Is it true that 20% of smart meters don't work?

Of course it’s important to put statistics in context, and that’s just what the  statement that prompted my question is lacking. As I pointed out earlier, it’s a meter’s job to measure, so if it’s measuring it’s working. We still don’t know just how many smart meters aren’t in fact measuring, but I suspect it’s a tiny proportion of the 35 million. I would hope that most customers with a smart meter would soon notice if it stopped working, and we do very occasionally see examples in these forums. But to claim that a smart meter isn’t working because it’s lost the connection to the supplier is downright misleading.

I wonder how many of the 35 million smart meters installed over the past decade or so were replacing ones that would have had to be replaced anyway because of their age.   

Interesting 

The majority of ovo customers rarely log onto their ovo accounts we are told. Many never log in.

 I suspect hence most customers would be unaware if their bills were estimated for transitory times during the year because of this. They don't look at their bills in that much detail. Of course some people look in detail.

I go through periods of not looking at my ovo bills. I haven't checked for many months for personal reasons having other priorities. I haven’t paid much attention for over a year now.I have no idea if they are being estimated.

The semantics are interesting. For me if my bill has  estimated readings, then somewhere in the end to end smart meter ecosystem including ovo billing etc there is an issue. That utilmately is all I care about and I suspect is all the majority of people care about. I just want to be able to tell ovo there is an issue if spot it and for it to be investigated by them as I am their customer. I also hope there are some automated procedures in ovo and others to spot issues and investigate and fix without me even knowing, this could be better I am sure.

I honestly don't care if the issue is with ovo or connectivity or some database or the meter or the comms hub. I just simply want ovo to facilitate getting it fixed either themselves or via 3rd parties. 

I quite like the government stats in that it keeps it simple. Can the supplier see the smart meter to get a reading. It is simple for the public to understand I think. Anything else risk complicated wording I fear.

Of course some of us are more curious about stats and the details etc, including me.... along with enjoying helping people it is why I contribute to the forum, although much less recently.

Ultimately I am not sure if currently the ecosystem is ready for load control, time and type of use on a mass scale. It isn't bad, but feels a bit flaky for the average person. I spent most of my working life working in financial services, it certainly feels the  energy ecosystem is  a bit flaky compared to that. I fear ovo would get swamped with queries.

Yes indeed, “The majority of ovo customers rarely log onto their ovo accounts we are told. Many never log in.” and not just this energy supplier;  yesterday’s Martin Lewis newsletter contains the following snippet from one (pleasantly surprised) consumer:

 "After giving EDF meter readings, it was confirmed this morning that I am £3,831.91 IN CREDIT! Which is being repaid to me.”  And which is a jolly Good Thing.

Whilst I always check my balances - energy, bank, - I realise that some might not bother and previously relied on meter readers to get updates on their bills. 
I understood that a physical check on meter readings were required every 2 years but this seems to have gone by the wayside, maybe organisations reducing costs. 
Having been through an issue with British Gas many years ago where they wrongly read my meter as imperial, I now double check at least once a month. That in itself would reduce the reported ‘problems’.

I check my readings every day; it’s the first thing I do when I switch to my OVO page, before even visiting the forum🤓

I normally collect my Hh data before going to bed; n3rgy usually has them for me by 00:35, sometimes earlier. 

I’m the same where checking every day is concerned, but indeed not everyone is the same.

Years ago, well, OK, decades ago, I was quite happy to leave quarterly bills to be based on the figures provided by meter readers, never checking my meter from one end of the year to the other, extraordinary.  Perhaps occasionally if a card had been left asking me to insert my figures.  But that happy trust was normal back then. 

And goodness how meter reading visits have all but vanished, they used to be so regular. I’ve just finished Barbara Vine’s “No Night is too Long”, set mainly in 90’s Suffolk, where at one point the main protagonist says “…the doorbell rang…no one ever comes to the door except meter readers…”.

