Where are you? I thought when they installed a smart meter they first did a visit to check that it would work, so that should have caught the problem. Then they have special people/units to deal with difficult situations, but I don't know much about them (I believe we'll need a 'special' installation if/when I get a smart meter because of the distance between the meter and the house).

Worst case I think they will have to treat the meter as a 'dumb' one that needs manual reading until they sort the problem out.

E7 tariffs are still available but not all suppliers provide them so you'll need to find a supplier that provides the tariff. Switching may be problematic at the moment.

For me a smart meter needs to something more than collect data, like switch things on and off in my house to help the grid to work better.

Jhsigma, you sound unlucky as signal coverage is supposedly 99.55% using different kinds of antenna. Maybe a different supplier would be more proactive about making it work?

You can still read a smart meter manually to get separate export/import readings, and some allow manual peak/off-peak readings. You might find a dedicated EV tariff suits you better than Economy 7. Hope it works out for you.


This is what is needed for DJH's installation, not sure that it would help with jhsigma's. A range extender for meters that are located far away from the home display unit:
https://www.smart-energy.com/industry-sectors/smart-meters/landisgyr-to-provide-1-million-bridges-for-smets2-smart-meters-deploymentuks-alt-han-co-orders-1-million-bridges-for-a-just-smart-meter-deployment/


Tony, the smart meters can switch things on/off using their ALCS (auxiliary load control switches) however the electricity suppliers are all reluctant to enable that, in case they accidentally switch off someone's medical devices, fire alarms etc. You'd have to rewire the house so that every appliance you wanted to switch was on the same circuit. Best leave the smart meter to just do metering (time-of-use). If you wanted a smart switch instead, I saw some good prices in Argos and Lidl recently?

John,
I guess the theoretical 42 hours won't be the norm, 2.5x is significant but will that tariff last for the full theoretical charging time before it reverts to full tariff, I don't know how it works.
I looked at my supplier EDF, and this seems it could be even cheaper than the 7p you mention.

https://www.edfenergy.com/electric-cars

Incidentally, has anybody come across the Ohme smart chargers and especially the smart cable?

https://www.ohme-ev.com/shop/ohme-home-charger

Looks like it would work with my existing dumb Type 2 charger.

Your right Owlman 4.5 p from EDF (but 36.5p for peak) but the lower rate would cost £3.24 to fully charge !,the good thing about this hyundai it has a 3 pin socket so I can take power out if we get cuts from the coming storm. If I leave enough to get to a charger will be able to ferry 'buckets ' of electricity

@ jhsigma

Yes John the cheap rates are often accompanied by swingeing rates at the other.

@ Lord Lucan ( at one stage apparently, unbeknown to me he used to live nearby, before his disappearance, - It's not you is it? )

I occasionally get a nice email from EDF asking for me to show an interest in a Smart meter but I'm unsure, at the moment I can't see any benefit for me.

It seems to me that the legislation and accompanying SMETS protocol were drawn very tightly in the UK compared to other countries, to address people's concerns about hacking. It was before people had got comfortable with cloud-based banking, shopping, phonecalls etc.

Part of that security was making the smart meter networks (HAN and WAN) physically separate from the internet, and another part was that only very regulated/scrutinised organisations are allowed to access the smart meter HAN, and only the DCC can access the WAN.

So seems it is nigh on impossible for any individual to access the HAN to retrieve their data, as DJH would like, and nobody can implement novel solutions for gaps in the WAN. Not just a small matter of programming - lots of legislation to unpick! I doubt they would relax security, too many naysayers.

The government has recently legislated that all EV chargers must include a built in smart meter from this year. They seem to have not been so prescriptive about how it will work, so suppliers can use wifi or other networks, if WAN is not available.

HAN = smart meter comms network within the home, eg meter to the display
WAN = smart meter comms network from the home to/from the supplier via the DCC
DCC = company with sole purpose of operating the smart meter comms

Edit: Trusted suppliers of In Home Displays are allowed to access the HAN, retrieve meter readings, and send them via a separate lower-security WiFi to their own cloud server. The homeowner can then be allowed access to their data on that server without risking the security of the HAN. Or they can set up smart thermostats, lightswitches etc to access their meter readings and turn stuff off as Tony would like. Hildebrand are one such, Chamaeleon are another. That would allow a smart meter to be operated in 'dumb' mode while still giving some of the benefits.

Posted By: WillInAberdeenPart of that was making the smart meter networks (HAN and WAN) physically separate from the internet, and another part was restrictions such that only very regulated/scrutinised organisations are allowed to access the smart meter HAN, and only the DCC can access the WAN.

Your picture isn't quite complete. There's another participant who's entitled to access the data - the customer! That's supposedly guaranteed by legislation. The fact that it isn't actually possible is the problem, not the regulations. No need to unpick any legislation - just apply/enforce that which is already there!

Your list of acronyms is missing the component that individuals can supposedly use to access the data

CAD = Customer Access Device
IHD = In Home Display - a particular type of CAD that might also allow access to data but none supplied do.

Your edit is not quite correct. It's not IHD suppliers especially, it's anybody who has passed accreditation to attach their CAD, but again none supplied in the UK have enabled the direct data export facility that some devices have. There's no risk to the security of the HAN in any event since the CAD needs to be tested and approved before it can work on the HAN.