Smart meter home display question

[davecooper]

In a previous post, I described at length the myriad of problems I was having after switching suppliers to Octopus. Well, toward the end of last year, things seemed to have been sorted, my meters were being remotely read correctly and all the previous billing errors seemed sorted. Then around August/September time this year, I realised I hadn't had an email statement for a couple of months so I checked the statements in my account and realised that Octopus had not been getting live readings from my meters since june and my bills were being estimated since then. Nothing has changed in or around my house to cause any signal loss.

I contacted Octopus and they asked a few questions about siting and possible signal blockers and said they would investigate. I also said it would be helpful if they told me about any such problems so that I could send manual readings. In December, I looked at my statements again and saw that my useage was still being estimated. What annoys me is that they are way out in their estimation and because there is no communication, the pricing info in my home display is also well out of date.

I contacted Octopus again a couple of weeks ago and it was as if this was the first time they were aware there was a problem! They then asked me the same questions they asked a few months back. One of the questions asks whether there is any obstruction between my gas and electricity meters that could affect communication between them. My home display is displaying both gas and electricity useage and is updating gas info at half hourly intervals. From this, can I assume that communication between the two meters is ok?

 

[morqthana]

We're with Octopus (no smart meters), and for a long time they were asking for meter readings monthly. Recently we realised that they stopped asking "some time ago".

I must check their statements -the cynic in me says they might be over-estimating the estimates to soften us up for having a smart meter.

 

[Why Not Indeed]

From this, can I assume that communication between the two meters is ok?

Yes, but that doesn't tell you anything about whether Octopus can get readings from them, unfortunately.

 

[Diver Fred]

I just been forced to have a f****** 'smart meter' - day reading are OK but the night readings are way, way out - like 350%! Nothing has changed in the overnight usage, previously it was find 12 units per night now it's around 40 units even if the big MAN was taking power for all 7 hours that is only 21 units.
Definitely not happy.

 

[Murdochcat]

Still on dumb meters with octopus. I log into the app once a month and give them customer readings - then check the bill to ensure they’ve used my readings. Takes me a couple of minutes each month

Who needs a smart meter

 

[flameport]

My home display is displaying both gas and electricity useage and is updating gas info at half hourly intervals. From this, can I assume that communication between the two meters is ok?

The gas meter sends data to the electricity meter at intervals, not in real time.
The home display connects to the electricity meter and gets all of its data from that, mostly real time or certainly every few seconds.
The electricity meter is what sends everything to the energy supplier (via the DCC) and receives data from them including pricing.

No comms between gas and electricity meter = no gas readings but everything else works.
No comms between meter and display = display does not work but everything else does. Display is optional.
No comms between meter and supplier = things in the building all work but nothing gets sent to the energy supplier or received from them.

In your case it's the electricity meter-supplier communication that is a problem. Either the signal in your area is junk, the comms module on the meter is busted, or there is some configuration error with the meter-DCC-energy supplier.

 

[davecooper]

Thanks for the replies. It was as I thought, the remote display gets its info from the electricity meter. The question about whether there is anything that could block the signal between the meters is irrelevant as my remote display is updating correctly.

 

[StephenStephen]

As far as I know, OctopusWatch gets it's data from Octopus, rather than directly from your meter, so if you splash out the couple of quid or so it costs, you can easily check every couple of days if Octopus are getting readings from your meter.
I find it a really useful app myself.

 

[Old Salt]

It doesnt matter what your in home display is reading or communicating, if the supplier cannot access both gas and electricity readings you will not get an accurate bill.

I am with Octopus and used to work for National Grid and then EDF. Send Octopus an email/contact form stating “COMPLAINT” then give the facts, what has been done, what is not working and what you would like to resolve your complaint. e.g. confirmation that they are getting readings from both gas and electric or whatever it is that needs fixing.

In my case it took them 2 weeks to replace the electric meter that was not communicating. I had my own Complaint Assistant with her personal company email address so that we could communicate progress/resolution directly.

Having worked in the industry 15 years prior to retirement Octopus are one of the better suppliers overall.

Good luck.