[Essjay]

I have had a SMETS2 smart meter (ES-10B) for two or three years. I had worked fine until the end of last month.

My meter reading was taken on 28th November in the usual way, but that morning I found that the IHD would no longer show a reading. It keeps reporting that it is waiting for data. From time to time it shows a full signal, but then drops down to a single dot. I have tried checking usage with Loop and the E-on next app, but they aren't connecting.

I have reported the fault to e-on via email and using WhatsApp. The person using the email says that the meter is fine and that IHDs and Apps are always shorting out and there is nothing to worry about as they are still getting readings, having taken a reading on28th November, despite me repeatedly explaining that connection was lost almost immediately after the meter reading was taken. The guy on Whats app says the meter has lost connection. He said he was pushing through some updates, which haven't worked, and says that he has sent it to E-on's smart specialists to investigate. All has gone silent, except it has been suggested I give manual readings.

I have tried to take manual readings, but the home screen on the meter is stuck showing the letter A in the top left hand corner and then it toggles between showing 12335, £1.73 and 00115. Even going to billing and then trying to find meter readings doesn't work. It isn't allowing me to sow any readings, whether for day, night or export. I have solar panel and have my SEG with Octopus (they allowed me to sign up in a day of two whereas Eon took 4 months to acknowledge the application).

Does anyone have any idea what is going on and whether the meter is faulty. All the green lights seem to flash along the top of the meter. I think they are 5 seconds apart, but could be 3.

I am anxious not to be stuck with estimated bills for months on end and can't seem to get Eon to actually look at the meter. I am concerned that if I am stuck with estimated readings, that I'll see none of the benefits of solar panels or the benefit of charging the batteries at cheap rate, and will be saddled with an excessive bill based on Eon's guess work and a faulty meter. Any ideas what is going on and how I might get this sorted?

[meldrewreborn]

@Essjay

Can you confirm that it is your in home display that you are talking about?

Suppliers do not regard these as being essential to the operation of the actual meters, and providing they are getting information sent to them, they care little for the in home display. After 12 months there is no warranty on them. You can buy a replacement if you wish (there is a thread by @theunknowntech on the topic).

There is a world of difference between the suppliers propaganda and reality. Sorry, i cannot help any further.

[Essjay]

Yes. The in home display isn't working, which was the first inkling I had that there was a problem. I have tried connecting via various apps, such as Loop, but they can't get data. I also can't get a manual reading from the smart meter itself.

The person at eon who was responding via email said to buy a new IHD, which I am not willing to do as I think it is a meter issue. She was adamant that the meter was communicating with them, but the other guy wasn't.

[Essjay]

This is the meter. The green lights along the top flash every three to five seconds.the meter

[meldrewreborn]

Originally Posted by Essjay

I also can't get a manual reading from the smart meter itself.

So the meter is faulty.

Send an email with "no readings on actual smart meter" in the subject line, and your account detail etc in the message. Describe the problem is as much detail as you can because they can see your meter or interrogate that well.

But you'll have to be very patient. You would be forgiven for thinking that a meter not reporting readings would be of relatively high priority but evidence suggests otherwise. They are busy foisting more of these supposedly smart meters onto innocent customers, but don't have the inclination to fix the faulty ones out there.

That's how i see it!

That's why I will not willingly accept one.

[meldrewreborn]

@Essjay

From your picture you appear to have a secondary device feeding a display (clamp on right hand cable). I stand to be corrected but if that is feeding the display you're having trouble with then i suspect that display is nothing to do with your supplier.

[Essjay]

Thanks all for the advice. I’ll try with the email. The clamp is for an iboost for the hot water and solar, so is just reading and shouldn’t have any impact on the meter itself. It isn’t feeding the display and has been in place for three months since I had the solar panels installed. You can see the IHD in the bottom left hand corner of the image. I put it there following the instructions to move it within two metres of the meter, but that hasn’t helped. I believe it is a chameleon 3.

[retrotecchie]

@Essjay

Within 2 metres of the meter. Possibly not quite as close as you have it. I'd move it away from the meter tails as they won't help reception any.

[Essjay]

😀 I’ve tried the wretched thing everywhere. I just happened to try it there once to see if putting it really really close would work. No joy wherever I put it. I don’t think it is anything to do with the IHD, but hope to be proven wrong as the prospect of years of wrangling over estimated bills negating the thousands spent on solar panels is rather galling to say the least.

[Essjay]

Originally Posted by meldrewreborn

So the meter is faulty.

Send an email with "no readings on actual smart meter" in the subject line, and your account detail etc in the message. Describe the problem is as much detail as you can because they can see your meter or interrogate that well.

But you'll have to be very patient. You would be forgiven for thinking that a meter not reporting readings would be of relatively high priority but evidence suggests otherwise. They are busy foisting more of these supposedly smart meters onto innocent customers, but don't have the inclination to fix the faulty ones out there.

That's how i see it!


That's why I will not willingly accept one.

I am with you about not wanting a Smart Meter. Unfortunately, I did the Martin Lewis thing and only changed to a smart meter tariff by accident through not reading the small print which said I had to have one. It took them ages to connect it due to some issues over lack of signal. To be fair, it has worked ok up until now and has occasionally resulted in us going around and turning the lights off, but the tariff on the IHD has always been different to the one we were on and hence hasn’t been much benefit in it although I was hoping the smart meter itself would be of more benefit when we went with solar. I tend to rely on the app which goes with the inverter, but do rather object to estimated bills and an organisation that isn’t willing to put effort into fixing something that has been foisted on people for the convenience of the supply companies rather than any genuine benefit to consumers.