Edf Smart Meter Free Installation

| 30-06-2021
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A Linky smart meter costs €150 to €200 to install, or €1 to €2 per household per month over 10 years, according to estimates. This amount is much lower than the savings it generates, which are estimated at an average of €50 per annum. The rollout of 35 million Linky meters is costing a total of €4.5 billion. The main costs break.

Smart meters are energy industry game changers, and we’re buzzing about their potential. The technology will save UK consumers a lot of time (no more meter readings!) and with innovative electricity tariffs like our Agile Octopus and Octopus Go making the most of the smart meter tech, potentially a fair bit of dough too.

What is a smart meter? Should you get one? What are the benefits? How can Octopus customers get them installed? Here’s everything you need to know about going smart with Octopus Energy.

COVID-19 information, April 2021:

We're still installing smart meters for customers that want them. Our engineers are working with extensive safety measures and equipment to keep themselves and their customers safe during appointments.

Do You Have To Pay For A Smart Meter With Edf

The events of the past year and a bit have mad major, wide-ranging impacts on our smart meter roll-out. Our brilliant smart meter team has worked hard to get things back on track, but for a lot of reasons, we still might not be able to guarantee you a speedy smart meter appointment. Register your interest for one below and we'll get in touch as soon as there're slots available to get you booked in.

Our engineer Jez in his protective coveralls (featuring pink fluffy co-pilot)

We’re installing smart meters across the UK

Our meter engineers are making their way around the country, installing smart meters area-by-area for customers that want them.

By the end of 2021, we’ll have given every eligible customer the opportunity to get smart meters installed.

Let us know you want a smart meter.

Skip to FAQs.

Hear about the smart meter roll out from our CEO Greg.


Octopus Energy customer? Here's how you can get a smart meter

Pop your name down and we'll get in touch as soon as there's an engineer available in your area to install smart meters in your home.

Why should you get a smart meter?

There are tons of benefits of upgrading. With a smart meter, energy is...

Cheaper and greener

Smart meters help you save energy – so you can cut your bills, and your carbon footprint.
 Your smart meter has a simple display screen which will show you how much energy you’re using, and what it costs. You can also monitor your energy consumption through your online account.

Easier

No more giving meter readings manually. You won’t need to remember to take a reading every month, or battle territorial spiders under the stairs. Instead, your smart meters will send meter readings to us automatically.

(Don’t worry, you can still spin our meter reading wheel of fortune once per month, per fuel.)

Fair and accurate


No more estimated bills. We’ll never need to estimate how much energy you’ve used again, because we can take real meter readings automatically. That means you’ll always be charged for exactly how much energy you’ve really used.

Smarter

Smart meters give you access to innovative energy tariffs – the kind that make the most of the UK's renewable energy and smart home tech to bring you prices that're often far cheaper than any standard tariff on the market.

AgileOctopus has half-hourly energy prices, giving customers mega-cheap power when there's lots of renewables available to use up, and no one around to use them. Sometimes, customers even get paid to use energy. Seriously.

octopusGO is a tariff for electric vehicle owners, offering a super-cheap rate for four hours each night, so drivers can charge up for next to nothing during off-peak times.
OutgoingOctopus is the UK's first ever smart 'export' tariff for customers who generate energy at home. If you have solar panels, you can get paid for the green energy you pump back into the grid.

How can I get a smart meter with Octopus?

We’re installing second generation (SMETS2) smart meters area-by-area for customers that want them.
Just register your interest in getting a smart meter here and we’ll get in touch when we’re installing near you. We aim to contact all customers who’re currently eligible to have a smart meter installed by the end of 2020 (what does it mean to be eligible?)

If you want to join one of our innovative tariffs (OctopusGO, AgileOctopus or OutgoingOctopus) please email smart@octopus.energy.

Read our smart meter FAQs

COVID-19 update: We're temporarily postponing smart meter installations to keep our engineers and customers safe in light of the government's social distancing advice. Emergency metering appointments will still go ahead, with new safety measures and equipment in place.Read more here.

Once we've deemed it's safe to continue our regular installations, we'll keep rolling SMETS2 smart meters out area-by-area.
Anyone who'd like a smart meter, register your interest here and we'll be in touch when there are installations available near you.

