Energy Tariffs

[ducabi]

To "qualify" for Go you need to have a Smartmeter AND an EV. As oldgreybeard says, those of us "out in the sticks" [actually 70 miles from London on the Kent Coast], where smartmeters don't work, who are all electric 'cos the nearest gas main is miles away, and can't afford or refuse to pay £30k plus for a new EV, have little choice but to stick with the "old" E7 tariffs where the "cheap rate" is no longer anything like.

What does it mean that smart meters don't work?
In terms of having EV, i was quite lucky buying a cheap old one but perhaps a 1month lease would work?

[Oldgreybeard]

Why are people not moving to smart meters? Is it due to availability? I got offer from Octopus couple days ago to move to it and should have one installed early Oct.

What does it mean that smart meters don't work?

Because they only work if they can connect to the mobile phone network, or the LRR network if in the North. Around 13 million homes have smart meters, and many of the rest can't have one, because of the signal problem. We're in that situation. SSE tried their best to get one to work here, they came out three or four times to change things to try and get it to work, to no avail. Unless the mobile phone network gets expanded to provide a decent signal here (not very likely we've been told) then we are stuck with our 2 year old Economy 7 meter.

[Countrypaul]

I read recently that they only expect less than 70% of Smart meters to work properly, and even less have a working IHD. Can't recall where I saw the figures but I was searching for why our IHD would not work in the house ( we have 12omm of foil backed PUR in the ground floor and there meter is underneath!).

[Thebeeman]

Our meter is 100 mts from the house but a Smet1's I.H.D. works (just) if you pick the correct window and keep foliage trimmed. I've been trying to get sense out of suppliers if their Smart meters will talk via WiFi, I have confirmed that my existing supplier, EDF, can't supply one. I think Octopus might but can't get any sense from anybody at present.

[Oldgreybeard]

Our meter is 100 mts from the house but a Smet1's I.H.D. works (just) if you pick the correct window and keep foliage trimmed. I've been trying to get sense out of suppliers if their Smart meters will talk via WiFi, I have confirmed that my existing supplier, EDF, can't supply one. I think Octopus might but can't get any sense from anybody at present.

My understanding is the no smart meter can connect using WiFi, I believe due to two issues, one being security and the other being the need to have people come out and reconfigure the meters every time the WiFi changes. For obvious reasons they wouldn't want to allow consumers to be able to fiddle around with the connectivity.

[Thebeeman]

I'm looking for WiFi link to be able to see the meter output in my house. Our existing meter talks to the mobile network, when they fitted it they had the choice of 3 networks signal, with no trouble but a 10 mt range I.H.D. is a total no-go. I think Octopus has a I.H.D. that can talk via WiFi which "should" be accessible on my network.

[ducabi]

Oh wow, I wasn't aware it's such an issue with connectivity from the smart meter. I hope everything is fine.

If this is sorted out and the only issue is lack of EV, perhaps buying a forum car would be an option and switch ownership every couple weeks to allow everyone to apply for octopus go

[smegal]

I think Octopus are currently not offering anything to new customers so the prices quoted don't mean a lot.

I'm Octopus customer so hopefully I can use them.

Why are people not moving to smart meters? Is it due to availability? I got offer from Octopus couple days ago to move to it and should have one installed early Oct.

Some people cannot have them because of no signal, some people don't want them and others big delays due to availability. And some who have SMETS 1 smart meters cannot be read some energy suppliers.

The suppliers seem to be quietly sorting the SMETS1 issue out. My home and rental house suddenly started working.

[NikoV6]

Smart meters do not use the mobile phone signal, they use the local WAN (Wide Area Network) for security reasons. It is possible for them to use MESH (if its fitted to the particular meter), MESH is useful if you are in an area of poor WAN coverage and I believe you can effectively piggy back off of other neighbours meters (TBC)

Long running battle with Octopus who told us repeatedly for six months we could not get a signal as in poor WAN coverage area. OFGEM completely useless in being able to help, poor WAN coverage is not a concern of theirs.

In the end, Octopus agreed to fit a smart meter as I argued it would still need reading if it failed to operate as a smart meter (it will operate as a dumb meter)

Engineer came out, and give him his due he spent about two hours getting it to link, which it did with the aid of an additional antenna in the meter box. All was well for a couple of months and then the signal dropped. Out they came again and after a bit of faffing its worked fine since.

They are obliged to fit a smart meter if you request one, the fact that the infrastructure in your area may not support it is the problem that needs addressing. Don't let them fob you off with their postcode search, get them to come out and physically check the signal at your property. You may find like we did that it will connect!

[Thebeeman]

Smart meters do not use the mobile phone signal, they use the local WAN (Wide Area Network) for security reasons.

When ours was fitted they checked signal strengths on the 3 networks that were available and chose 3 as being best.