Smart meter problems and how to solve them

Problems with smart meter installations and how they work have come to light throughout the smart meter roll-out. 

Here we’ve listed the issues and questions we hear most often, along with the experts' answers on what to do if you've experienced these issues.

Some 31% of Which? members with smart meters said they’d had a problem with theirs in the past 12 months when we surveyed 813 people with smart meters in August 2026.

To compile these tips we've combined our expert insight with information we've accessed by speaking to:

• energy firms
• Smart Energy GB, the smart meter consumer information campaign
• Smart DCC, which operates the digital network connecting smart meters to energy suppliers and network operators.

New to smart meters? Start by finding out: what a smart meter is. 

Problem 1: My smart meter monitor is not working

This was the most common problem we heard about when we asked our members in August 2026. 

Separate from your smart meter itself, the smart meter monitor (also known as an in-home display) is the gadget that you're given when your smart meter is fitted that shows you what energy you're using at any one time, and how much it costs. Problems we heard about with smart meter monitors included them: 

• losing connection with the smart meter
• showing incomplete data (e.g. data for electricity, but not gas)
• not showing any information/a blank screen
• showing incorrect data (less common).

'I feel abandoned without getting the advantage from smart meters that I had been promised: an in-home display that shows my current consumption so I can see the effect in real time of turning appliances on or off.' - Octopus Energy customer

Do not throw away your in-home display if it's not working. They are covered by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment recycling regulations (WEEE), which mean that energy suppliers should collect, recondition and reuse in-home displays as much as they can.

Try these tips first if your smart meter monitor isn't working correctly:

1. Move it closer to your smart meters. Monitors work best if your smart meters are nearby. Some have a bar showing the signal strength they're receiving.
2. Check if it has a flat battery or is unplugged. Unplugged, the monitors don't have a very long battery life. 
3. Turn it off and on again.
4. Check your supplier's website (or the instruction booklet, if you have one) for troubleshooting tips. Many have dedicated guides.
5. Contact your supplier for advice if the problems persist or you can't move your monitor closer to your smart meters.

Use these links to head straight to your energy firm's help section: 

• 100Green
• British Gas
• E (Gas & Electricity)
• Ecotricity
• EDF Energy
• E.ON Next
• Fuse Energy
• Good Energy
• Octopus Energy 
• Outfox Energy
• Ovo Energy
• Scottish Power
• So Energy
• Utilita
• Utility Warehouse

Your energy firm should investigate the problem with your monitor and try to fix it before considering a replacement. 

Do I have to pay for a new smart meter monitor if mine breaks? 

If you've had your smart meter monitor for less than 12 months and it has broken or isn't working as it should be, your supplier should fix it or replace it free of charge. That's according to rules set by energy regulator Ofgem. You may need to pay if you damaged it though.

But after 12 months, your energy firm doesn't have to repair it and can charge you for a new one. Some voluntarily provide replacements for free in certain circumstances; otherwise you can expect to pay in the region of £30 to £50 for a new one. 

Voluntary principles from government state that companies should:

• troubleshoot smart meter monitor problems effectively
• ensure customer service agents are trained to help with faulty displays
• offer a replacement monitor (or a route to buy one) if it's missing or broken
• ensure a replacement monitor is working correctly in a timely manner
• provide a 'next best' solution (such as functions in its app or online account) if a smart meter can't work due to 'technological factors'.

Eleven suppliers (including the biggest six) are signed up to these voluntary principles.

If your smart meter has stopped working properly this can affect your monitor too. For example your provider might not be able to update pricing information shown by your monitor so the energy use costs it shows won't be up to date.

Your monitor should work fully again when your smart meters are connected correctly to the national wireless network. If not, contact your energy company.

Problem 2: My energy supplier isn't getting smart meter readings

This is the second most-common problem we hear from people with smart meters. 

That's perhaps not surprising since around 3 million of them (8.2% of total domestic smart meters) are working in 'traditional mode', according to government data published in May 2026. This means that they're not connecting to the smart meter network, which lets them send meter readings.

