What’s involved in installing a smart meter?
For many businesses, concerns about the installation is the main thing that is holding them back from getting a smart meter. In this article, we explain what happens during a smart meter installation, and how to benefit from the data that smart meters provide.
How to book your smart meter installation
We work with a specialist partner, SMS, to install smart meters for business and domestic customers. You can contact SMS on 0330 808 9367 to book a date. You should be able to select an installation date that suits you within the next three months, depending on engineer availability.
When you make your booking, you will be asked several questions about the location of your meter. It’s important that you provide SMS with all the information they have asked for, as it will mean they bring the correct equipment and send enough engineers to safely complete your installation.
What about multi-site customers?
SMS have a team dedicated to supporting multi-site customers to arrange and complete their smart meter installations. You’ll be asked to fill out a simple form detailing each site that requires a smart meter to ensure all the required information is captured ahead of time. Simply let SMS know that you’re a multi-site customer when you contact them, and they will pass you through to the correct team. If you have any concerns, please contact your Good Energy account manager or email us on large-business@goodenergy.co.uk.
What does commercial smart meter installation involve?
On the day of your installation, please make sure that there is somebody on site that can give the engineer access to your premises, as well as the keyholder if the meter(s) are in a locked room. Please ensure the area around the meter is clear and accessible in advance.
Our installer, SMS, will arrive in a branded van. They will have an ID showing their name, photograph and that they are working with Good Energy.
Your appointment will take approximately two hours, and your electricity and or gas supply will need to be switched off for around 45 minutes per fuel. If you have any concerns about how to manage this, please do discuss it with them when you book your appointment and we will come to a solution together to keep disruption to a minimum.
After your smart meter has been installed, the engineer will show you how to read your meter and see your import data. Your smart meter will also display your export data if you have a generation asset.
If you need to rearrange your appointment, please call SMS on 0330 808 9367 no later than 2 working days before. You may need to wait several weeks until another date comes available, so please make every effort to keep to your planned date.
How do you benefit from the data your smart meter provides?
For most business customers, we’ve found that a standard in home device (IHD) won’t work. This is because IHDs have been designed for a domestic setting and have a limited range. Commercial premises are typically much larger and the smart meter is often located too far away from your work premises to pick up a reliable signal.
However, there are devices you can use to access the data from your smart meter, such as an OWL Smart Electricity Monitor. You can get one for a standard three phase supply, or if you generate electricity on site, you can get one specifically designed to monitor the outputs from solar PV, as well as the energy you are importing from the grid. Your smart meter is more accurate than an OWL monitor, so you may see some discrepancy in the energy data recorded.
This data can help you to make your business’s energy use as efficient as possible – saving energy and money, making the best use of any on site generation, and cutting your carbon emissions.