And earlier this afternoon @Blastoise186 had to advise a consumer who was extremely worried (to the point of considering calling the police) because someone claiming to be a meter reader had called on their elderly mother without first making an appointment. Perfectly right to be concerned of course, but we’re  just not used to meters being physically read or inspected anymore. 

Following on from my previous post (gas meter too far from hub) I log into my account monthly where there is always a message asking me to submit a manual reading. An engineer called at OVO's behest to check the problem. He logged onto the OVO system from his PDA and said that the readings were being sent so the problem was between the reading system and billing depts. However he could not explain why my IHD wasn't showing Gas info either?

Customer services raised an urgent technical query at the beginning of February - no response to date and still being asked to send manual readings?

Previous comments on the benefits of multi functionality of SMETS might be true but as a domestic customer if the basics don't work then as pointed out, they are just a meter and I still have to trudge up and down two flights of stairs to take a reading and have no idea of my usage or costs until I log in and enter the reading.

As customers are paying for this rollout through their bills some redress should be available for issues such as mine? Echoes of the PO Horizon IT scandal me thinks.

The Horizon scandal was a deliberate miscarriage of justice by the Post Office. Trust me, I’ve read the reports and understand them more deeply than most people - especially the technical stuff. It’s literally right up my street.

Your Smart Meter not working is merely due to most likely some very unusual circumstances that are unintentional and an edge case.

Edge cases != miscarriage of justice.

Too serious @blastoise! Comment about PO was tongue in cheek but has certain parallels. It's obvious nobody knows what percentage of meters don't work as intended. Whether it's the meter itself or somewhere else in the system if it doesn't result in my account being updated automatically and accurately then by any reasoning it ain't working! Much the same as my TV won't work if the aerial falls off the roof.

The various suppliers of the statistics all have their own vested interests in mind and spin their numbers accordingly. This includes Government, networks, suppliers and so called consumer champions. Somewhere amongst this smorgasbord of figures is the truth which is all we ask but even if we take the lowest percentages quoted that's an awful lot of meters.

All the best.

I have not read all the preceding comments or the reported Martin Lewis story, but from my experience he may have a point.

As a retired Metrologist/Calibration Engineer & a Landlord I had 6 Smart meters under my watch 4/6 have been replaced over the years by various energy suppliers due to remote reporting issues, I assumed it was the result of tenants changing suppliers. My gas Engineer who services my boilers tells me hundreds of his customers have had similar issues & that they are anything but smart.

My Mother moved in 16/05/23 so I rang SSE with readings to discover there domestic arm had transferred to OVO who don`t recognise the (SSE) Aclara SGM1416-B meter, S/No 21M0150073, manufactured 2020, certified 2021 & installed 30/06/2021. Huge bills followed which we paid as we had no history. Once history was recorded I queried why the meter readings did not match those online?, an OVO Engineer was dispatched who verified the discrepancy. After numerous phone calls I paid for a METER ACCURACY TEST on 13/09/2024, sent off the forms to SGS , then spoke to SGS & emailed everything to them, months passed phone calls etc, eventually a complaint raised on my behalf & we had a refund from OVO as it was an SSE error.

I was asked would I still wish to have the accuracy test completed & I said yes & could I have a copy of the results so I can verify true consumption. On 17/07/2025 an OVO Engineer told me there is no display & he's changing the meter, I said display or not it can still be tested, he would forward my request.

I had a message from OVO & a conversation, they replaced the meter, administrate condemned the old one & destroyed the evidence

Summary:

You asked about the accuracy test results for the meter that was previously installed at your property.

I’ve checked our records, and the meter was exchanged for a new one during the engineer's visit on 17 July 2025.

Unfortunately, this means the original meter is no longer available for testing.

I’m really sorry that the meter accuracy test wasn’t carried out as expected and that the evidence was lost in the process

This seems like another case of under developed technology rolled out prematurely from pressure by successive Governments & left to the unsuspecting public to struggle with.