Smart meter does not match my bill

[user49682]

Has anyone else experienced this? I had a bill a lot higher than expected for gas and electric.
I keep my eye on the smart meter every day to try and ensure it didn't go over £5 per day. It occasionally did when it was really cold but other days we were out they were less so it evened out or so I thought.

We pay every quarter for what we use so I expected a bill for around £500 instead it's £800!

Rang British Gas who said the meter readings are correct and I've convinced myself I'm going mad not reading the meter correctly. However messing around with it I have found the amounts for each month working out around £140 a month.

I've taken images to send to BG but has anyone else experience this? Is it the meter than is showing incorrect figures or the bill?

First Is check that there serial number for each meter is the same as the serial number on the actual meter. I suspect it's most likely to do with either a difference between the billing period used by the meter (what day does it start on) and that used for generating your bill. The other thing to consider is if the meter includes the daily standing charge. I only have an electric smart meter and at midnight it resets the daily total to zero and immediately adds in the daily standing charge - does yours so this? Also - have a scan around the data you can display on your meter and see if the unit charge and the daily charge on the meter match that used to calculate the bill. When I look at the graphs of usage in my account or in my app the electricity used in kW.hr or pounds DOES NOT include the standing charge. So there is plenty to check - I think it's unlikely the meter isn't measuring correctly or the bill is wrong (I worked on the design, manufacture and test of electricity meters for 5 years) - it's simply that the figures don't relate to each other as you are interpreting it, the time periods are different or the daily standing charges are, or are not, being included in various figures. I can't speak for your actually meter manufacturer but maybe it's possible that the figures for unit cost and daily standing charge used to calculate what the meter displays are not up to date. I have heard of people being billed against the wrong meter before but that had been in blocks of flats.

I’ve had a similar issue with BG. They sent me my quarterly bill of £996!!!! When I provided them a meter reading initially it was too low. I then provided it after a couple of days it’s now too high! They’re telling me an engineer will come out to see us but right now they gave no dates!!! I’m so worried 😩😩

Does the bill match what is on the proper meter? If it does, then your bill is correct. Smart meters have two issues to my mind. First, they rely on the information they have been programmed with, so if your rate changes and you don't reprogram the smart meter with your new rate, the amount is displays will be incorrect. Secondly, they aren't actually accurate. I had a major argument with eon next because they were billing me based on the smart meter reading which was different to the actual meter reading. This meant that my bill was also a higher amount than it should have been.

I would like to hope that some smart meters are actually smart and reflect the tariff one is on, but that hasn't been my experience, hence I don't have one now.

When you say check the smart meter, do you mean the thing that plugs into a socket in your house, or the actual meter is the box, probably outside?

Are you talking about the in house display rather than the smart meter itself? You would need to calculate using the actual kwh used and then add on the standing charges

Don't forget that the standing charges may not show on any meter either. They add up to quite a lot tbh

We had this when our tariff changed and our smart meter didn't automatically update, so whilst the energy usage was correct the charges were wrong. Our supplier had to update the tariff on the smart meter manually after I called them.

Our smart meter displays absolute rubbish. Our energy company doesn't care - they say their target is only install them, not to make sure they show the right numbers!

Check whether you're being billed in m3 or ft3 and what your meter is reading. We had a mismatch and were being massively overcharged.

I think you mean the in home display that plugs in? That's not the meter, it's just a device for your benefit that shows you how much you're using.

OP do you mean the in home display device that plugs in? That is not the smart meter and that's not where the energy company takes the reads from, it's just something for you to help manage your energy. The energy company gets the readings from the actual meter itself. The in home displays sometimes need a force tariff change which your company can do for you.

And just in case other people aren't aware as well - your little plug in display is NOT the smart meter. The smart meter is the actual meter itself. The plug in thing is just called an in home display.

If your talking about your in home display I believe they are correct or do you mean your actual meter? What wrong number does the meter show?

That isn't strictly true. The display is as you define, however the transmitter box that sends the reading to the energy company is not always a direct reflection of the numbers on the actual meter.

See my earlier post as to how I know this.

Yeah, like all tech sometimes there are issues. But I don't see where in my post I said anything about that? I get the impression that OP is talking about the in home display rather than the meter itself.

I agree, I too think the OP is talking about the display. Apologies if I misunderstood you, I thought you were saying that the remote reading from the smart meter (not the display) gave the energy company the exact readout as if they had come to the property and looked. It doesn't. It is this bit that I was referencing. I've had several experiences where the remote reading taken by the energy company did not align with the numbers on the physical meter. It makes a mockery of having one if they still need to send a body to the property to physically read the meter.

Does the bill match what is on the proper meter? If it does, then your bill is correct.

The 'proper' meter is the smart meter.

No, it isn't. There is a physical meter, a transmitter, and a display. Neither the display or the transmitter necessarily match the physical meter.

Sort of defeats the point of smart meters really as the transmitter should match the physical meter in order that the energy companies don't have to send meter readers round to tge property. I guess it probably all evens out over time, but in my case the transmitter definitely did not match the physical meter and the energy company tried to overcharge me.

No, it isn't.

Yes, it absolutely is. The display is irrelevant. The 'proper' meter is the meter. There is o ly one of them.

Not in my house there wasn't. I had a physical meter, a transmitter, and the display. The transmitter may well be housed in the same box as the physical meter and thus look like it is all one unit, but it does not necessarily transmit the numbers that appear on the physical meter.

As I said, the meter reading that the energy company had picked up remotely from the smart meter were not what was displayed on the meter itself.

Photo attached shows my set up. Meter, and transmitter. Two separate boxes.

@HappiestSleeping

I do t really know why you are trying to tell me that is your meter. That was my whole point that you jumped on. That the 'proper' meter, to quote the pp I was taking to, IS the smart meter.

I wasn't meaning to sound like I was jumping on you, so apologies if I did. I was merely pointing out that the bill is generated from the meter which shows the numbers. In my photo it is the bottom part. The smart meter is the upper part, and cannot be trusted to submit the actual meter reading to the energy supplier. Then there is the display which is a different thing altogether.

@HappiestSleeping

I think you completely misunderstood my comment, you don't need to explain to me.

It would seem so. I thought you meant that the bill was generated by the smart meter.