Smart meters

All households in Britain will be offered a smart meter by the end of 2021.

There are a limited number of meters available currently, but we’ll be starting to roll out in much higher volumes very soon.

You don’t have to accept a smart meter, but in certain circumstances we may need to replace your meter anyway if it’s reached the end of its lifespan. This can be as low as 10 years, but varies depending on the manufacturer. By law, after a meter has reached the end of its lifespan the meter needs to be changed and at this point we’ll install a smart meter. The energy industry is moving towards smart meters because of the money-saving and environmental benefits they’ll bring.

The smart meter, its installation and the smart display will be provided at no extra cost to you.

The smart meter system has been designed with security at its heart. The meters are covered by strict UK and EU product safety laws – these laws mean all meters are built to the same high-quality safety and security standards, regardless of your energy supplier.

Plus, new guidelines have been created specifically for smart meters which provide even more protection for your data than the Data Protection Act.

You can find out more about smart meter safety. We’ve also produced a guide to our smart meter data policy (308KB)

The short answer is no.

Smart meter radio waves are produced at a much lower level than items we use every single day – like microwaves and mobile phones. The waves are well below internationally set guidelines and Public Health England, an agency which works on protecting and improving the health of the nation, says it sees no health risk from smart meters.

Plus, these meters are covered by strict UK and EU product safety laws. These laws ensure that all smart meters have the same high quality and safety standards, regardless of your energy supplier.

We’ll let you know when we start installing smart meters in your area, and someone from SMS, our meter installation partner, will get in touch to book an appointment. We’ll let you know in advance that they will contact you and you can opt-out of the process at any point.

We ask for someone over 18 to be present for the installation of your new meter, which should take 60-90 minutes to complete.

The work requires an interruption to your gas and electricity supply, so we recommend turning off your appliances before the visit (and remembering to switch them back on afterwards).

COVID-19 practices

When you’re having your smart meter fitted, these are the practices our partner, SMS has put in place to support your safety and theirs.

About the appointment:

SMS will be in touch before your smart meter installation appointment to talk you through the process they will follow to ensure everyone stays safe. You’ll also then be contacted on the day of the appointment to ensure no one in your household is displaying any symptoms. If there is anyone in your household who is isolating or is showing any signs of symptoms, the appointment will need to be rearranged.

Arrangements can be made in advance of the appointment with vulnerable customers to avoid face to face contact, for example, when answering the door.

About our partner engineers:

All SMS engineers have passed specific Covid training and will be wearing PPE (visor, gloves and goggles). They’ll also use hand sanitiser and disinfectant wipes before entering your property and leaving, as well as appropriately during their visit. The engineer won’t eat or drink whilst in your property and will maintain a two metre distance at all times, so we ask you please to respect this. Where space is limited, we’ll ask you to move into a different room to allow the engineer to complete their work. If the engineer feels that the situation is of too significant a risk to themselves and to you and your household, they may look to reschedule the appointment. All their equipment will also be regularly checked and maintained.

You can support us in the following ways:

• Please ensure there are no unnecessary items around the meter site (e.g. coats or bags etc).
• Please leave doors open between rooms that the engineer will need to access (i.e. meter location, any gas appliances that need to be checked, any connected fuse boxes).
• As mentioned above, please ensure you’re not within two metres of the engineer whilst they are working.
• Please don’t offer any food or beverages during the visit as these can’t be accepted.
• Please ensure the engineer is updated if circumstances change before the visit, and a member of household begins to show suspected Covid symptoms.

A few days after your smart meter installation, we’ll get back in touch with you to make sure that everything went okay, and to answer any questions you may have.

Find out more about how we're supporting customers and staff during the Covid crisis.

If you’ve got a smart meter showing the secure logo, you can check both your gas and electricity meter readings by pressing the digit 9.

If you’ve got an Economy 7 meter (day and night rate tariff), you can press digit 6 and this will show your day, night and total readings.

To find your electricity usage, look for an IMPORT number followed by 'KWH'. If you have solar panels, an EXPORT number followed by ‘KWH’ will give you export your reading for your FiT provider.

If you’ve already got a Bristol Energy smart meter, we’ve also put together an in-depth illustrated guide to smart meter and in-home display (1.8MB)

One of the great things about smart meters is that you can see your meter balance in real time on your in-home display as well as topping-up easily using a variety of methods. You can top-up online, by text, phone and in store. Find out more on topping up with a smart PAYG meter.