Smart Meters

[Jellycat70]

Hi , my dad has a payg Gas Meter , which he tops up regularly . However last week it wouldn’t top up credit on his card ,so I phoned British Gas

An engineer came out and he tried to reset the meter and top it up but to no avail , the strange thing is the electric key stopped working at the same time , my dad has been receiving constant letters about changing to a smart meter which he doesn’t want .
Admittedly the Post office did say that the electric key wasn’t working so I picked up a new one which I got the engineer to register in the meter yesterday , time will tell when he tries to top up again if it works

I was told yesterday that the Gas meter is buggered so my dad has to get a smart meter now which he has been trying to avoid
I’m reading a mixed bag about these meters , incorrect bills etc which worries me
Maybe I’m being paranoid but I’m just finding it strange how both meters stopped topping up at the same time .

Has this happened to anyone else ?

The keys on pay as you go meters do randomly stop working and it is a faff to register the new one but I found it worked fine.
I think smart meters are hit and miss. My meter doesn’t work properly so I’m having to change to a smart meter. They’ll be lots of complaining if it doesn’t work though but I’m doing that now every month

I have smart metres with no issues, I like being able to see my balance & spends.

Topping up via app is so much easier too.

What are smart metres? The activity logged on Strava?

Smart meters are fine. I work in energy and the number of smart meters that are faulty is very low. I'm always baffled when people say they don't want one!

The old key and card meters are being phased out, all meters do have a shelf life and those type of meters are old. It's not surprising that they have stopped working properly.

Your dad can request a smart pay as you go tariff if he prefers topping up once the smart meter is installed which works the same way as a key meter, he would just top up online instead of using a key (or they can send out a bar code to take to the shop if he struggles with online).

Oddly enough I have had 3 texts this week from Eon telling me my gas and electric meters are out of date and urgently need replacing.
So I asked them to replace the same digital ones...no they say, we only do smart meters now!!
I don't want one, and will keep refusing, its just another tactic to get customers to have smart meters.

Does your dad have the prepayment meter as he likes to know how much he's spending/budget reasons?

Moving to a credit account based smart meter would be the cheapest way to pay for energy. Also worth sense checking if a prepayment meter is still 'safe and practical' for him in accordance with ofgem guidelines and any vulnerabilities he may have.

If his property is suitable to have smart meter fitted it will make prepayment so much easier giving access to top up remotely via app or over the phone. Great for the winter period with snow or storms when getting to a shop isn't always pleasant. A functioning smart prepayment meter also allows for a credit advances to be applied remotely immediately if he needs them during a cold spell if funds are low.

Non communicating smart meters although a small % can be more of a problem to resolve for prepayment customers as things like price cap changes, debts applied via recovery rates etc don't get updated and the meter isn't able to be aligned go the bill until this is resolved.

There's no "tactic", all meters do have a shelf life and an expiry date. It is mandated by the government that all new meters have to be smart meters.

I don't really understand the fear of smart meters. We had one in almost every property since they came out and never had any issues. In one of the properties, it wasn't properly connecting to the "mothership" so we submitted the reading on the app every month just like we would normally do with the dumb meter to avoid being overcharged.

Why don't people want smart meters? They're just the same as other meters except they have a sort of sim card in them to keep your bills contemporaneously accurate. Why pay way over the odds for key meter top ups?

I don't have a prepayment meter but I have long resisted smart meters. My parents had one that has never sent readings. I read my meters monthly, generates a bill and then I can check my usage. I've always been happy with that (and I hate change!!). However, I may want an electric vehicle in the future so I figured I needed to join the waiting list for smart meters. Anyway, electric was fitted last week, took 15 mins. It appears to be sending readings already (albeit 24 hours after each day, not hourly) and I can see them on an app. All fine so far!