'They can't read the smart meter and keep asking me to.' - Scottish Power customer

This can happen for several reasons, the Data and Communcations Company (which operates the smart meter network) told us:

• lack of smart meter network coverage (WAN)
• update needed to your smart meter's software
• switching to a supplier that hasn't yet connected to your meter
• first-generation smart meter which hasn't been updated
• the environment or physical location causing problems for the smart meter.

If you’re concerned, check your latest statement, or your energy company’s app if you have it, to see whether your readings are marked as ‘smart’ (or 's'). 

If they're not, check how often your smart meter is meant to send data to your energy provider. It can be monthly, daily or half-hourly. Agreeing for your smart meter to send more regular meter readings should help the accuracy of your bills.

Contact your energy provider if your smart meter isn't connecting properly and ask it to investigate. You can check if your smart meter should work in smart mode with Citizens Advice's tool.

If smart meters haven't previously worked for you owing to lack of smart meter network coverage or location, new developments might change this. Ask your energy provider about:

• 4G communciations hub - these have roaming capability and can connect across multiple mobile networks. They can help with connectivity in areas where signal was limited.
• Virtual Wide Area Network (VWAN) - an alternative to the standard smart meter comms network. It might help if your home can't get a standard cellular or long-range radio.

If your smart meter isn't sending readings, it will usually still be recording your gas and electricity use. So you can submit readings manually to make sure your bills are accurate until your meter is smart again.

Gas smart meter reading problems

We've heard from multiple smart meter owners whose gas smart meter readings don't get through to their energy supplier, but their electricity readings do.

Typically the smart electricity meter communicates directly with your energy company, via an attached or in-built communications hub. The gas smart meter needs to connects to it to send gas readings. 

The gas smart meter can struggle to connect if it's:

• far away from the smart electricity meter, or the communications hub
• separated by thick walls, or other environmental factors, from the smart electricity meter or communications hub

Contact your energy supplier and ask it to investigate. If the gas meter is recording your use you can submit meter readings manually.

Compensation for smart meter problems

Since 23 February 2026, it you report a problem with your smart meter, your supplier must tell you how it plans to resolve it within five working days. 

If it doesn't, it owes you £40 compensation, under new rules from energy regulator Ofgem. The compensation should be automatic but there's no harm in telling your supplierif you think you're owed it.

Problem 3: My energy supplier's app or online account doesn't show my smart meter data

We're hearing about this problem more often, as people make more use of their energy provider's digital tools.

While a smart meter monitor shows your energy use and cost in near real-time, most energy company apps or online accounts show it with a lag, often of a day. 

That's because, to show in your app or online account, the data has to travel from your smart meters, across the smart meter network to your energy supplier which then populates your account with it. While a smart meter monitor gets data straight from the smart meter.

Octopus Energy has a device (its Home Mini) which gets smart meter data into its smartphone app in 10 seconds. It does this by linking to your smart meters' home area network.

If your app or online account is showing no data at all, contact your energy supplier and ask it to investigate. It might be a problem with your account displaying it, or indicate that your energy supplier is not receiving your smart meter data at all.

When you can see it, here's how to use your smart meter data.

Problem 4: My smart meter stopped working after I switched energy supplier

'Our smart meters stopped being smart about two months after switching. They were eventually replaced.' - E.ON Next customer

Some smart meters installed early on lost their smart functionality when switching supplier. 

This was because they were only able to communicate with the supplier that installed them. These meters were called first-generation (or SMETS1) meters.

Most are now connected to the central smart meter network, and have regained their smart functions. They should keep them if you switch supplier again.

If you have a first-generation smart meter that can't be connected to the network, it will need to be replaced. 

You can use Citizens Advice's tool to check whether your smart meter will work in smart mode after switching.

Energy companies have been installing second-generation (or SMETS2) meters for several years. These are automatically connected to the smart meter network so all energy suppliers should be able to operate them.

But if your smart meter isn't working as it should after switching, contact your new supplier and ask it to look into it.

In the meantime, send meter readings to your supplier to make sure you're charged correctly. 

Before you switch energy supplier, check the best and worst energy companies.

