1676 and on 23 March 2018 it being 4014.
I press 9 on the keypad of my Liberty 100 smart meter. I was installed in January 2016.
But I believe the true reading is by pressing number 6 four times on the keypad, as when I do that, the current 10th July reading is 2783, which, if I calculate roughly 120 units a month, will work out correct from 2302 in March and correct from the 1676 reading in June 2017.
Am I seeing the wrong number, and if I am, will EON (my current provider and installer of said Smart meter) accept this new reading??

bri160356 · 10 July 2018 at 1:54PM

cat8986 wrote: »

The reason I believe I am reading my meter incorrectly is because (in a nutshell);
Previous provider Npower used the outgoing tenant's meter reading of 2302 to estimate my opening meter reading on 8 March 2018.
I have no photographic evidence of the meter reading this number, but when I took a picture two weeks later on 23 March 2018. it was 4014.
I was living at the property before the tenants and my final reading on 30 June 2017 was 1676.
So I believe 2302 is an accurate reading. How could it jump to 4014 in not only two weeks, but between 30 June 2017 it being 1676 and on 23 March 2018 it being 4014.
I press 9 on the keypad of my Liberty 100 smart meter. I was installed in January 2016.
But I believe the true reading is by pressing number 6 four times on the keypad, as when I do that, the current 10th July reading is 2783, which, if I calculate roughly 120 units a month, will work out correct from 2302 in March and correct from the 1676 reading in June 2017.
Am I seeing the wrong number, and if I am, will EON (my current provider and installer of said Smart meter) accept this new reading??

I have a ‘smart’ electricity meter (now actually a ‘dumb’ meter since I changed supplier) and the correct reading shows the units consumed followed by the notation ‘Kwhr’.

However, it’s a bit laborious to actually to access this ‘Kwhr’ reading;…it entails pushing a button and the display cycles through several ‘mysterious’ different number read-outs until it finally reaches the ‘Kwhr’ reading. It’s easy to note down the wrong number.

My son has a different type of ‘smart’ electricity meter and it constantly displays the ‘Kwhr’ reading and nothing else. No idea why my meter is so convoluted but it’s the ‘Kwhr’ reading that you need to look for.

Ring EON and discuss your concerns with them. If it’s still an active ‘smart’ meter they should have an accurate up to date reading regardless of what you gave them. If it’s now a ‘dumb’ meter perhaps (???) you could ask for an urgent visit by one of their meter readers.

However, if you’ve mistakenly given them the wrong information it should be easily rectified because the correct info is still held by the electricity meter.

cat8986 · 10 July 2018 at 2:10PM

Thank you bri160356. The previous tenants switched energy provider which has now made the smart meters redundant and EON can't pick up readings anymore.

I have been doing the standard 'press 9' like EON has said and trusty Google has says, which does bring up a kWh reading (4014). However, when I also press 6 four times and wait for some text to flash past, it gives another kWh, more realistic, reading (2783).

I have since contacted Npower to provide the new reading which I believe is the correct one and they simply said a new bill will be sent. That seemed too easy? Don't they need confirmation from the new supplier what the readings are, or can they still accept what I tell them?

It is reassuring to know that by simply saying you have a Smart meter, doesn't mean you can access your readings in the same way as another Smart meter. As soon as this debacle is over, I'm switching back to a regular one where it can be read easily!

matelodave · 10 July 2018 at 2:17PM

It will probably cost you to get the meter changed if there's nothing wrong with it and I'm not sure if energy companies will actually swap them back, especially as they are being fined for not installing enough smart meters.

As it happens I've got an Elster smart meter which is now dumb but it displays the readings directly in kwh without any button pushing (except for the in home monitor)

cat8986 · 10 July 2018 at 2:26PM

Thanks matelodave. I guess you are right. As the Smart functionality no longer works, it has effectively turned back into a standard meter anyway.

My only concern is the trouble I am having reading it, why hasn't EON given me clear instructions on how to read it and if they dispute what I'm seeing compared to what they see, how can we go forward with logging correct readings? The fact that I can see two readings for KwH is really concerning... there is literally no difference to the icons on the screen, it's like there are two readings. And I am not on a day/night rate, or at least I think I'm not!

Carrot007 · 10 July 2018 at 2:42PM

cat8986 wrote: »

which, if I calculate roughly 120 units a month, will work out correct from 2302 in March and correct from the 1676 reading in June 2017.

Sounds damn low to me.

I generally use 16 units a day.

Are you living in the middle ages? I have no idea how people use so little if they live a normal life. (I used to used around 21 in the old property that had an electric shower, this is the difference of not having one).

thorganby · 10 July 2018 at 3:02PM

cat8986 wrote: »

I have been doing the standard 'press 9' like EON has said and trusty Google has says, which does bring up a kWh reading (4014). However, when I also press 6 four times and wait for some text to flash past, it gives another kWh, more realistic, reading (2783).

You can't simply guess, find a lower reading on the display and provide that just because you think that it looks more realistic!

You should not be pressing 6 unless you have a dual rate tariff. Pressing 9 gives the correct reading.

I have since contacted Npower to provide the new reading which I believe is the correct one and they simply said a new bill will be sent.

You thought wrong and have now given them a false reading!

That seemed too easy? Don't they need confirmation from the new supplier what the readings are, or can they still accept what I tell them?

You guesswork has simply created future problems for yourself.

..........

cat8986 · 10 July 2018 at 3:44PM

Appreciate the hard reality. I am obviously going about this the wrong way.

The issue I am trying to resolve is how the closing reading for the previous tenants was 2302 and I read 4014 only 2 weeks later.

Npower have said it's a third party dispute - which I'm happy to pursue, but it's more than just a few units out. It's almost twice the difference..!

I have taken a monthly picture of my meter reading (when I was pressing 9) - will Npower accept this as evidence as to my usage over the last few months?

I just find it odd that they take someone's word for it, over evidence of a picture showing the true reading...

Scatty · 10 July 2018 at 3:58PM

Carrot007 wrote: »

Sounds damn low to me.

I generally use 16 units a day.

Are you living in the middle ages? I have no idea how people use so little if they live a normal life. (I used to used around 21 in the old property that had an electric shower, this is the difference of not having one).

I use about 4 a day in summer (few more when washing/drying) and about 12-18 in the winter when the electric heating is on. It's very easy as my bank account likes it this way....

House_Martin · 10 July 2018 at 3:58PM

Keep off button 6. You have been made aware of why that should not be used. Button 9 will give you the correct kwh reading and its usually the first in line of a rolling display. Also be aware that on the button 9 scroll it will show on the 5 th or 6 th screen the Kvarh reading which is never needed for domestic supplies.
Secure Liberty meters are an absolute disaster to be used in the UK, but they are on the plus side, exceedingly cheap to buy. Suppliers use this meter simply because its cheap and they will reap the rewards of their cheapskate actions by never ending billing problems once the meter becomes dumb

matelodave · 10 July 2018 at 4:03PM

Carrot007 wrote: »

Sounds damn low to me.

I generally use 16 units a day.

Are you living in the middle ages? I have no idea how people use so little if they live a normal life. (I used to used around 21 in the old property that had an electric shower, this is the difference of not having one).

120kwh a month does sound low, we can only manage that if we go away on holiday and turn everything except the freezer, router and Sky box off.

We average about 8kwh a day at this time of the year but it can go up to 40+kwh/day in the winter.

I'd have thought that 200-250kwh a month was more realistic.

I think I am reading my Smart electricity meter wrong

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