prpr
Well-Known Member
Are you able to expand on that at all?
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Smart meters, less smart companies
- Thread starter Ex Libris
- Start date
Black Hole
May contain traces of nut
What can I tell you? I heard they don't have evidence and are blowing hot air because they get penalised for not installing enough smart meters.
I've ignored Octopus's appointment emails with no come-back so far. If I've not acknowledged their appointment and somebody still turns up, that's their problem.
I know that's not addressed to me, and obviously I don't have any experience, but there are plenty of stories on the likes of Rip-Off Britain of smart meters leading to ludicrous bills. There was even one where a church or chapel which just runs some bar heaters for its few parishioners once a month and has the main circuit breaker off the rest of the time, service charge greater than usage, suddenly jumping up enormously with no explanation and the supplier maintaining that the meter is working correctly.
Nonetheless I can accept that such instances are an extreme minority and probably also happened pre-smart with less fanfare. What really bothers me is the embedded non-replaceable battery. WTF can't they just scavenge power?
@BH " I heard they don't have evidence and are blowing hot air because they get penalised for not installing enough smart meters."
I also heard they get fined if they do not meet their quota but they without doubt had the meter dates. When I questioned the need to replace the meters they gave me the dates which I then looked and confirmed for myself also they must have got them from some shared data base as (EDF) they had never even sent a meter reader to my house and never have in the 3 1/4 years I have now been with them. EON used to threaten me with fines if I did not let them read my meters at least once a year claiming it was a safety check though they did nothing apart from take the numbers and even Green Energy sent one a couple of times a year.
I also heard they get fined if they do not meet their quota but they without doubt had the meter dates. When I questioned the need to replace the meters they gave me the dates which I then looked and confirmed for myself also they must have got them from some shared data base as (EDF) they had never even sent a meter reader to my house and never have in the 3 1/4 years I have now been with them. EON used to threaten me with fines if I did not let them read my meters at least once a year claiming it was a safety check though they did nothing apart from take the numbers and even Green Energy sent one a couple of times a year.
Black Hole
May contain traces of nut
I've not noticed any kind of visit for years, certainly not since I went over to Octopus when they took over from Bulb, and probably not while I was with Bulb... but my electric meter is externally accessible, while my gas meter is not.
But a "BBE" date on a meter is not evidence of it being out of calibration, only that it is out of certification.
But a "BBE" date on a meter is not evidence of it being out of calibration, only that it is out of certification.
But is "out of certification." all they need to force you to have a new meter?
EEPhil
Number 28
Although half-hourly usage information was being uploaded (via a third-party, I can't remember the name - but it is how these things work) to BG the meter readings required for the bill wasn't being recorded. (I didn't understand that either). I had to manually read the meters. Crawling about on the floor in a cupboard is not my idea of fun! After a couple of grumbles and a complaint that is now resolved. I also found some confusion with the time. The meters and the display show the current time (whether BST or GMT) but the uploaded data is always GMT. When BG offer Peak Save they specify a time period. My calculations and theirs differ, strangely enough by an hour when we were on BST. I complained and got an unsatisfactory answer and £10 "good will". The saved amounts are small. Although I'm signed up to the savings it will only amount to a couple of quid a quarter. I'm not going to change my usage times to fit in with piddling savings.
BMAX
Active Member
As I understand it, only the gas meter has a battery and periodically communicates readings (about 1/2 hourly?) to the electriity meter. Hence the load is very light., The electricity meter then does the heavy lifting of both sets of data to the management system. It would be rather difficult to scavenge power from the gas meter!
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prpr
Well-Known Member
30+ years ago, in my rented flat, they kept sending me appointments to change the meter, none of which was convenient as I was always at work. One day the bell rang just as I was about to go out to work, and it was the meter changer. I told him it wasn't convenient, but he said it would only take 10 minutes and if I refused again they would be seeking statutory powers to break in and forcibly fit it, as they were legally obliged to change the meter due to it being out of certification.
I gave in at that point, not fancying the consequences/hassle of it all. It took him about 15 minutes as I recall, and I was only a little bit late in.
Indeed, but how much of is just journalese? Short of it mis-reporting the readings, it's difficult to miscalculate things if you're on a fixed tariff (not one of those 30 min. variable ones they're pushing), and presumably you can take your own periodic readings, in the same way as a conventional meter, to compare with theirs.
My spreadsheet says May 2016 since an M reading. I've just checked my bills for the last 2 years and nothing but Customer readings, and my meters are both externally accessible.
On the other property in question, which I don't even own (yet), they are both in the garage. I dimly remember someone coming, possibly in the period since Covid, and having to open up for readings to be taken.
If I go for "smart", I can do my own calculations to model a what-if on agile, even though it's currently on fixed. If I don't, then I don't get any data unless I put in my own clamp monitoring, but that's much easier than it used to be, now I'm more au-fait with Shelly/Home Assistant/Node-RED stuff.
I'll probably see how the mood takes me on Friday.
