Smart Meter installation warning!

[robj20]

You're not really monitoring anything at all except how much energy you've used in an entire month, which isn't particularly useful information other than to give you an indication of what your bill will be.

Sounds like you're just being stubborn for the sake of it.

I'm not monitoring anything at all. Except usage a month, which so happens to be what I want to be monitoring its what I pay for after all. What else would I want to see is how I compare suppliers to see who is cheaper they all ask for annual usage, which I have recorded accurately.
Don't you tell me what is useful to me and what is not. Just because you want a smart meter doesn't mean the rest of us do.

 

[theone8181]

I'm not monitoring anything at all. Except usage a month, which so happens to be what I want to be monitoring its what I pay for after all. What else would I want to see is how I compare suppliers to see who is cheaper they all ask for annual usage, which I have recorded accurately.
Don't you tell me what is useful to me and what is not. Just because you want a smart meter doesn't mean the rest of us do.

But with an automated meter reading it tells you what you numbers are which saves you having to do it. Im confused why you're making more work for yourself.

 

[robj20]

But with an automated meter reading it tells you what you numbers are which saves you having to do it. Im confused why you're making more work for yourself.

Are you just ignoring my previous posts about not wanting more pointless wireless signals around my house. The fact i already read my meter once a month and it doesn't bother me, the fact i don't want extra wireless signals, means it would be more hassle than its worth, i wouldn't have the smart thing plugged in anyway so would still need to go to the meter. Why can people not understand that not everyone loves them.

I'm also convinced that tariffs will appear that vary depending on time of day.
I dont get why people want them at all, are people really so lazy they cant read a meter.

 

[rexehuk]

I'm also convinced that tariffs will appear that vary depending on time of day.
I dont get why people want them at all, are people really so lazy they cant read a meter.

You won't have a choice soon enough. Whole point is more smart meters, less staff required to come out to houses to do a job a computer can do.

Resistance is pretty much futile, it will happen.

 

[TheVoice]

Are you just ignoring my previous posts about not wanting more pointless wireless signals around my house. The fact i already read my meter once a month and it doesn't bother me, the fact i don't want extra wireless signals, means it would be more hassle than its worth, i wouldn't have the smart thing plugged in anyway so would still need to go to the meter. Why can people not understand that not everyone loves them.

I'm also convinced that tariffs will appear that vary depending on time of day.
I dont get why people want them at all, are people really so lazy they cant read a meter.

I think it's more the fact that your arguments against them don't have any actual substance. An extra "wireless signal" makes no difference, it's equivalent to having one more mobile phone in your house. The real-time energy usage means you can make informed decisions about how you use energy day-by-day or week-by-week as opposed to a fairly meaningless figure at the same point each month which only tells you what you've already used. If your usage suddenly increases one month for some reason, it's a bit too late to figure out why when you're only taking a reading weeks later.

I don't have to tell BT how many phone calls I've made in a month, why should I need to tell my energy supplier what I'm using?

 

[ToTheMax]

Just had ours done - Not BG and was talking to the engineer, seems that when you switch supplier that they replace the meter lol.. so at some point they will end up being ticked off by the government..

Just switch supplier away from BG and surprise surprise hub has stopped working within 10 days. Now have no way to do meter readings for new supplier as the client hardware cannot to the meter hub lol.

 

[robj20]

Just switch supplier away from BG and surprise surprise hub has stopped working within 10 days. Now have no way to do meter readings for new supplier as the client hardware cannot to the meter hub lol.

You can still read the meter as you used to. Might have to press a button though.

 

[SilverTongue]

Just switch supplier away from BG and surprise surprise hub has stopped working within 10 days. Now have no way to do meter readings for new supplier as the client hardware cannot to the meter hub lol.

Press red "A" on gas meter, should say "Credit On" then press "A" again and should say "Meter Index" this is your gas read.
For Elelectric depends on which version you have, it will either be a blue butten "Change Display" or a green button "A" to the right of the screen. Either way keep pressing button til screen shows "Total Act Import" this is electric reading

 

[ToTheMax]

Press red "A" on gas meter, should say "Credit On" then press "A" again and should say "Meter Index" this is your gas read.
For Elelectric depends on which version you have, it will either be a blue butten "Change Display" or a green button "A" to the right of the screen. Either way keep pressing button til screen shows "Total Act Import" this is electric reading

Thanks, I'm feeling a bit silly now. The install engineers only detailed the use of the smart meter client.

 

[jpaul]

The smart meter as an IOT device would seem to be a prime candidate for hacking, if it can be slowed down or otherwise disrupted,
in the same manner as a digital mileometer on a car - so I guess tampering with your meter now includes illicit firmware hacks. ?
If the meter can actually stop the supply, that would be coup de grâce for hackers.

 

[GinG]

We had a letter through from Sainsbury Energy yesterday to call up and arrange an install.

Quite looking forward to not having to go out and do the metre readings in the winter!

 

[jpaul]

British Gas continue to lie about the versatility of Smart meters with a new batch of tv adds,
pretending to the naive consumer that this will give some large insight into the consumption of individual devices in the house; neighbours signed up for one somewhat under this pretence.

If the meter could genuinely(miraculously) split out the consumption of the washing machine/hob/fridge/freezer, or old halogen bulbs, there would be great.

