[PeterT_EONNext]

What is considered a faulty meter?

We've seen an increase in contact over believing that the meter is clocking up too much energy vs what is actually being used in the property. Whilst this can sometimes be the case, it is very rare and only generally occurs in an electricity meter in every 1 in 200,000! (for E.ON Next, that would equate to around 42 meters across all meter supply points that we supply)

The most common meter faults are:

- Stopped meter (both gas and electricity): The meter has stopped recording energy, and the reading no longer changes.

- Blank meter (both gas and electricity) : The meter screen is completely blank and unresponsive when any buttons are pressed.

Of course, the aforementioned issue can happen and is easily identified if it does, I'll be highlighting some different tests below on how to go about checking this before needing to get in to ouch with E.ON Next, or your supplier if your energy is supplied by someone else.

So what do I do?

Firstly, and an important one. If it's your gas meter check to see if you can smell gas near the meter! If the usage is clocking over quickly and you don't believe this to be down to general usage, it could be an emergency. If you believe you have a gas emergency, please call
0800 111 999.

Now, onto the electricity...

"A meters one and only job is to record the energy being used within the property. That's it." ~ Pete, December 2022



The most common query is that the meter may be faulty due to a higher bill than expected.

This isn't unusual, especially at the moment whilst prices of energy are much higher than they have been previously, and the time of year.

An easy check you can do, is by taking a look at your usage for the same period the year prior.

Are the units you've used around the same as the units used for a similar period last year? If not, this could be due to an increase in usage from more occupants/more time spent at home. If your circumstances haven't changed, what else could it be?

Remember, your unit rates will have increased if you've come off of a fixed tariff/due to price increases.

If you believe that the meter is recording energy usage when it isn't being used, then you can always do the following check:

Take a meter reading now, and then another in an hour's time (keeping your energy usage going normally, without switching anything off) and keep a note of these.

Next, switch off your energy at the main fuse for an hour (don't worry about your appliances, including your fridge/freezer contents, they will be fine during this time.)

Take another meter reading and then before switching the fuse back to the on position in an hours time, take a reading again.

Be sure to take the full reading on these occasions (including what you see after the decimal point)

Has the meter reading changed?

If the answer is yes, the meter could be faulty. The meter shouldn't record any energy usage for the whole period that your electricity is shut off from the main fuse.

Is the meter reading the same?

If the meter reading is the same, then the meter will be recording your energy usage accurately.

So what do I do after testing this?

If the meter reading has changed during the 'off' period, you'll need to speak to us - a few more checks will be carried out before an appointment is booked, to help determine if there is a fault as we'll need to come out and check this.

If the meter reading hasn't changed, your usage may be higher due to a particular appliance within your home.

Now, we can't assist you further than that, so checking your appliances comes with a little trial and error. You can check this by monitoring your usage more closely (even better if you have a Smart Meter and an in home display, as this will show you your real-time usage)

You'll be able to go around switching appliances on and off to see what is eating the energy.

Another big one to check is, do you have a heated water tank? Some older properties, or those that are electric only will have a water tank which can be controlled either via a timer or an immersion switch - if you have one of these, check that the switch isn't on at all times, as this will use lots and lots of energy. If you need to control the use of this appliance better, you may need to consider asking an electrician to check this, as well as install a timer switch if there isn't one already there and you need to make use of the water tank.


And that's it really! Let me know below if you think your meter may be faulty, and why? 🤔

The above isn't an exhaustive list of course, but does generally cover the main points.



- Pete 😊

[Mailman]

Originally Posted by retrotecchie

On this, you will find that @meldrewreborn and I are in complete agreement.

So this begs the question...why even bother with smart meters?!?? My old 1979 vintage Smiths meter in my last property recorded energy use without missing a beat for over 40 years and is still doing so today. My first generation non-smart digital meter in my current property does the same.

What makes a meter 'smart' is the ability of the user to manage their consumption, and that doesn't need OFGEM, DCC or an IHD to do it.

I'm actually one of those people that inherited a smart meter when I moved in to my present abode in September 2021 having moved from a home that had traditional meters. In my old house I did keep a spreadsheet of meter readings and ensured that everything reconciled with the bills I received after submitting my monthly reads. I cannot recall missing the date for monthly manual meter reads either. Had I not moved when I did, just before the proverbial hit the fan, I daresay I would have been just as pro-active with energy management as I currently am. But I do find that managing my present consumption is made a little easier with much more information at my fingertips, courtesy of my smart meters than I had in 2021.