I get an email every month asking for a reading or they will estimate my bill which can be a pain in the ass but i have only failed to provide once and they then overestimated by about 20%. By the fitter making my meter fully dumb and not just dumb they cannot remotely cut off my power and to me that is more important than saving a few pence on varied usage time tariffs.
You should cancel the appointment and then just ignore them.
Luke
Well-Knwοn Мember
When my gas meter was last replaced I failed to ask if they could guarantee that the empty spaces surrounding the old gas meter would not be compromised, or ask for details of where the gas meter would be.
They installed the replacement meter but not in exactly the same logical location and had to used longer pipes to reach.
The storage units I had no longer fitted into the available space and the available wall space was reduced. I no longer use British Gas for my registered supplier.
antipodean
Active Member
I get emails every month from OVO asking for my readings, and periodically, a letter saying they want to change my meter as it is "out of calibration". I just ignore the letters as I don't want a meter for the reason you give. So far haven't had any threatening letters about forcing entry to change it.
EEPhil
Number 28
True. But if you need to read the meter manually you press a button which illuminates the display. Obviously this will shorten the battery life. There is a battery compartment and it looks as though just the battery could be replaced. My understanding is that the whole meter would be replaced.
As for the time taken to fit smart meters - I was given a woolly appointment somewhere between 8-12 and an estimated time of 2 hours to fit the meters.
None of my meters need light/button to be able to read the display. night or day
prpr
Well-Known Member
Well, the appointment window was 1pm-5pm and they said they'd call in advance to let me know what time they were going to turn up.
Almost needless to say, no call and nobody's turned up.
In the interim, I found this quite useful webpage.
So I checked the electricity meter certification period, which is 25 years, and the sticker on the meter says 05/00, so presumably it expires in May this year.
Gas meters don't expire apparently - the date on the meter says 1987.
I can't vent my annoyance to Customer (Dis)Services by phone until Monday now, but apparently I'm due £40 compensation. I have however been hanging around all afternoon and most of the morning, so I'm not best pleased.
#Bl@@dy_useless_Britain
Almost needless to say, no call and nobody's turned up.
In the interim, I found this quite useful webpage.
So I checked the electricity meter certification period, which is 25 years, and the sticker on the meter says 05/00, so presumably it expires in May this year.
Gas meters don't expire apparently - the date on the meter says 1987.
I can't vent my annoyance to Customer (Dis)Services by phone until Monday now, but apparently I'm due £40 compensation. I have however been hanging around all afternoon and most of the morning, so I'm not best pleased.
#Bl@@dy_useless_Britain
prpr
Well-Known Member
So $energy company have just called me (I doubt they read this rubbish on here)! They asked me whether anyone had turned up, I think expecting me to say no.
They offered the £40 straight away without prompting, and asked whether I wanted to re-book now. They said the first available slots were the beginning of March, but I declined to do it on the hoof. What jolly fun.
#Slightly_less_broken_Britain
They offered the £40 straight away without prompting, and asked whether I wanted to re-book now. They said the first available slots were the beginning of March, but I declined to do it on the hoof. What jolly fun.
#Slightly_less_broken_Britain
Black Hole
May contain traces of nut
My meter has "M17" on it. 
I'm sure they knew, the way everything gets tracked these days.
EEPhil
Number 28
POETS day probably.
Piss Off Early Tomorrow's Saturday
I suspect the installer has to log the job as completed otherwise at close-of-play it gets flagged by "the system".
prpr
Well-Known Member
The guy told me the non-show was probably due to emergencies. I guess they fit the routine jobs in around those, but I'd have expected (possibly wrongly) different teams to do this.
Ironically, Cadent have been out here again this morning looking for a gas leak, as they were a couple of weeks ago - I guess they didn't find it. The van is still up the road now.
Lots of yellow has now appeared in various places - the pavements/roads are in a dreadful condition due to the amount of work that Severn Trent, National Grid and Cadent have been doing in the last 18 months or so.
Ironically, Cadent have been out here again this morning looking for a gas leak, as they were a couple of weeks ago - I guess they didn't find it. The van is still up the road now.
Lots of yellow has now appeared in various places - the pavements/roads are in a dreadful condition due to the amount of work that Severn Trent, National Grid and Cadent have been doing in the last 18 months or so.
EEPhil
Number 28
I would have thought meter replacement would be different operatives. They need to be both gas and electricity competent. No, strike that, BG despite the name do both repairs.
The roads/pavements near me are subject to all of the above plus fibre companies digging everything up and heavy vehicles parking on pavements - slabs broken or at strange angles. Great for tripping over. Multicoloured graffiti where cables and pipe positions marked on pavement. Not forgetting marks for pot hole repairs. And botched pot hole repairs!
The roads/pavements near me are subject to all of the above plus fibre companies digging everything up and heavy vehicles parking on pavements - slabs broken or at strange angles. Great for tripping over. Multicoloured graffiti where cables and pipe positions marked on pavement. Not forgetting marks for pot hole repairs. And botched pot hole repairs!