 

[robj20]

British Gas continue to lie about the versatility of Smart meters with a new batch of tv adds,
pretending to the naive consumer that this will give some large insight into the consumption of individual devices in the house; neighbours signed up for one somewhat under this pretence.

If the meter could genuinely(miraculously) split out the consumption of the washing machine/hob/fridge/freezer, or old halogen bulbs, there would be great.

Technically it could be possible by usage pattern. Not sure about a live reading but you could have a historic view of whats using what. For instance overnight it would get a good idea about how much your fridge freezers use. Then when lights go on and off, TV on for a few hours steady, a kettle would be a sudden 2kw for a minute or two, and so on.

 

[samcat]

Have had one for coming up to a year, from Ovo.
The in home display is all but useless, and they admit this.. current usage is wrong, expected bill amounts is wrong and none of the numbers tally with the online portal - updated daily and IS accurate as thats what they base the bill on, and agrees with my other energy monitoring using OpenEM.

BUT

The information on the online portal is good, I like the granularity of the data and being able to nose at history:


Sunny day, sun hit solar panels around 10am and stayed on them till about 7pm:


months worth of gas usage, can easily pick out which days people are home/its cold:


Then clicking on a single day that had high usage to see the distribution.
5am is hot water tank warming up (before showers in the morning), same at 5pm (before kids bathtime). Others are heating coming on.


Its quite nice (as a data geek/analyst) to be able to poke into the data at this level.
Now, since the smart meter was installed I have installed my own build of an OpenEM (Open Energy Monitor - https://openenergymonitor.org/ ) and this far outshines the smart meter for electricity, as I can see what my solar is doing too, but no info on the gas.

Horses for courses, but I for one *would* let them install it again given the choice knowing what I know now. Its nice not having to take meter readings, its nice being able to see how my usage is shaping up day by day with regards the bill, so no surprises.
The in home display lives in a draw now, not used. As I said above it doesnt work, OVO are aware of this and will be releasing a new version at some point BUT customers with the old one WONT get the new one :/ .

 

[roccles]

The in home display lives in a draw now, not used. As I said above it doesnt work, OVO are aware of this and will be releasing a new version at some point BUT customers with the old one WONT get the new one :/ .

I have OVO installing a Smart meter at mine middle of January, is the current one so bad that i should cancel the installation?

 

[samcat]

I have OVO installing a Smart meter at mine middle of January, is the current one so bad that i should cancel the installation?

The in home display, yeah its a bit rubbish...
Also the meter they install is the old system, once the new system comes out you can change supplier and the smart functionality can be carried over to new supplier.

So chat to them to, double check exactly what will be installed.
* IHD, old one is black and white and very very bright, and doesnt accurately tell you much, have a look on the forums.. New one is colour and accurate.
* Smart meter - Is it SMETs1 or SMETs2...

Then make your decision based on the answers you get. But you really want a SMETs2 meter, and the new IHD looks pretty darn good...

 

[roccles]

The in home display, yeah its a bit rubbish...
Also the meter they install is the old system, once the new system comes out you can change supplier and the smart functionality can be carried over to new supplier.

So chat to them to, double check exactly what will be installed.
* IHD, old one is black and white and very very bright, and doesnt accurately tell you much, have a look on the forums.. New one is colour and accurate.
* Smart meter - Is it SMETs1 or SMETs2...

Then make your decision based on the answers you get. But you really want a SMETs2 meter, and the new IHD looks pretty darn good...

Excellent thanks for the info not something I would have been aware of. I will give them a call.

 

[jpaul]

The information on the online portal is good, I like the granularity of the data and being able to nose at history:

Thanks -yes that looks good from screenshots.

I have installed my own build of an OpenEM

what kind of precision do you get with this ? Could you see, interactively, the turning on of a 5W led bulb say ?
I had wondered if you have an openEM and attach it to an individual appliance (split out) mains cable,if that would work.

I have just used the (maplin) piggy-back monitoring/integrating type, limited to sockets though, which are precise, but no excel upoad. !

 

[samcat]

what kind of precision do you get with this ? Could you see, interactively, the turning on of a 5W led bulb say ?

5w is a bit under the margin for error of this setup:
https://openenergymonitor.org/forum-archive/node/10684.html

There are other soltions/options.. Sense! looks good and is something I keep meaning to get hold of and have a play with. another option that I have seen is one that goes alongside each circuit in your consumer unit and monitors per circuit, so for instance you could see usage against time by circuit (so upstairs lights, downstairs lights, power shower, cooker, upstairs sockets, downstairs sockets, garage, Immersion, solar).. This strikes me as a pretty neat solution giving a bit more granularity... More information is not needed 99% of the time, but when you need it you REALLY need it!

Cant remember the name of the system off the top of my head, and stuck in the office atm so cant hunt it down. Am sure if you dig you will find it!

Thinking about it you could do it with OpenEM, just use many smaller CT Clamps - adjust choice of size based on size of each breaker... normally you use 100amp for whole house but if the circuit is 16amp then use smaller, this will be more accurate too!

 

[leaskovski]

Excellent thanks for the info not something I would have been aware of. I will give them a call.

Im on OVO as well and was thinking about going smart meter, but given the post about finding out what their devices are, I think I will wait a little more. I suspect they are still installing SMETs1 given that BG has only just installed a SMETs2 device at the end of October.

Unless they have told you otherwise?