Just had a smart meter fitted and my gas bill on the display is

[ebikeerwidnes]

There is a lot of rubbish talked about them

especially by the energy companies when something goes wrong

my meter was the original spec - SMETS1 or whatever it was called

I asked and asked for it to be changed by either no response or "you are on the list because the whole thing needs to be changed"

this from several companies
only certain thing was that the whole thing needed ripping out and changing

Then - after denying it can be done - I started getting automated reading again from EDF
I plugged my home display again - it was in the back of a cupboard as it had been useless for a year or so - and magically it all worked

I contacted EDF and apparently they had actioned my request for it to be upgraded and did it "over the air"
the meter apparently could be upgraded from SMETS1 to SMETS2 and could have been for several years

it is almost as if they get paid to install new ones but not paid to have working meters

 

[Punkawallah]

Soldering by hand has been all but obsolete for the best part of half a century because it's slow, expensive and unreliable. PCBs are flow (and/or reflow) soldered, and wiring is done by crimp & IDC, because it enables consistent quality control using unskilled labour.

Did he go into any detail about why?

Apparently, from the experience with his customers, they had been something of a disappointment from the get go. There seems to have been a lottery regards which ones worked as advertised, and which were more capricious?
My company had told me my meter was at the end of its service life, needed to be replaced, and they had no ordinary meters to replace it with. After being passed to various representatives regards getting assurances that the meter would work as I required, not at the whim of the company, it all went quiet, and I have heard nothing since. Long may it continue.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

As far as I am aware they can install a smart meter if you don;t want one - but are not allowed to connect it to the system
Hence they have no visibility or control over it and you have to send them readings
(or - of course - they COULD send someone round to take them like they used to in the olden days but that costs more!)

On mine the comms module is easy to see and a foil covered box around it would screw up its comms I would imagine - as long as you left space for heat to escape