Do more with a smart meter

We have an obligation to install smart meters as part of a government-led nationwide upgrade programme. The Government requires suppliers to roll out smart meters as standard to homes and small businesses across Britain. Smart meters have a range of benefits for you:

• Residential customers can see how much energy they are using in pounds and pence with a helpful smart in-home display

• No need to provide meter readings, they’re sent to us automatically

• No more estimated bills. Only if you change tariff or there's a price change, part of your bill may be estimated until we get a reading for your new product or price.

There is no cost associated with changing your meters to smart meters.

They certainly can help you, but they can’t do it alone. Alongside some simple energy saving tips, smart meters make it much easier for you to take control of your energy use. This means you won't need to worry about overestimated bills, because smart meters keep us updated with your actual readings.

You can turn off your budget alarm in your settings. To do this:

• Press OK
• Use the arrow keys to scroll through the information until you get to Settings (OK) – Click ok to select this screen
• Scroll again until you get to budget alert and press OK
• Use the arrow key to select OFF
• Click on OK and then go back to the home screen.

Yes, you're free to move energy supplier at any time and we’ll do everything we can to ensure you continue to receive the benefits of smart metering. However, this service may be limited or a new supplier may not support smart meters. From the end of 2018, we started to roll out second-generation SMETS2 smart meters, which mean you’ll stay smart even if you switch. But, don't worry if you have one of our SMETS1 meters we'll simply update your meter remotely to ensure it operates as a SMETS2 meter.

Yes, you can. As long as you pay your energy bills and they’re addressed to you. Though you technically don’t have to ask for permission, it’s a good idea to discuss it with your landlord.

No. As well as being perfectly safe, your exposure to radio waves from smart meters is also well within guideline limits. They’re even lower than the radio waves from your WiFi or mobile phones.

Yes, our smart meters are made to strict UK and EU product safety laws and have undergone the most rigorous safety testing regimes. Public Health England has issued a statement to confirm they see no risk or dangers from smart meters.

Read more on the government website.

No, it’s up to you. But we’ll install it for free, and it could help you save on your home energy. We’re rolling smart meters out across the nation to lots of happy customers. The government did aim for every home to have a smart meter by the end of 2020.

Our smart meters are always installed by our trained expert engineers. We install in accordance with the Smart Meter Installation Code of Practice (SMICoP) – which is the industry standard. It means you can rely on the highest standard of service and safety.

Your first bill after your smart meters have been installed will look slightly different to your previous bills, as it will show you your old meter and new meter details. The final reading for your old meter will be taken by our smart technician and your new smart meter will be billed to actual readings we've taken automatically from your meter. All bills after this will just show your use on your smart meter.

For E.ON customers, we'll run a personal eligibility check when you go to book your smart meter appointment to see if we can install a smart meter in your home. Whilst we continue to roll out our smart meters across Great Britain, some restrictions may apply, with smart not available if you just get your gas from us. We'll install your meters subject to: 

- Pre-install checks

- Safe access to your meters

- Signal availability

- Payment method or account status

- Other temporary metering restrictions

- Availability on certain tariffs

If we installed your smart meter: Sometimes we might lose connection with your smart meter. This could be because there is a physical obstruction in the way, or even because of changes in the weather. We’ll try to get an automatic read from your meter next time but if your smart bill continues to be estimated then please contact us so we can understand how we can get your smart meter working again.

If another supplier installed your smart meter: We are unfortunately not able to operate meters installed by other suppliers as smart. We are working with the industry and Government on a solution to this and hope to have something in place soon. We should then be able to update your smart meter, but you will need to provide us with meter readings in the short term.

If you normally pay your bills by Direct Debit or when you receive the bill, then getting smart meters means that you don’t have to send meter readings every time in order to get an accurate bill. We’ll still send meter readers once in a while to check your meter’s still working as it should, but so long as we’re getting regular readings, the visits will be less frequent.

If you have a prepayment meter at the moment, getting Smart Pay As You Go meters means increased flexibility, and no awkward rushing to the local shop to top up if you’ve run out of electricity mid-shower; you can manage your balances and top up online.

You may find that there are areas in your home where your in-home display doesn't work. This could be because it is too far from the meter and needs to be positioned closer to it.

Smart meters use wireless networks to communicate within your home, to show your energy use on your in-home display, and to communicate with each other.

Your gas smart meter only sends readings as far as your electricity smart meter, which then uses the same type of secure network as mobile phones, in order to send both of your meter readings to us. If we only supply your gas for your property we can install a link to your existing electricity meter without swapping it out as it needs to receive power.

We are unable to swap your electricity meter if it isn’t supplied by us, however; if you only have a gas supply with us at the moment and you’d like both meters smart at the same time, you can get a quote for us to supply your electricity too, then we can get both meters installed for you.

We believe that everyone should be able to have a smart meter, regardless of where they live or what their signal is like. 

We’ll always attempt to install a new generation SMETS2 smart meter first for you. If we can’t we’ll install a SMETS1 smart meter, even though it’s past the SMETS1 end date.

The only difference between SMETS1 and SMETS2 is whether they maintain their Smart functionality when you switch supplier.  Before the end of this year, we’ll be upgrading all SMETS1 meters remotely, so you’ll be able to continue to use your existing SMETS1 meter if you change supplier, which of course we hope you don’t.

Your In Home Display (IHD) will have different functions depending on the model. Find out which one you have, and how to use it in our IHD help section at Eon Next.

We may use the energy consumption data we obtain remotely from your smart meter, find out about what data we use, here.

Smart meters work in the same way as a normal gas or electricity meter – they're just more clever. A smart meter will talk to your smart energy display in your home to show you how much energy you’re using, and will also communicate remotely with your energy supplier so you’re billed correctly. The smart meters we’re installing at the moment communicate using GPRS technology – the same kind of technology that mobile phones use. For more help see https://www.eonnext.com/help/ihd

See if you can get a smart meter today

There is no cost for having smart meters or the smart energy display installed.

Your smart meter technician will remove and replace your existing meters with smart meters. They will also test your metering equipment, along with your electricity and gas, to make sure it's all working properly. Then they will set up your smart energy in-home display (IHD) and show you how it works. Take a look at our smart meter installation (via EonNext) to see how it all happens.

If you only have one fuel with us we’ll only change that meter on our visit. If you have another fuel by another supplier, then they should contact you separately about having a smart meter. If you choose to move your other fuel to us, then we can arrange to change both your meters on the same visit.

It'll take around an hour to fit each smart meter, so we’ll be with you for around an hour if it's just your electricity meter or gas meter, or a couple of hours if we're changing both. Your electricity and gas supplies will only be switched off at the point of changing your meters. We’ll be as quick as we can.