Smart meters

onomatopoeia said:
The gas meter still has to be safety inspected every two years by law apparently, if you have gas. The meter reading company used by my supplier employs RGIs to do so.
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No problem with that, the gas meter is outside and can be 'inspected' (read) anytime they like.
But I still do not have an answer as to why they 'Have' to 'Inspect' (read) the leccy meter inside!
 
onomatopoeia said:
The gas meter still has to be safety inspected every two years by law apparently, if you have gas. The meter reading company used by my supplier employs RGIs to do so.
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Quite right, too. That is an engineer's job and not a meter reader.
 
wontolla said:
But I still do not have an answer as to why they 'Have' to 'Inspect' (read) the leccy meter inside!
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Ask Ofgen as it's them who insist on the 'inspection' every 2 years.
Ask your supplier why they are still coming round several times in that period. Who is your supplier again?
 
nickEnackEnoo said:
Ask Ofgen as it's them who insist on the 'inspection' every 2 years.
Ask your supplier why they are still coming round several times in that period. Who is your supplier again?
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British Gas, duel fuel tariff.
 
wontolla said:
British Gas, duel fuel tariff.
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And how often do they come round? From what i've heard, they are not as intensive as other suppliers for taking readings and may have been on the end of a telling off recently from Ofgem because of it.
 
nickEnackEnoo said:
And how often do they come round? From what i've heard, they are not as intensive as other suppliers for taking readings and may have been on the end of a telling off recently from Ofgem because of it.
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As I stated in post 49, aprox every 6 months.
Again, it was classed, by the reader, as an 'inspection' how you can do that in just a few seconds I have no idea.
Next time they come I will refuse entry and tell them to make an appointment and see what happens from there.
 
wontolla said:
Again, it was classed, by the reader, as an 'inspection' how you can do that in just a few seconds I have no idea.
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What do you imagine it to involve? You stated in a previous post (I'm not going to look up the number) peering into a hatch; what is visible in this hatch?
 
nickEnackEnoo said:
What do you imagine it to involve? You stated in a previous post (I'm not going to look up the number) peering into a hatch; what is visible in this hatch?
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The meter, what else?
A torch was shone on the numbers, nowhere else as far as I could see, and punched into his handheld recorder, and yes, I stood right next to him while he did it.
 
So, you have a meter, with no visible cables coming in or out of it, no cut out, main fuse, or cable visible leading to that?

cut-out.jpg
 
That's correct! You must have looked into our hatch!
The cables in and out are behind the mounting board, the cutout, fuses (MCBs) are behind a panel mounted on the consumer unit.
The numbers on the meter are visible for reading.
 
Well, all the reader can do is take the number then and make a note that nothing else is visible. Really, someone (a reader is competent enough do pass judgement on it) should be looking at the rest every 2 years, but I don't know what BG's policy is for adhering to this.

As for refusing them access and demanding an appointment, the reader wont really care either way and will probably just mark you up as a difficult customer that demands appointments :) If it's a smart meter, he may be sympathetic, but that depends on your/the customer's attitude.
 
Speaking to a meter reader other day and it looks like the 2 year must inspect has been extended to 5 years, following a sustained protest from British Gas. This is apparently freeing up readers to get trained to fit the smart meters.
 
BG fitted my Smart readers yesterday (hassle free job done in 90 mins).

Guess what - meter reader turned up this morning !! I said I had smart readers installed yesterday. He said he had been sent to "check that they were ticking over OK". That was a fairy story. Meter function is part of the monitoring. I did not permit entry.
 
border_all said:
I had a smart meters installed painless they used 3G it's had no effect on broadband that I can tell.

Fwiw I see no benefit at all with one exception I now don't need to give meter readings.
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That is the benefit, I plus no more estimated bills.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
That is the benefit, I plus no more estimated bills.
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Oddly enough after having mine for a year and renewing my contract yearly the new years estimates seemed far more out of kilter though i blame the regulator more than the provider as they follow instructions that don't seem up to date for smart meters:)
 
border_all said:
I had a smart meters installed painless they used 3G it's had no effect on broadband that I can tell.

