My smart meters don't work

[pje16]

I cant recall the last time anybody came to our house to read a meter - twenty years maybe ?

Not here in London
they used to come round once a year, but not seen one since Covid

[bungeejumper]

I cant recall the last time anybody came to our house to read a meter - twenty years maybe ?

Aaaaah, maybe it's that we live out on the edge of civilisation where the 3G phone signal doesn't go, and maybe it's just that we look like crooks. Our last lot (Avro) used to send a man out twice a year, just to make sure that the readings we were emailing them were accurate.

He'd turn up on our doorstep without warning, bearing a scruffy ID card round his neck "to prove who he was", and he seemed somehow surprised when I asked to examine it before I let him in.

Progress, eh?

BJ

[Gersemi]

Well my new meters have now been installed and I have the monitor (and charging lead). It tells me that so far I have used 1p gas and 12p electricity (well we had to make a brew to celebrate and the engineer tested that the gas worked). So, so far it all seems smooth.

[pje16]

How much leccy is the charging lead using

[Dod101]

I cant recall the last time anybody came to our house to read a meter - twenty years maybe ?

Aaaaah, maybe it's that we live out on the edge of civilisation where the 3G phone signal doesn't go, and maybe it's just that we look like crooks. Our last lot (Avro) used to send a man out twice a year, just to make sure that the readings we were emailing them were accurate.

He'd turn up on our doorstep without warning, bearing a scruffy ID card round his neck "to prove who he was", and he seemed somehow surprised when I asked to examine it before I let him in.

Progress, eh?

BJ

Since I had smart meters installed some years ago I have not of course had a meter reader anywhere near me. In fact I am now the one who checks my meter when a bill arrives to be sure that the bill is correct.

Dod

[Gersemi]

As I said earlier, my meters are in separate cabinets on an outside wall at the front of the house. As I also said, there is a disconnect between it and tge parent company. They did insist that I had to have smart meters if I wanted to renew on what was their best tariff last April but then took till Nov. to attempt to install them without a survey.

I expect it will end up with my having to continue to read the meters but I can't do that till they tell me how I can access the gas readings. I seem to remember thst the govt. was agitating for everyone to have them but I can't understand why. Nobody I know bothers to look at the home display. I'm paying £147.98 per month which is not particularly cheap for a one person household where only half the house is heated on a regular basis. I think they want about 150% more than that to renew but that was an estimate without the gas readings.

Bouleversee - I've no idea if your meters are anything like mine, but my electric meter has a display lit up and the gas one doesn't. However, as the engineer who fitted them explained to me, to activate the gas display I just have to press any button. So if you have some buttons on the gas meter try pressing them and see if that causes a display to appear!

[chas49]

On the Eon Next website, they say:

For gas smart meters, press and hold the red button A for 5-10 seconds. This will then display ‘Credit ON’. Press and release button A, and the meter will display the reading.

[doolally]

On the Eon Next website, they say:

For gas smart meters, press and hold the red button A for 5-10 seconds. This will then display ‘Credit ON’. Press and release button A, and the meter will display the reading.

How obvious!
What idiots design these things? Why have to hold for 5-10 seconds? Why then display such a meaningless message? And then have to press another button?

Ludicrous.
doolally

[Bouleversee]

Well my new meters have now been installed and I have the monitor (and charging lead). It tells me that so far I have used 1p gas and 12p electricity (well we had to make a brew to celebrate and the engineer tested that the gas worked). So, so far it all seems smooth.

Congratulations! Do your meters say Eon or Eon Next ? Are the buttons white or coloured?

[BT63]

They can't 'insist'. You have the right to refuse a smart meter. I have always refused one and will continue to do so.
I suppose now it is in, there's not much you can do.

Same here.
We get regular communications from our supplier trying to influence us to have a smart meter, progressively more cleverly worded to make it sound like it is a requirement.
We still don't have a smart meter. We don't need one because we are aware of what's switched on and why, and because replacing perfectly good meters with smart meters is an expensive luxury which is adding to the cost of everyone's bill.
Oh - and they can be troublesome for a variety of reasons.

[Bouleversee]

On the Eon Next website, they say:

For gas smart meters, press and hold the red button A for 5-10 seconds. This will then display ‘Credit ON’. Press and release button A, and the meter will display the reading.

How obvious!
What idiots design these things? Why have to hold for 5-10 seconds? Why then display such a meaningless message? And then have to press another button?

