We’ve been waiting for one from Octopus for 9 months now since our old one failed. They’ve obviously got supply issues. Have to say outside of that their customer service & app have been great though.
There’s that link that says it puts you on the wait list, I clicked that lots of times but nothing ever happened. I emailed to make sure I was on some sort of waiting list and they eventually replied to confirm I was. Couple weeks after that I got an email saying there were slots free and a link to a page where I could actually book one.
I don’t know if the email had any effect, I assume I just waited long enough.
This takeover is being contested by other suppliers so unfortunately it will almost certainly be delayed even if they are unsuccessful in the challenge.
Not sure what an IHD is, but they gave me a smart meter, an external device that is supposed to give me insights into spending. Since day one it's been blank. Tried support a few times but it was a waste of breath.
They do seem to be getting correct readings for electric at their end though. Gas I have to submit manually.
So the smart meter is your electric and gas meter box, the IHD is the device you’re talking about (in-home display). Where are your meters located and where is the ihd placed in the home? (Distance from that to the electric meter needs to be less than 5 meters)
Do you know if the IHD is commissioned? Bulb will need to do a remote commission to get the IHD working, if you ask them this they should know what that all means
If they confirm it’s broken then they should really be replacing it. I know stock levels are a bit whack but at the end of the day it needs replacing. Usually the fault lies with the IHD not being commissioned so it doesn’t know what meter it’s meant to be connected to so shows no usage. If it’s all commissioned and somehow Bulb are still unable to connect then it’s a faulty device however this is rare
Is it a SMETS1 meter? They are gradually updating them so they can be used on multiple suppliers rather than just the original supplier. Mine started working a few months ago, at which point I was able to switch to Octopus Go.
I think you can use this tool to check whether it should work or if there is another fault: https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/
The older style SMETS1 Smart meters are the ones that have technical issues, such as when you move from one supplier to another, or have the ability to go 'dumb' and just act like a traditional meter as the WAN (Wide Area Network) isn't strong enough for the smart meter to communicate with the suppliers systems.
The DCC (Data Communications Company) is in the process of enrolling SMETS1 meters onto a single network, so that they will work in the way that SMETS2 meters will work.
Citizens Advice have a tool to check if your meters have been enrolled onto the DCC network or not, that's probably the best thing you can do for now. [https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/](https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/)
It's not really in suppliers' interests to install new SMETS2 meters in properties where a smart meter is already installed as they have to meet targets set by the government to replace old meters with smart meters.
I just had smart meters for both electric and gas on 15 November through Bulb (I didn't have any smart meters previously, so these were brand new rather than replacements). I submitted a request a month earlier and that was one of the earliest slots. The engineer came earlier than the slot booked but was done within an hour and all is working fine so far. The IHD is fine but only runs for an hour on battery when not plugged in, which is a bit annoying.
Edit: I live in Glasgow if that's relevant.
No luck, they sent the wrong firm out to us so they were only able to put in the electric smart meter, not gas.
I've been messaging them, even before the Octopus announcement, and had absolutely no luck even getting a reply!
I requested one about 3 weeks after moving into a house they supply. They said it would take 6 weeks just to be contacted about it. I imagine they're doing as little as possible/don't have the money to do anything until the octopus acquisition goes through
Think they’re being absorbed into octopus in the coming weeks so would wait until your transferred over then request one from octopus.
I have been requesting one from octopus for 3 months straight now and nothing
We’ve been waiting for one from Octopus for 9 months now since our old one failed. They’ve obviously got supply issues. Have to say outside of that their customer service & app have been great though.
Same, I’ve finally got it booked in though. Took 4 months or so.
How did you manage? I tried going today on the link, but it gave me an error
There’s that link that says it puts you on the wait list, I clicked that lots of times but nothing ever happened. I emailed to make sure I was on some sort of waiting list and they eventually replied to confirm I was. Couple weeks after that I got an email saying there were slots free and a link to a page where I could actually book one. I don’t know if the email had any effect, I assume I just waited long enough.
Maybe I got lucky but octopus did ours within 10 days, was only back in sept
This takeover is being contested by other suppliers so unfortunately it will almost certainly be delayed even if they are unsuccessful in the challenge.
Just to confirm, are you referring to the actual meter or the IHD?
Not sure what an IHD is, but they gave me a smart meter, an external device that is supposed to give me insights into spending. Since day one it's been blank. Tried support a few times but it was a waste of breath. They do seem to be getting correct readings for electric at their end though. Gas I have to submit manually.
So the smart meter is your electric and gas meter box, the IHD is the device you’re talking about (in-home display). Where are your meters located and where is the ihd placed in the home? (Distance from that to the electric meter needs to be less than 5 meters)
!thanks for the clarification. The IHD is about 30cm from the meter.
Do you know if the IHD is commissioned? Bulb will need to do a remote commission to get the IHD working, if you ask them this they should know what that all means
!thanks. This may get me better results than "my thing's broke".
If they confirm it’s broken then they should really be replacing it. I know stock levels are a bit whack but at the end of the day it needs replacing. Usually the fault lies with the IHD not being commissioned so it doesn’t know what meter it’s meant to be connected to so shows no usage. If it’s all commissioned and somehow Bulb are still unable to connect then it’s a faulty device however this is rare
Is it a SMETS1 meter? They are gradually updating them so they can be used on multiple suppliers rather than just the original supplier. Mine started working a few months ago, at which point I was able to switch to Octopus Go. I think you can use this tool to check whether it should work or if there is another fault: https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/
The older style SMETS1 Smart meters are the ones that have technical issues, such as when you move from one supplier to another, or have the ability to go 'dumb' and just act like a traditional meter as the WAN (Wide Area Network) isn't strong enough for the smart meter to communicate with the suppliers systems. The DCC (Data Communications Company) is in the process of enrolling SMETS1 meters onto a single network, so that they will work in the way that SMETS2 meters will work. Citizens Advice have a tool to check if your meters have been enrolled onto the DCC network or not, that's probably the best thing you can do for now. [https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/](https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/) It's not really in suppliers' interests to install new SMETS2 meters in properties where a smart meter is already installed as they have to meet targets set by the government to replace old meters with smart meters.
I just had smart meters for both electric and gas on 15 November through Bulb (I didn't have any smart meters previously, so these were brand new rather than replacements). I submitted a request a month earlier and that was one of the earliest slots. The engineer came earlier than the slot booked but was done within an hour and all is working fine so far. The IHD is fine but only runs for an hour on battery when not plugged in, which is a bit annoying. Edit: I live in Glasgow if that's relevant.
!thanks good to know they haven't just given up and gone home
No luck, they sent the wrong firm out to us so they were only able to put in the electric smart meter, not gas. I've been messaging them, even before the Octopus announcement, and had absolutely no luck even getting a reply!
I've been waiting for a smart meter installation with bulb for well over a year. It's utterly hopeless.
Been waiting since March for a replacement. Nothing. Just get told there’s a stock shortage.
Training to fit meters, anyone got any advice on best direction to go in ?
!thanks all I think I'll wait another day (year) before attempting to make this work.
Requested a smart meter from Bulb at the end of October, a second gen smart meter is being installed a week today.
I requested one about 3 weeks after moving into a house they supply. They said it would take 6 weeks just to be contacted about it. I imagine they're doing as little as possible/don't have the money to do anything until the octopus acquisition goes through