In case you hadn't read about it, tonight's Panorama on BBC1 is about the rollout and effectiveness of these meters. I've watched it on iPlayer this morning and it's very informative. Lots of stuff I hadn't realised or known about.....and I follow this forum! (I'm in London, so your edition might be a different day or time).
Latest Panorama is about smart meters
- Thread starter Vicario
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The North - South divide was something I was unaware of.
But when it talks about smart meters not working, clearly due to that divide, we need North and South figures, it is useless to state X% not working, when there are two completely different systems. It would be like grouping bus services and train services together and saying 20% of public transport journeys are over ½ hour late or aborted, without saying if bus or train.
Yes, it should have been Capita footing the bill for anyone with an inoperative smart meter, not the likes of British Gas, as it seems Capita is at fault, not the billing agents.
My meter I don't have a clue how to read, I tried, and there were so many displays, with so many different names, I don't have a clue which is the actual reading on the smart meter its self. I can see on the in home display, (IHD) and the phone app, what I am using, and I can compare it to what my solar software says, so I have a good idea of what I am using. I am, it seems, in the South! And it is working, and I am saving money due to the split tariff, so personally it is working well.
However, can people who reply to this thread please state North or South, as otherwise all a bit pointless.
But when it talks about smart meters not working, clearly due to that divide, we need North and South figures, it is useless to state X% not working, when there are two completely different systems. It would be like grouping bus services and train services together and saying 20% of public transport journeys are over ½ hour late or aborted, without saying if bus or train.Yes, it should have been Capita footing the bill for anyone with an inoperative smart meter, not the likes of British Gas, as it seems Capita is at fault, not the billing agents.
My meter I don't have a clue how to read, I tried, and there were so many displays, with so many different names, I don't have a clue which is the actual reading on the smart meter its self. I can see on the in home display, (IHD) and the phone app, what I am using, and I can compare it to what my solar software says, so I have a good idea of what I am using. I am, it seems, in the South! And it is working, and I am saving money due to the split tariff, so personally it is working well.
However, can people who reply to this thread please state North or South, as otherwise all a bit pointless.
I have found https://www.smartme.co.uk/index.html a very useful resource.
North / South is all about the Wide Area Network and how the meters communicate back to the DCC.
North the communications hub WAN is UHF radio signals - operated by Arqiva (who operate pretty much all the broadcast masts and towers for radio and TV in the UK). Two frequencies are needed due to an issue in the Fylingdales (early warning radar) area. That UHF WAN is supposed to be capable of operating in a mesh network I believe, so meter comms hubs pass data on to the next, and so on to the mast/tower.
South the WAN is mobile phone networks. 2G originally, to be upgraded in the future to 4G.
One thing that I'm not sure of is what happens in Northern Ireland... Do they have smart meters? Google suggests not yet https://www.smart-energy.com/indust...-ireland-smart-meter-rollout-design-proposed/
North / South is all about the Wide Area Network and how the meters communicate back to the DCC.
North the communications hub WAN is UHF radio signals - operated by Arqiva (who operate pretty much all the broadcast masts and towers for radio and TV in the UK). Two frequencies are needed due to an issue in the Fylingdales (early warning radar) area. That UHF WAN is supposed to be capable of operating in a mesh network I believe, so meter comms hubs pass data on to the next, and so on to the mast/tower.
South the WAN is mobile phone networks. 2G originally, to be upgraded in the future to 4G.
One thing that I'm not sure of is what happens in Northern Ireland... Do they have smart meters? Google suggests not yet https://www.smart-energy.com/indust...-ireland-smart-meter-rollout-design-proposed/
I'm in SE London and my bills so far have reflected the correct readings when I inspect the meters. But the web pages of my supplier have a page which is supposed to show the amount used each day, monthly totals and costs etc. That is always missing some days or even weeks, showing zero usage, so useless really. My little monitor IHD does show the correct electricity reading but has never connected to the gas meter. In effect, the only way to know my correct readings is to press a button on the meters so that it displays the current values, but that defeats the whole point of getting one.