Ludicrous.
doolally

That's interesting. . My gas meter has buttons which are not coloured but there are arrows all around them. The one on the left has an arrow with a tail which curls round and says "hold to ok". At the top it says "Property of Eon-ENEL. On the right of the meter it says "EDMI metrology seal. Callibration void if broken."
Could it be possible that rhe wrong meters have been installed for Eon-Next contracts?

[Gersemi]

Well my new meters have now been installed and I have the monitor (and charging lead). It tells me that so far I have used 1p gas and 12p electricity (well we had to make a brew to celebrate and the engineer tested that the gas worked). So, so far it all seems smooth.

Congratulations! Do your meters say Eon or Eon Next ? Are the buttons white or coloured?

No - I'm not with Eon, but I assumed the meters weren't specific to the energy suppliers. But perhaps Eon's are. My gas meter says 'Sciflo' and has three red buttons. It doesn't matter which of these you press, the display comes up. It sounds like your's is different though.

[raybarrow]

Hi,
On our Smart Meters reading are obtained by pressing 9 on the meter's keypad. How intuitive is that?
Incidentally Smart Meters are now dumb meters following a change of supplier a few years ago.
Ray.

[swill453]

Hi,
On our Smart Meters reading are obtained by pressing 9 on the meter's keypad. How intuitive is that?
Incidentally Smart Meters are now dumb meters following a change of supplier a few years ago.

Maybe one of the early ones that wasn't portable.

My smart meter was installed by Bulb, then I switched to Igloo, who went bust and I was transferred to EON.Next. All have been able to remotely get meter readings.

Scott.

[pje16]

Correct, the first version was dubbed a thick meter as it was tied to one supplier
more on it here
https://www.moneysupermarket.com/gas-an ... rt-meters/

[UncleEbenezer]

Correct, the first version was dubbed a thick meter as it was tied to one supplier
more on it here
https://www.moneysupermarket.com/gas-an ... rt-meters/

Even then, tied not by technology but by regulation. It was only the UK that had that problem.

What idiots design these things? Why have to hold for 5-10 seconds? Why then display such a meaningless message? And then have to press another button?

I have just today had occasion to figure out another device from the same design school. They should talk to their own grannies about being expected to hold something - without knowing if it's working, how hard to squeeze, etc - for 5-10 seconds!

[pje16]

What idiots design these things?
Ludicrous.
doolally

There are idiots all around us... some of them manage to get jobs...
I don't want to worry you too much, but they breed as well

[servodude]

Correct, the first version was dubbed a thick meter as it was tied to one supplier
more on it here
https://www.moneysupermarket.com/gas-an ... rt-meters/

Even then, tied not by technology but by regulation. It was only the UK that had that problem.

What idiots design these things? Why have to hold for 5-10 seconds? Why then display such a meaningless message? And then have to press another button?

I have just today had occasion to figure out another device from the same design school. They should talk to their own grannies about being expected to hold something - without knowing if it's working, how hard to squeeze, etc - for 5-10 seconds!

I think it's a "feature" of the energy sector equipment guys - but I don't know why...

There's a company I've had to deal with who make solar charge regulators (they're called Plasmatronics) who use a single button and screen for UI that's just horrendous..

..lets see if I can find an example

ok lifting a diagram from https://www.rpc.com.au/pdf/plasmatronics_PL_user_manual.pdf



isn't that wonderful...

and this


what could go wrong?

- sd

[Mike4]

I think there is a slight misunderstanding that meters only need to measure the amount of gas or leccy used and report it to the supplier.

In fact they also measure the rate at which energy is being used. This is important for safety checking and testing of appliances. For gas appliances they are an utter PITA as on an old analogue meter we used a stopwatch to time the needle on the dial for one whole revolution but on smart meters (of which there are about 15 types in use IIRC), we have to look up in pages of instructions how to do it on each different make/model of smart meter. And as you can probably guess, every meter has a different method of measuring gas rate..

The same probably applies to the 'smart' leccy meters....

[XFool]

Hi,
On our Smart Meters reading are obtained by pressing 9 on the meter's keypad. How intuitive is that?
Incidentally Smart Meters are now dumb meters following a change of supplier a few years ago.

Ah! Let me guess... You have a Liberty 100 'smart' meter?

I previously posted about my first encounter with a SMART meter (a Liberty 100) a while ago on TLF - Needless to say, for unknown reasons, it seems to have since gone to TLF Heaven (or is it Hell?).

SMETS1 Secure Liberty 100/110 smart meter guide for WAN, HAN, lights and buttons: DIY tutorial series
Updated on 08/09/21 by Jess_OVO

9 - Displays total import and export register values (will provide a total reading after IMP KWH)