So the monthly spreadsheet has remained as before but now I monitor what is happening on a daily basis with kWh of both electricity and gas recorded 👀. I do find that the IHD gives me an idea of the actual draw of certain appliances via the 'usage now' function on the IHD. I only record the actual meter reads on a monthly basis and I check once a month that the meter reads showing on the IHD tallies with the actual meter reads. To that extent, having a functioning IHD has proved much more convenient without grubbing around outside (at the gas meter) or inside the 'hoover cupboard' for the electricity meter. The Bright app also provides other useful metrics for smart meter users for what happened the previous day. Certainly not impossible without a smart meter + functioning IHD though, which is the point you are making. 🍻

[retrotecchie]

Originally Posted by PeterT_EONNext

"A meters one and only job is to record the energy being used within the property. That's it." ~ Pete, December 2022

Pete 😊

On this, you will find that @meldrewreborn and I are in complete agreement.

So this begs the question...why even bother with smart meters?!?? My old 1979 vintage Smiths meter in my last property recorded energy use without missing a beat for over 40 years and is still doing so today. My first generation non-smart digital meter in my current property does the same.

What makes a meter 'smart' is the ability of the user to manage their consumption, and that doesn't need OFGEM, DCC or an IHD to do it.

[meldrewreborn]

@retrotecchie
@PeterT_EONNext also doesn’t mention the fact that meters in very rare cases can over or under record consumption, and that the process of checking them is tortuous.

[retrotecchie]

@meldrewreborn

As has been shown by the experiences of our @RedBeard89.

[RedBeard89]

Originally Posted by retrotecchie

@meldrewreborn

As has been shown by the experiences of our @RedBeard89.

Yup, still ongoing some three months later...

[retrotecchie]

@RedBeard89

Still rocking a check meter, or have they finished testing?

[retrotecchie]

@Mailman

Agreed they are more convenient, but that assumes they work consistently, reliably, update without any need for prodding when tariffs change or don't drop off line when you change supplier or the local communications infrastructure doesn't wobble, or drop out.

Judging by the number of folk on here with smart meter problems, it just seems to me there are far too many potential points of failure in the system as a whole for it to actually work as intended. Any chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and there seem to be two major weak links...DCC and the SMETS standards themselves. Plus lots of minor ones.

With a conventional meter, there are only two things to go wrong, The meter itself packs up, or readings are not taken regularly.

My non smart meter is outdoors and needs me to go out into the garden, round the side of the house, climb round the boiler and take readings, which I do most days. No less convenient than having to, say, brush my teeth or feed the chickens.

"And, whoever's bright idea it was to replace tried and tested and time-proven mechanical gas meters with electronic ones with batteries that fail...they want stringing up by their 'nads with piano wire". Not my opinion but that of the former Director (Midlands) of Gas Metering at Parkinson Cowan Compteurs and Schlumberger.

[Mailman]

Originally Posted by retrotecchie

@Mailman

Agreed they are more convenient, but that assumes they work consistently, reliably, update without any need for prodding when tariffs change or don't drop off line when you change supplier or the local communications infrastructure doesn't wobble, or drop out.

I have been lucky in this respect without the issues I see on these forums.

Originally Posted by retrotecchie

Judging by the number of folk on here with smart meter problems, it just seems to me there are far too many potential points of failure in the system as a whole for it to actually work as intended. Any chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and there seem to be two major weak links...DCC and the SMETS standards themselves. Plus lots of minor ones.

The system can work for some, perhaps the overwhelming majority but I have no idea. I'm not sure how many people put up their hands either here or at MSE to state 'The smart meter system has worked fine for me'. I think the real issue is complexity of the whole power supply sytems, not made any easier by how the different utilities are handled by the players in the system, and just the sheer number of different industry players. Problems can and do arise but the industry generally now has deteriorated in its ability to solve matters in a timely and efficient manner.

Originally Posted by retrotecchie

With a conventional meter, there are only two things to go wrong, The meter itself packs up, or readings are not taken regularly.

Agreed, and, if readings are taken regularly, problems with the meters can be picked up earlier on assuming you can get through to customer services 😆

[retrotecchie]

@Mailman

And that last line is the trick, innit?!