Thankyou all so much for your replies , my dad does like to keep an eye on his spending but the meter is in the ground so it’s becoming a problem with his mobility
we have agreed a monthly bill , I’ve just spoken to the energy supplier and she said that once the new meter is fitted to call them back and they can arrange a direct debit monthly , does this sound correct

There is a fair bit of credit on it currently, is it easy for them to transfer it ? I’ve also got credit on the top up card but because the meter isn’t working I can’t put it on she recommended taking a photo of the meter credit before the new one is fitted and to keep the receipt of the credit that’s on the top up card , I just hope it’s plain sailing

This sounds like a good plan to move him onto DD and install the smart meters. As long as the meters are communicating he'll be able to track his spending in month via the app. If for some reason the meter doesn't communicate. He can take monthly readings from it as with a traditional meter to keep his account up to date so he isn't billed on estimates so there's never a bill shock.

The only thing he should be aware of on DD is that it is normal to build a credit balance in the summer months that then dissappears over winter and that way monthly payments on the long term should stabilise. In a 4 bed property I'm carrying a 500 credit balance into this winter and will have eaten through this due to higher gas usage by april. After 12 months the supplier should have a clear view of his annual consumption and be able to set an accurate DD value that will only fluctuate due to price rises or big changes in his consumption.

Regards credit on card and current meter yes that definitely be transferred toothed new credit meter, it may take a bit of time and chasing and it may not be quite as much as you think it is due to standing charges and billing the account up to date.

Smsrt meters can cause problems for people with two rates of electricity, as they don't always switch over properly/at all.

We've had ours a couple of years and no issues

The current generation of smart meters are much more reliable than the early ones.

There has been a concerted campaign against them by the right wing press which seems to have caused lots of people to view them with suspicion. My mum lives in an echo chamber and announced that she was getting one in the manner of someone taking up skydiving 😂

Thankyou so much for your informative reply it’s very kind of you , my dad doesn’t have a choice but to switch to a smart meter now
I speaking to a gas engineer today and he said he doesn’t like smart meters , they are a pain when they go wrong

Since when did meters have a shelf life? Not in the 60 years my parents lived in their house. But now, now that my utilities company want me to have a smart meter (government targets and all that) they tell me my meter is obselete. Still works though.

Easy for you to say 'smart meters are fine'. Have you engaged with any of the people who find their smart meter is not fine? It's a nightmare. My sister's bill fluctuated by approx £1,000 each month.

Since when did meters have a shelf life?

Since forever ?

Meters will be certified and that certification will have a finite lifespan.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/electricity-meter-certification

Thankyou all for your advice and replies , I spoke to a boiler engineer yesterday and he said smart meters can be a nightmare .
its very strange as the key to my dads electric meter stopped working around the same time that the gas wouldn’t top up
An engineer looked at the electric meter and gave me a New key time will tell if it can be charged

If it doesn’t charge then is it a coincidence that both the gas and electric has suddenly stopped working

My dad doesn’t want a smart meter but doesn’t have a choice I’m also hoping that he doesn’t have problems transferring the current credit to the new meter

I have 4 properties with smart meters as I rent houses to students. Since they were originally installed I have had 9 replacements. It is a very rare day when all four are working and the British Gas website is actually reporting accurate usage.

I'm not anti smart meter, I got them because I wanted to be able to produce accurate reports for the tenants showing their usage, I just want the bloody things to work!

This is my mare , my dads current meter has been reliable for 20 years + now suddenly both meters are playing up

My dad’s meters suddenly stopped working so it makes you wonder if it’s something from the energy board . My dad kept getting letters about a smart meter which we kept decling
No choice now 😡

I'm not anti smart meter, I got them because I wanted to be able to produce accurate reports for the tenants showing their usage, I just want the bloody things to work!

That is literally their only selling point.

I worked for an energy supplier for 20 years and agree with you totally! Suppliers don't "want" everyone to have smart meters, it's part of their supply licence to do ensure people do. Makes me think people just want an excuse for a conspiracy 😁