ENERGY MATTERS

[Stanley]

Exactly Ken and that debt means more customers locked in to their contracts because they can't afford to get out.
This is why I went to the trouble of getting a variable direct debit in place, that way I can never be caught out again with a big bill as long as I make certain they have a meter reading for gas and leccy at the beginning of each month.
Having said that I have just tried to send a reading for the gas meter which is still not reporting and can't get the website to accept it.... I am not happy.

[Big Kev]

Despite a drop in oil prices petrol and diesel prices have gone up at the pumps.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59508286

[Tizer]

...I have just tried to send a reading for the gas meter which is still not reporting and can't get the website to accept it.... I am not happy.

The wonders of modern technology - great if it works but a trial when it doesn't. You'll recall that we have had two thermostatic CH controllers quickly fail (Drayton and Honeywell) and we're on our third (Ideal Halo to go with the Ideal boiler). We got this one at the start of summer and so have only just started using it recently. It seemed OK until we found that it lost signal when taken to a room further from the boiler. We contacted Ideal, explained the problem and they said they'd send us a Zigbee Booster which would solve the problem - and we could have it for free (normally £27). My impression is that they're encountering dissatisfied customers and having to give out the boosters. They should have included them in the original package. Our house is typical of estate houses of the 1970s and not bigger than usual. The booster arrived - but we can't get it to pair with the boiler, not even when it's in the same room and with nothing between it and the boiler! Our plumber is coming next week to have a look. He's disappointed and complains of finding many of the controllers not working properly, regardless of manufacturer.

[Stanley]

I found yesterday that the automated service available by telephone for account queries allows you to give the updated reading even if the website doesn't. My 2nd generation smart gas meter is evidently still not reporting.

[Tizer]

`The African nation aiming to be a hydrogen superpower' LINK

[Whyperion]

Despite a drop in oil prices petrol and diesel prices have gone up at the pumps.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59508286

Must have come down, its £1.40 / ltr in London (139.9) today normal E10 unleaded.

[Stanley]

That sounds feasible Peter, they have the sun, the wind and the sea, all the ingredients they need. I wish them luck with it. What became of the solar power boom in the Sahara?

[Whyperion]

China wont be happy, LPG . Natural Gas tankers have decided to route to Europe to take advantage of higher prices Europe is Paying for Gas. I Presume China will step up Coal production and power stations again and bang goes the carbon footprint. (how did China keep warm and make stuff in the C19th ?)

[Whyperion]

It is the end of the year, for those not on smart meters its a good idea to send in a meter reading wether needed or not, and do a calculation of use since your last bill and check any direct debit. I calculated mum is roughly up to date for the unbilled four months - next bill due end March ! (what happened to good old quarterly bills ?), but needed an uplift to Direct Debit to cover expected increases when her fixed deal runs out, so I submitted a Direct Debit increase request ( do all energy providers have to offer that facility on there website /chat / phone ?) , as much as a small extra in a savings account might be desirable, its going to be easier than messing later should it be needed, (and the next three months the new amount probably wont cover the usage anyway , anticipating less lighting and heating costs from April onwards to catch up). Always have to be careful sending in a meter reading when the fixed term runs out.
Should one take out a new fixed deal - these will be above current price cap and variables, but does a fix with a big co make sense IF energy prices otherwise MIGHT rise next October again - if only my crystal ball had worked last year one would have been in a more assured situation.

[Big Kev]

My elec tariff runs out in April and the gas in June (I thought they were both June but it would appear not). I'm looking at increasing the elec DD by around 50% for May onwards, I'll recalculate once I get a KWh price confirmation. I have 2 years of usage figures so know how much I'm likely to use. I can look at the gas in June.

[Stanley]

I've sent in my gas meter reading for end December. The leccy meter is reporting. I think my contract runs out in March. No doubt they will let me know what the new tariff is then.

[Stanley]

I forgot to mention that British Gas seem to have mended their website, giving my reading yesterday was seamless and I got a confirmatory email. No word though on why my latest generation 'smart' gas meter isn't reporting....