Are you installing SMETS1 or SMETS2 meters, and what's the difference?

We're installing SMETS2 meters. This is an upgraded version, which all UK suppliers are now installing.

The earlier model, SMETS1, is what the majority of installs were up until March 2019. Suppliers are ramping up SMETS2 installs now because SMETS1 installations after March 15th 2019 don't count towards our smart meter quota (a target set for all suppliers by Ofgem). There’s nothing wrong with SMETS1 meters – they're a great piece of tech.

Do you have to pay for a smart meter with edf

So what’s the difference?

The key difference between SMETS1 and the newer model, SMETS2, is that SMETS2 have the inbuilt functionality to let you change supplier without losing the meters’ 'smart' ability.

In the not too distant future, existing SMETS1 meters will slowly be upgraded so that they can gain their smart functionality back. Our latest understanding is that the Data Communications Company (or 'DCC', who manage and transfer all smart meter data) will be updating the software on all SMETS1 meters remotely (no engineer visit required) throughout the second half of 2020.

If you have a SMETS1: We use the smart meters made by the company Secure. Secure also supply meters to Utilita, Shell, OVO, E.ON and Bristol Energy - so if you have a smart meter from them, and it’s a ‘Secure’ meter, it will work. (A different brand of meter from them unfortunately won’t.)

If you have a SMETS2: Yes, it will!

I’m leaving Octopus - will I be able to use your smart meter with my new supplier?

If you have a SMETS1 installed by us: The brand of smart meter you have will determine whether it'll connect properly with your new supplier. For example, we use smart meters made by the company Secure. Secure also supply meters to Utilita, Shell, OVO, E.ON and Bristol Energy - so if you have a 'Secure' smart meter, it will stay smart when you switch to one of those companies (A different brand of meter from them unfortunately won’t.)

If you have a SMETS2: Yes, your smart meter will work no matter who you switch to – though it might take a few weeks to get everything connected.

Smart meters don’t need the internet to communicate. Instead, they work by using two wireless networks: the HAN (home area network) and WAN (wide area network).

Your HAN is a secure network contained within your home that allows digital devices to communicate with each other. This network is used to allow your smart gas and electricity meters to communicate with each other, as well as with your in-home display.

When smart meters need to communicate with an energy provider, they use WAN. This secure network is similar to the one mobile phones use to send and receive data. It’s run by the Data Communications Company and overseen by the energy regulator Ofgem. This means it must comply with strict regulations to ensure smart meter data is kept private and secure.

My smart meter became 'dumb' when I switched. Will it become smart again?

We expect that all smart meters will become interoperable (work with all suppliers) by the end of 2020.

SMETS1 meters were only designed to send data to the supplier who installed them, but ultimately all smart meter data will begin to be sent to a central body called the Data Communications Company (DCC). And hopefully, at this point your meters will become smart again.

The low-frequency radio waves used by smart meters are classed as safe (with emissions considerably less than TVs and mobile phones), and leading public bodies including the World Health Organisation have been unable to find any conclusive evidence of harm.

Smart meter technology is being built with security squarely in mind and follow the highest encryption protocols. We keep our ear to the ground for the latest research into the viability of smart meters, and we’re confident that the technology will benefit all of us rather than causing harm.

Robert Cheesewright of Smart Energy GB (the government-backed agency promoting the smart meter rollout) has assured that the meters are securely encrypted, and even so, the only data stored on the meters is energy-related –

“your name, address, bank account or other financial details are not stored on the meter.”

Will I be able to get an old “dumb” meter if I want one?

Eventually, it’ll be virtually impossible to get a standard meter. Like classic car parts, they’re becoming scarce as the demand for newer, better technology increases. After all, it doesn’t make much sense to keep manufacturing obsolete technology. So if your standard meter breaks, your only option for replacement could be a smart meter. If you’re worried about this, get in touch with us. You’re not legally obliged to have a smart meter installed.

What does it mean to be 'eligible' to have smart meters?

Smart meters only work properly under certain conditions...

1) A strong WAN signal

First, as they send data via the Wide Area Network (WAN), your home needs a strong WAN signal, or we won't be able to communicate with your meters.
WAN connectivity is a little like your phone's coverage. It's not as simple as certain areas having coverage, and others not. Sometimes, your phone won't get any signal while your mate (who uses a different network) has perfect reception.

