Warning meters in 300,000 homes could stop working

My mother has an all electric retirtement flat with E7 meter worked by a teleswitch as do all the other residents in the block. She has a very poor phone signial and prbaly even worse inside the store cupboard containing the meter and consumer units.

EON are coming to fit a Smart meter this month but ahve been unable to what they will do if the Smart meter does not function.

I have read on line that the Smart meter will still function switching the E7 supply on and off as this is embeded in the meter but we will have to supply monthly meter readings. 

Does anyone know if this is true?

Thanks

JP

I moved my dad into a sheltered housing flat and his electric meter was in the lift plant room, I had a conversation with his supplier and they said the Smart meter almost certainly would not work in close proximity to other Smart meters and the lift motor, apparently they had tried it in similar situations and the meters didn’t work, so they noted the possible issues and said they would not bother trying to fit one.

Then after a couple of years they started calling again to try and fit one, I phoned and explained the situation and told them if they wanted to try fitting one they were welcome to do so, I told them there was a manager on site from 9 to 5, so they could attend any weekday and fit the meter.

The supplier then said I would have to take time off work to attend and organise it, I said that they were just as capable as speaking to the manager and my dad as I was and I was not having time off work.

The Smart meter still had not been installed a couple of years later when I moved my dad into a care home.

There are alternative methods of getting a signal.  Such as fitting an external antenna and configuring the meters in a mesh network.  But that requires the electricity companies to be organised enough to do it.

I thought you might live an update on my experience of the loss of E7 switching and smart meters.

The representative from the supply cmpany turned up at my mothers flat last Monday and looked at the existing E7 meter with a view to replace it with a smart meter. It was not required as the meter has an internal time clock and is not switched by the RTS about to be turned off.

Today the same for the meter at my cottage. The represenative from the supplier came prepared to fit a smart meter so my E7 switching would continue after end of June. A quick look at the meter and he pronounced it was not switched by the RTS as it has an internal time clock. I asked how does the meter know what time it is so it knows what time to switch. The meter man said  I don't know I have not been asked that before I will have to ring the office. A phone call later and he said that they are pre-programmed with the time before they are sent out for fitting. I assume, and he did not know, they have a long life battery back up or a battery charged from the mains all the time a supply is present. After that I declined the offer of a smart meter. 

I now have 2 isolators, the main domestic supply has an SPD next to the isolator (REC 4) and a separate 2 pole isolator for the E7 consumer unit just in case I need to work on or replace my consumer units.

JP

I thought you might live an update on my experience of the loss of E7 switching and smart meters.

The representative from the supply cmpany turned up at my mothers flat last Monday and looked at the existing E7 meter with a view to replace it with a smart meter. It was not required as the meter has an internal time clock and is not switched by the RTS about to be turned off.

Today the same for the meter at my cottage. The represenative from the supplier came prepared to fit a smart meter so my E7 switching would continue after end of June. A quick look at the meter and he pronounced it was not switched by the RTS as it has an internal time clock. I asked how does the meter know what time it is so it knows what time to switch. The meter man said  I don't know I have not been asked that before I will have to ring the office. A phone call later and he said that they are pre-programmed with the time before they are sent out for fitting. I assume, and he did not know, they have a long life battery back up or a battery charged from the mains all the time a supply is present. After that I declined the offer of a smart meter. 

I now have 2 isolators, the main domestic supply has an SPD next to the isolator (REC 4) and a separate 2 pole isolator for the E7 consumer unit just in case I need to work on or replace my consumer units.

JP