Smart meters, what do SMETS2 use to communicate (Suffolk)?

south it's O2 mobile network, north it's arqiva dedicated network, also they have mesh options available so your meter can use your neighbour's meter to get a signal

DNO areas 1-9 are south, 10-14 are north

Their claim is true if the meter depends on the Radio Teleswitch Service.

Guess what, Shell have climbed down:-

Please be advised that you don't need to exchange your meter at any time as longest as it is working. Please disregard the message you received.

:-) :-) :-)

My neighbours are a fair way away!

The teleswitch service which relies on signals on Radio 4 long wave signal, is ending some time next year so many economy seven switches will stop working.

Of course it also helps them fulfil their smart meter targets, but if yours did stop working you would be cross. When you do need new you will have have a smart meter or loose E7.

In the north there is a private network, in the south mobile phone network.

I believe in Suffolk I believe 2G mobile phone.

Dave

First I've heard that any old meter will stop working. Certainly they have a life span after which they need to be swapped out and recalibrated and serviced, but you usually found that you got the same as you had before. On the smart meter, yes I think they introduced a single system to get readings to fix the old issue of one meter not working with another company. The guy told me it piggy backs on one of the cellular networks and sends data back a bit like a text message every 20 minutes. I did ask what happens in the middle of nowhere, and basically he said, that they won't work, and you are back to getting readings yourself. Personally, I don't see why they cannot use the Internet if it exists, as I do see in the various set up bits on the display, that there is a wifi option. However they do not seem to use what I call the bleedin obvious way, i.e. shove it down the mains wiring. Maybe it gets lost or causes too much interference or something. I also feel that the way gas uses a dry battery to support its comms to the Electricity meter a bit crude. Brian

Probably don't know their arse from their elbows. Brian

I suppose the gas meter could use a pilot light and a thermopile to power itself!

Assuming that Smart gas meters work the same way as the old mechanical ones, they'll have bellows inside moving up and down or back and forth, as the gas passes through. That movement could probably generate enough power to charge a battery or a large capacitor to power the electronics.

Economy-7 meters will stop rate switching when Radio 4 long wave is switched off..

Dave

It wasn't entirely a serious suggestion ...

They measure time of flight of ultrasonic pulses, and presumably multiply by a known cross-section of the chamber.

Some SMETS2 meters still use diaphragms.

And I thought the way the ultrasonic ones rely on the /difference/ in time of pulses with and against the gas stream changing as the rate of flow increases means the cross section is not critical.

Or a teeny ICE.

Pre-pay meters have to have batteries too as there usually isn't any mains electricity in or near the gas meter cupboard.

Would you want to allow your meter access to your home Wi-Fi?

Maybe, mine is quite an old SMETS1 and it's ultrasonic, I thought they'd all use that by now ...

I presume it uses the pulses to gauge the speed of the gas flow by doppler, but just by knowing the gas is travelling at umpty m/s doesn't tell you the volume.

Well as long as it stops switching when it's in night-time mode I'll be happy! :-)

However from the reply I got from Shell it looks as if my economy 7 meter doesn't use the R4 long-wave system.

Depends if it was the only way of getting my data uploaded or not. There are areas of the country where smart meters just don’t work.

Tim

Yes, I mistook you to mean the cross-section was needed to calculate the flow rate.

But no, at least some of the gas meters use the differences between time of flight of pulses, not the Doppler shift.