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I do not have mains gas, so can't comment on that, and as far as I am aware there is no peak and off-peak for gas, so a bit pointless having a smart meter for gas!
The electric smart meter has two buttons, and pressing them it scrolls through many readings, which show peak and off-peak rates, but as yet not found out how to read the peak and off-peak readings, so have to use the phone app, which is at least a day behind.
The IHD (in home display) does not show peak and off-peak, just total used in the day, and it starts to vary 1 am to 5 am during the off-peak, but at that time I am not there to see it most days. It does show when my battery has run out, but in real terms it is a bit useless, as with solar panels and batteries, most of the day it shows zero, so of very little use.
However, the program was all about the smart meter in some homes not working, and not really how to use it. As to how it is used, I don't know, as if I want to see how we are doing, I look at the solar software, as the smart meter is rather dumb. The interesting thing to me, is state of charge for the batteries, and solar forecast.
We have three machines with start delay timers, and at around 11 am I need to decide if I will run during the day and use excess solar, or overnight and use off-peak, the smart meter does not help one iota in making that call. So it is basically useless, the old teleswitch using the radio 4 LW signal did exactly the same as the smart meter, so if that meter not smart, neither is the smart meter.
The electric smart meter has two buttons, and pressing them it scrolls through many readings, which show peak and off-peak rates, but as yet not found out how to read the peak and off-peak readings, so have to use the phone app, which is at least a day behind.
The IHD (in home display) does not show peak and off-peak, just total used in the day, and it starts to vary 1 am to 5 am during the off-peak, but at that time I am not there to see it most days. It does show when my battery has run out, but in real terms it is a bit useless, as with solar panels and batteries, most of the day it shows zero, so of very little use.
However, the program was all about the smart meter in some homes not working, and not really how to use it. As to how it is used, I don't know, as if I want to see how we are doing, I look at the solar software, as the smart meter is rather dumb. The interesting thing to me, is state of charge for the batteries, and solar forecast.
We have three machines with start delay timers, and at around 11 am I need to decide if I will run during the day and use excess solar, or overnight and use off-peak, the smart meter does not help one iota in making that call. So it is basically useless, the old teleswitch using the radio 4 LW signal did exactly the same as the smart meter, so if that meter not smart, neither is the smart meter.
The UK could have saved about 13.5 billion of our money by not rolling out these devices.
Unless the energy providers have targets to meet in USABLE RELIABLE meters nothing will change.
Unless the energy providers have targets to meet in USABLE RELIABLE meters nothing will change.
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I am based in the South and with Octopus. The smart meters, IHD and mobile app all work well. I have definitely saved money on my energy bills because of the tariff I am on due to having smart meters.
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I would agree, but let's hear from people who live in the North.
If this is to be believed, (from here) primarily in the 412-425 MHz range (a very popular part fo the UHF spectrum!), but with communication between meters and hub at an appreciably higher frequency ....
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Energy smart meter issues creating north-south divide it seems the program has raised questions.
Comms hub WANs are labelled as 420 MHz usually but Variant 450 MHz in the areas affected by Fylingdales radar.
Actually uplink is 412-414 and downlink 422-424 MHz licensed bands... The base sends on 424 MHz and requests the comms hub to send readings and it sends them back to the base station on 414 MHz. (From an Arqiva planning application).
Fylingales meter Comms Hubs use 454 MHz on one leg, if the interweb is to be believed. If you are interested I'm sure you can find out more
That is consistent with what I reported in post #10 above.
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Only had mine 6 months but no issues to report.
I have the Octopus Mini hub paired with the meter which sends real-time data directly to Octopus over my internet connection, so I may not be relying on the meter's UHF WAN at all.
How does your bill compare to three or four years ago?
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