Fwiw I see no benefit at all with one exception I now don't need to give meter readings.
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The meters are much smaller and tidier than what they replaced. I do like the little consumption monitor although the novelty of that may well wear off.
 
arclight said:
The meters are much smaller and tidier than what they replaced. I do like the little consumption monitor although the novelty of that may well wear off.
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In my case I had recent standard meters and the electric meter is in my case larger, I certainly found the little consumption meter fun but after a few days don't look at it the online breakdown is decent though not current i.e. I can only see yesterday bit of history issue really. I guess once we all have the internet of things it may be more useful though we will need better internet than I get now
 
I have asked sainsburs energy to have them fitted.
see what they say.
 
border_all said:
In my case I had recent standard meters and the electric meter is in my case larger, I certainly found the little consumption meter fun but after a few days don't look at it the online breakdown is decent though not current i.e. I can only see yesterday bit of history issue really. I guess once we all have the internet of things it may be more useful though we will need better internet than I get now
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My meter shows consumption as it happens and gives a cost per hour based on my own specific tarrif. It can also receive messages and alerts from BG.

It has loads of historic data about usage too, but I would browse that online if I was interested.
 
How did people order thirs.
I emailed Sainsburys Energy but couldn't find a link.
 
neil_g said:
SSE sent us a letter saying they were offering free installation to their customers and we called the number.
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I've just swapped to SSE this month, saving £330 / year on duel fuel, I expect I'll get a letter soon,
Although very much still sceptical of all this technology, controlling everything from a computer or smart phone, I mean what happend if it gets hacked or lost / stolen?
Someone could turn your heating off in the winter :)
 
Yep it was on t.v last week ,it seems the first generation of smart meters are not so smart and will need replacing sooner rather than later .best to hang on till it's all properly sorted ,funnily enough we had a call from Scottish power about installing one a day or so after I watched the program ,no way Hosea was my answer .

We already do our account online and give meter readings by e.mail and every time for the past two years they have come back with a surricoulous demand for higher monthly payments ,followed by a phone call from my trained Rottweiler :rolleyes: And every time they blame a computer error ,and end up paying virtually the same amount as usual ,so would I trust a fully auto computerised smart meter TESTICLES I would .
 
We had the smart meters fitted about five weeks ago. The electric meter displays the reading OK, but the Gas does not display anything.
 
jonbeeza said:
We had the smart meters fitted about five weeks ago. The electric meter displays the reading OK, but the Gas does not display anything.
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Ask your supplier ?
 
arclight said:
Ask your supplier ?
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We did, but they said it could take up to seven weeks or more, for it to connect. Got a feeling they are fobbing us off, but we have lost interest now. We are with OVO.
 
Being a dinosaur, I get quarterly bills and pay them by cheque in the bank. Keeps bank counter staff employed and makes sure that I don't overpay and have to try to claim it back. Prompt payment discount offsets the fee for paying this way. Estimated bills get replied to within the day with an actual reading.
 
I will not be getting the dumb meter

I also get a quarterly bill and pay it when it arrives, I decided to do it this way after many "discussions" about my direct debit with the utility company

I just put the relevant amount each month into my bills account and pay when the quarterly bill arrives
 
jonbeeza said:
We had the smart meters fitted about five weeks ago. The electric meter displays the reading OK, but the Gas does not display anything.
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Doesn't sound right to me. The electric meter normally always links and displays the reading to the monitor but the Gas sometimes has problems. The electric is normally directly wired in to the 'hub', whereas the gas links wirelessly and only runs on battery which only sends readings to the hub half hourly (which is why it's not normally instant like the electric).
 
Nod said:
Spotted a story on a news feed suggesting that smart meters weren't so smart. Dug a little (just googled telegraph smart meters to find https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=telegraph+smart+meters&ie=&oe=#spf=1 . The original story that sparked my interest was http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/05/millions-smart-meters-may-need-replacing-due-blunder/ .
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There will be something out in the next few months so customers can leave suppliers and the smart meter will work with other suppliers. Some of the older ones will need to be changed when possible. Electric meters should be changed around every 10 years anyway (which they're not).
 
Matt- said:
The electric meter normally always links and displays the reading to the monitor but the Gas sometimes has problems. The electric is normally directly wired in to the 'hub', whereas the gas links wirelessly and only runs on battery which only sends readings to the hub half hourly (which is why it's not normally instant like the electric).
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Doesn't that depend on the type of meter? Mine don't behave like that.
 
Matt- said:
Doesn't sound right to me. The electric meter normally always links and displays the reading to the monitor but the Gas sometimes has problems. The electric is normally directly wired in to the 'hub', whereas the gas links wirelessly and only runs on battery which only sends readings to the hub half hourly (which is why it's not normally instant like the electric).
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Only the electric displays, gas does not show anything.
 
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