I am due to have a gas smart meter fitted soon. The chap I spoke to at British Gas was keen to make sure that I understood they would need to switch off my electricity supply for up to two hours. I'm just wondering why. I did ask him but he was a bit vague (not sure he really knew the technicalities) so could someone here advise. I'm assuming that BG meter switchers are fully competent with house electrics. I get my electricity supply from a different supplier.
Turn off power for two hours?
- Thread starter Vicario
- Start date
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Assume nothing.........
I’m not sure this will go well.
Like most sm installs!
I believe the gas sm talks to the elec sm.
The elec sm broadcasts readings back to base.
So if you don’t have an elec sm or it is old and with different supplier I’m not sure how this will work.
Unless they got their act together.
Like most sm installs!
I believe the gas sm talks to the elec sm.
The elec sm broadcasts readings back to base.
So if you don’t have an elec sm or it is old and with different supplier I’m not sure how this will work.
Unless they got their act together.
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Read about the various smart meter threads on here. You may well change your mind and not have one fitted. If you do decide to go ahead make sure they fit a SMET 2 type. Earlier SMET 1 types go dumb if you change supplier. Ask 6 times and scrutinise the paperwork. They will lie to get the job as they are under great government pressure. Ever wondered why the government is so keen? They want to spy and have control with fluid pricing. Imagine the unit cost tripling just as you want to cook Christmas dinner.
Examples of lies.
1. They are free. No they are not, we all pay through increased bills.
2. They will save you money. They won't unless you reduce your consumption, but you can do that if wish without a smart meter.
Examples of lies.
1. They are free. No they are not, we all pay through increased bills.
2. They will save you money. They won't unless you reduce your consumption, but you can do that if wish without a smart meter.
So I’m confused, they shouldn’t need to turn off the electricity supply if they are just changing the gas meter. Are you sure they don’t need to turn off the gas supply for two hours?
They are just covering bases.
Better to warn you now than turn the power of when they turn up and your trying to do something. Maybe work from home having taken the day off!
2 hours is probably if something goes wrong.
Better to warn you now than turn the power of when they turn up and your trying to do something. Maybe work from home having taken the day off!
2 hours is probably if something goes wrong.
Thanks for the useful replies. Presumably the gas (smart) meter will need to take an electricity supply from somewhere. The CU is in the same larder area as the gas meter but on a wall some distance away. It's really a smallish room which was added as part of an extension in 1949. (The gas meter is almost at floor level). Where is the electricity supply for a gas meter normally taken from? There are no plugs in the larder but there are a couple of spare connections at the CU.
Gas meters have a battery.
As Andy says, they have a battery which is supposed to last for 10 years. When the battery runs down, they have to change the meter again - so as well as the cost of fitting them all now, we'll have the cost of replacing them more often than the basic meters last.
But, the (so called) "smart" gas meters only have short range radio and need to have a paired "smart" electric meter to work. So if you don't have a "smart" lecky meter for it to talk to, then the "smart" gas meter won't work.
As suggested, it may be that the BG person is just reading from the script and assuming they are fitting a lecky meter as well. On the assumption that you won't have been able to sort it all out in advance ... When the meter fitter arrives, do NOT let him touch anything until you have found out what he thinks he is there to do. Make sure that he is aware that you do not have your lecky supply from BG and you are not permitting him to touch the electrics without written authority from your lecky supplier. Most likely the conversation will end with something along the lines of "well dunno WTF they've sent me here for then" and he'll leave without doing anything
What you don't want to happen is the guy comes and takes the gas meter out, finds that there's a problem, and finds that he can't refit the original meter either for some reason. That would leave you with no gas supply for as long as it takes to fix the problem.
My electricity meter from EDF is definitely not a smart meter as they keep ringing me to get one.It's been here for 30+ years. So there's no way I can have a smart BG gas one - correct? If so I'll cancel the appointment to fit it? Why didn't the guy check something so basic?(I agreed to have it because it's in an awkward place and becoming hard to read). You chaps have saved me such a lot of hassle and a day waiting in for a job that can't be done; I'm very grateful.
I'll ring today. Will let you know the outcome, but it does make you lose faith in the system. I expect that the guy who rang me had been incentivised to book as many fittings as possible, so I don't really blame him. He began the call with " it's time for us to change your gas meter" which I was quite open to, but this somehow morphed into turning off my power for two hours etc. Do you think he was trying to get a smart install of an electricity meter using the gas as a sort of Trojan horse? He never once asked if I was a dual fuel customer and I suspect that he thought that I was.
He was probably given a list of people to contact with a task of "tell them the meter is due for renewal, and upsell them to a smart meter". The majority of customers on his list will have been dual-fuel so it would have been a two-meter swap.
Perhaps he just didn't notice, or it wasn't clear on his list, that you are gas only with them.
Perhaps he just didn't notice, or it wasn't clear on his list, that you are gas only with them.
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