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Pedromot
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May 21, 2017
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How far apart can my meters be to allow a smart meter upgrade?

  • May 21, 2017
  • 144 replies
  • 44487 views

My gas meter is just outside my home but the electricity meter is in a communal building about 20 metres away.


I understand that a Smart Meter works by radio, so would it work on my installation?

Best answer by Tim_OVO

Updated on 13/05/26 by Chris_OVO

 

Great question to ask for those considering a smart meter installation.

 

As your gas meter needs to be able connect via a Home-Area Network (HAN) to the smart meter communications (comms) hub, which is attached to your electricity meter, we’d only advise getting a gas smart meter installed if it’s within 18 metres of your electricity meter. If you’ve got an appointment booked and your meters are further apart, you may find that the engineer’s only able to replace your electricity meter.

 

If you already have dual smart meters installed and are having gas meter communication issues, we may be able to upgrade your comms hub to a dual band comms hub which has a slightly larger range than the standard comms hub. In order to check whether this is a option for you we’d recommend carrying out a smart meter health check for your meter type below and contacting our Support Team with the results.

 

 

 

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144 replies

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jc0107
Newcomer
July 11, 2025

Of course there will be few extreme example but most of the issues are foreseeable …
 

Most, perhaps, but not all. I don’t think the examples I gave are ‘extreme’ - perhaps just unusual, and indeed not foreseeable.
  

Hence 20% of installations need 2 or more visits. 
 

I’d like to see your documentation for this statistic - I’ve not heard it before. Would you mind sharing the source?
  
 

and if the fitter is not an electrician, I have to question whether they should be tampering with elec meters never mind gas ones
  

Dentists are not doctors, but we trust them to carry out medical and surgical interventions in their specialist area. Do you think an ordinary neighbourhood electrician would know how to install a smart electricity meter? Or a gas-safe plumber to install a smart gas meter? No, right? Installing and configuring a smart meter is no more tampering than triple bypass surgery is tampering with your heart. It’s a speciality like so many others in this complicated age we live in.

Dentists undergo the same training as doctors. 5 year degree and a couple of years on the job supervised training. Choose who you talk to carefully if you are going to try to use such examples. So how long is one of these expert fitters, whoa re not electricians or gas fitters, trained for? a week? A bad dentist can cause loads of pain and problems. a bad doctor same or worse , death. A bad gas installation can blow the place up

Ludicrous stuff my friend, ludicrous

Blastoise186
Super User
Blastoise186Super User
Super User
July 11, 2025

There’s a dedicated qualification for this. City & Guilds Level 2 Diploma in Smart Metering. It takes at least 16 weeks to complete that course. You MUST complete it (or something equivalent like MET1) before you’re even allowed to touch anything.

And that’s just the start…

Oh, and I’m trained very highly myself. My Level 5 BTEC Higher National Diploma in Computing and Systems Development took me four years to acquire - 2 years at BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in IT followed by two years of HND (Year 1 for Level 4, Year 2 for Level 5). I effectively have something equivalent to a Foundation Degree, just via a different (more practical/vocational) route.

But I’m also trained in a very specialist IT field that’s part of cybersecurity - that course took me only a week to complete and allows me to do stuff I’m forbidden from discussing here.

It’s all about the use case!

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
Biohazardx9
Rank 4
Biohazardx9
Rank 4
August 17, 2025

​@Blastoise186

You done similar to me. Except I'm in hardware / networking. 

IT is so diverse. Agreed there are many paths to get to the same goal. 

Ironically I work in the energy sector.. We kinda 'enable' it shall we say.... Ahem 'physically'... 

Cheers for your help through always appreciated. 

    Blastoise186
    Super User
    Blastoise186Super User
    Super User
    August 17, 2025

    Hehehe, I’m also in hardware and networking too. I like to see myself as an all-rounder set up for cybersecurity, systems, networking and support. I’m multi-skilled but I don’t do coding/scripting stuff. I let someone else do that!

    Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
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