2) Less than 10 metres between your meters and your IHD
 We get information from your meters through a small communications hub that's attached to your electricity meter. This comms hub talks to your gas meter, and to your in-home display. The standard comms hub being installed at the moment has a maximum range of 10 metres. That means your electricity meter, gas meter, and IHD must all be within 10 metres, or they won't be able to talk to each other properly.

This means people in flats or apartment buildings with all the meters stored in a single room often aren't able to get smart meters yet – same with households that have their gas meter in an outdoor shed.

Next year, a comms hub with a longer range will become available, meaning soon, people who aren't currently eligible will be able to get smart meters installed too.

We’ll soon be trialling the Trio, an accessible 'talking' In-Home Display for blind and visually impaired customers, which will speak the contents of each screen out to you. It’s been tried, tested and approved by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).
We’re really excited to be trialling an accessible In-Home Display - it’s vital that smart energy tech be as inclusive as possible, and that nobody gets left behind in the green energy revolution. The Trio can show energy use for electricity and gas smart meters and can be configured to work with whichever smart meters you have installed. It’s also compatible with smart prepayment meters too. Find out more about how the Trio works here.

If you’ve got any other questions, get in touch and we’ll help.

Hey I'm Constantine, welcome to Octopus Energy!

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A programme for the installation of smart electricity meters in all homes in France is being rolled out.

The regular visit of the technician to do manual reading of your electricity meter in France will soon be a thing of the past, as will estimated electricity meter readings.

In a programme that is scheduled to be completed by 2021, the French electricity distribution agency ERDF has commenced the installation of 'Linky' smart meters in all homes in France.

The programme is being carried out as part of a wider European based initiative on the use of intelligent meters and follows substantial trials on the new system carried out in parts of France.

Once installed, your electricity meter will be read remotely to your supplier, and your bill for each accounting period will be based on actual consumption.

Edf Smart Meter Free Installation Instructions

The meters also come with real-time displays, which in theory should allow consumers to monitor electricity consumption.

However, ERDF have not been obliged to install the meters where they can be easily read by the household, so for those who have a meter outside of the property that benefit will not be available for everyone, although it will be possible to consult consumption on a dedicated website.

Even where the meter can be read, it will only show consumption in kilowatts-hours (Kwh), not the actual cost.

The change has been made obligatory on all households, and although the meters will initially be installed free of charge to the consumer, from 2021 there will be an additional levy on your electricity bill.

The costs to ERDF of around €5 billion (around €150 per household) will be offset by the savings they will making on employing 2,000 technicians to undertake manual meter readings.

Edf Smart Meter Free Installation Tool

One of the features of the supply of electricity in France is that households are able to choose the amount of power to the property, from 3KVA to 36KVA, with a progressively higher consumption charge payable.

Many households in the country have a power output that is not suited to their actual consumption, being either too high or too low.

Edf Smart Meter Free Installation

A number of consumer organisations in France claim that as the new smart meters are more sensitive to excessive power surges, many households will be required to increase their power supply at a higher rate.

Is A Smart Meter Free Edf

This is a charge denied by ERDF, who have stated that the new meters are not more sensitive than existing meters.

They also claim that with the provision of additional information about consumer usage it will be possible to offer consumers a lower power supply, to within 1KVA of their needs, currently only possible in steps of 3KVA.

The electricity regulator, the Commission de régulation de l'énergie (CRE), has requested that if a change of the power supply is necessary as a result of the new meter, there should be no charge.

For those who are also using renewable energy in their property, where the use of two meters is generally necessary, a single Linky meter will replace the existing meters.

The new meters will also allow other operations to be carried out remotely, such as closing and opening of accounts.

For those with mains gas a programme of intelligent meter (Gazpar) installation will commence in 2017.

Details of the broad programme of installation can be found at Le compteur Linky chez vous, from where, at an appropriate juncture, you can also contact ERDF about the actual date of installation on your property.

Edf Smart Meter Free Installation Code


Notice of the proposed installation will be given to you by letter from ERDF 30 to 45 days in advance of the work.

The new meter will be installed in the same location as the existing meter and will take approximately 30 minutes.

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