This may be of assistance to someone looking to optimize their energy consumption in the UK...
I had a smart meter installed a couple of years ago, it worked fairly well for a while, but would often stop sending readings back to my supplier. This would sometimes be fixed after a power cut, when presumably the device was hard reset. My previous energy supplier then went bust and I was moved to Shell Energy. Shell was able to take 1 or 2 readings from my meter automatically before giving up and asking me to send them manually from now on.
The smart meter is still functioning and I'm able to see live usage readings on the supplied In Home Display (IHD) which is a 'geo Trio Touchbutton' IHD. So, I think the issue with the smart meter is related to cell network reception which is a bit patchy where I live.
I'd like to get a better view of my electricity and gas use, here's some things i've been investigating and what i've learned so far...
Loop -
https://www.loophome.app/ - loop is a free service you can sign up to get access to your smart meter data on-line. After sign-up, loop gets access to the same data as your electricity provider which they can then graph and provide analysis on. I've signed up for this, but i've little hope that it will work given the current issues with connectivity to my smart meter.
CAD (Consumer Access Device) - A CAD is used as a bridge between your smart meter and home network. It provides access to usage data independently from the smart meter's cell connection. There are two types of CAD:
- Stand-alone. These are similar to a smart hub and connect to the smart meter via Zigbee and to your home network via wi-fi. I don't believe any of these devices are available for purchase by consumers in the UK.
- IHD with integrated CAD - Basically and IHD with wi-fi that is able to act as a bridge between your smart meter and home network/internet.
The are at least two IHDs with CAD available to consumers in the UK...
ivie Bud -
https://ivie.co.uk/product/ivie-bud/ - £50 + postage.
Glow Display and CAD -
https://shop.glowmarkt.com/products/display-and-cad-combined-for-smart-meter-customers - £69.99 + postage.
The Glow appears to be the better device, but it obviously a fair bit more expensive. I then found out that Geo make a wi-fi module for my Trio Touchbutton which appears to turn it into a CAD. The wi-fi module is only £19.95 inc. so i've ordered one...
geo WiFi Module -
https://geotogether.com/product/wifi-module/
Note: 10+ years ago, I used a CurrentCost meter to monitor my electricity usage. Unfortunately the CurrentCost required a serial connection (RS-232!) and a PC left on all the time to act as a bridge to the IoT platform - I used Pachube which I understand became Cosm, then Xively and is now owned by Google! There's an Interesting project using CurrenCost and Cosm disucssed here:
https://jack-kelly.com/VADEEC_proposal.html
The CurrentCost died after a few years and was replaced by an
Efergy Elite, but this is a 'non-smart' standalone meter, so I removed it once the smart meter was installed.