[Whyperion]

I have never quite worked on the smart meter at the house in stockport - sainsburys (british gas with nectar !), never officially recognised them when we were moved in there, but the Estimated consumption- after 6 months of residence and a few on - line submissions - always matched the smart meter reading, so if you have a smart meter it could be that some (third party badged resellers ?) energy companies pick up the reading, place it in the estimated section until they actually create a bill. It is as if they billing software does not trust the reading database.

[Big Kev]

I have never quite worked on the smart meter at the house in stockport - sainsburys (british gas with nectar !), never officially recognised them when we were moved in there

They're potentially SMETS1 devices, there is currently a software roll out to enable both SMETS1 and SMETS2 devices to communicate with the DCC. Eventually all devices will work across all suppliers.

[Stanley]

Kev, tell me again how they communicate. I thought it used my wi-fi but they tell me this isn't so. It baffles me why cone works but the other doesn't even though they are both second generation.

[Big Kev]

Kev, tell me again how they communicate. I thought it used my wi-fi but they tell me this isn't so. It baffles me why cone works but the other doesn't even though they are both second generation.

It's basically radio waves. There's an internal network which consists of a communications hub (part of your elec meter) to which the elec meter, gas meter and in home display wirelessly connect to (this is separate to your wifi). Your gas meter is battery powered and sends data to the communications hub every 30 minutes, data from both your meters are then sent, via an external secure network, to the DCC and from there to the supplier, in your case British Gas. As your elec meter is sending readings to BG it sounds as though the software install and commission process of the gas meter hasn't completed correctly. Make contact with BG again and tell them the gas meter isn't sending readings. Did the in home display, they said they were sending, turn up?

[Stanley]

Nope. The fitter told me he would come back and try to connect another day and would bring the monitor, neither happened. To be honest I couldn't care less as long as I can make sure that at the beginning of the month they have correct readings. Now the website is working that's no problem. I have enough to do in my life without running round after a supplier.

[Big Kev]

Nope. The fitter told me he would come back and try to connect another day and would bring the monitor, neither happened. To be honest I couldn't care less as long as I can make sure that at the beginning of the month they have correct readings. Now the website is working that's no problem. I have enough to do in my life without running round after a supplier.

Oh right, that'll be why it doesn't work then. It won't until an engineer comes back and runs the install and commission process.

[Stanley]

His explanation was that in terms of commissioning, the meters have good or bad days. He would come back on a better day. That was supposed to be in a fortnight. That deadline has long gone.

[Big Kev]

It'll be down to the integrity of the engineer booking another appointment, he would have got paid for the unsuccessful visit so he most likely didn't. BG won't really care if it works or not all the time they can get their customer to do the work for them.

[PanBiker]

Now the website is working that's no problem. I have enough to do in my life without running round after a supplier.

Surely you can spare five minutes to book another appointment via the website? From memory when I was a BG customer its only a few clicks on the website. Might as well have it working as it should.

[Stanley]

No Ian, it isn't worth it.

[Big Kev]

It may not seem worth it from the point of view of sending the readings but, if the install and commission process hasn't completed correctly, is the meter calibrated correctly? There's a lot of two way comms, not just sending readings. Potentially all the tariff details will have been sent to the comms hub but the software won't be able to communicate with the gas meter to ensure all is as it should be. Potentially, the gas meter should be OK straight from the manufacturer but without any comms it's not possible to check this. Keep a very close eye on the reported usage.

[Whyperion]

I have never quite worked on the smart meter at the house in stockport - sainsburys (british gas with nectar !), never officially recognised them when we were moved in there

They're potentially SMETS1 devices, there is currently a software roll out to enable both SMETS1 and SMETS2 devices to communicate with the DCC. Eventually all devices will work across all suppliers.

Think they are SMET2 being quite recent. Just took the new supplier software time to connect to the database once they had serial number etc.
The menu on the internal monoitoring device was never easy to find the amount used as in actual reading numbers, it majors on displaying price and a dial graphic for daily usage. Trying to read LCD panels on meters 7ft in the air is never easy (in a windy garage in winter).
Trying to get EDF to read mums meter seems impossible, they refuse to accept my readings, then on chat say I should read the meter - which I do

[Stanley]

That's a good point Kev.