Problem 5: My smart meters and solar panels aren't working well together

Though all smart (SMETS) meters can measure energy moving in both directions - i.e. energy you've consumed (imported) and that you've exported back to the grid - we hear about solar panel owners having difficulties with their smart meters measuring exported electricity.

Smart meter monitors typically won't show how much electricity you generate, as they're only designed to show your energy consumption, Smart Energy GB told us. 

Many supplier and third party apps can show how much electricity you're generating alongside how much you're using, it added. 

Plus solar panel owners usually have a PV-generation meter that tells them how much electricity their system is generating.

To sign up to a tariff that pays you for exporting solar electricity to the national grid (called Smart Export Guarantee tariffs), you'll need a meter that can give half-hourly readings – generally this will be a smart meter. Find out if these tariffs are right for you in our guide to the Smart Export Guarantee.

Contact your supplier if your smart meter isn't measuring electricity exported from your solar panels and ask it to investigate.

If you have solar panels and don't yet have a smart meter, make sure your supplier is aware before installation. Check whether your smart meter and in-home display will work fully with them.

Find out: are solar panels worth it?

Common smart meter questions answered

Below, our experts have answered some of the questions we hear most frequently from people wondering about their smart meters, or thinking about getting one installed:

Will my bills be higher with a smart meter?

You pay for the energy you use, so the total amount of your bill will be determined by the tariff you are on and your usage, rather than whether your meter is smart or not. In that sense you will pay the same for energy used with a smart meter than without.

You may find you can save money by fixing a more competitive tariff, as some energy companies have tariffs that you can only sign up to if you have a smart meter.

A smart meter sends your meter readings to your energy supplier automatically. So, in principle, your bills should always be accurate and you should never get an estimated bill.

However, we do hear from people who are worried that their bills aren't accurate with a smart meter.

If you had a faulty old meter, or did not submit meter readings and got estimated bills, you might find that your payments change when you get a smart meter that is taking real-time readings. 

If your previous meter was faulty, your energy company can charge you retrospectively for the previous year if you have paid too little. If you've paid too much, your supplier has to refund you for the whole time the meter was faulty. 

Here's what to do if you think your energy meter is faulty.

However, if you're concerned that your bills are wrong, or your smart meter is showing an error message, contact your supplier. It is responsible for making sure your meter works properly. If it can't resolve the issue remotely, it should send someone round to take a look.

Can my supplier switch my smart meter from direct debit to prepayment?

Suppliers sometimes install prepayment meters for customers who are in debt. With smart meters, it's possible for energy suppliers to switch your meter to prepayment mode remotely.

But the rules are the same whether you have a smart or traditional meter: pay-as-you-go for debt collection should only be a last resort. Your energy firm must first check that:

• prepayment is safe, practical and easy for you to access
• you aren't in a vulnerable situation. 

You should get at least seven working days' notice if your smart meter is going to change to prepayment. 

Your meter can also be transferred back to credit mode remotely. 

If you think your supplier has moved you to prepayment unfairly, you are within your rights to make a complaint.

Start by making a formal complaint to the provider itself, and if the issue isn’t resolved after eight weeks, you can take your complaint to the energy ombudsman.

For help with changing to or from prepayment, read our guide to prepayment meters.

My home has poor mobile signal - will this affect a smart meter? 

Smart meters need to be able to connect to the Data Communications Company (DCC) through a wireless network. 

Smart meters currently being installed (second-generation) don’t rely on mobile phone networks. They have their own separate secure network which covers over 99% of homes and small businesses in Great Britain, according to the DCC.

If you're living in an area with weak signal, new 4G communications hubs with roaming capability (so they can use multiple mobile networks), and Virtual WIde Area Networks (for homes that can't get starnads cellular or long-range radio connection) might be able to help, Smart DCC told us. 

If you're concerned, ask your provider to check your signal when you book your smart meter installation.

I'm worried that my smart meter data could be shared without my consent

Only your energy supplier and local network operator can decrypt the information sent by your smart meter. 

They can only use it for specific regulated purposes (such as billing you) without getting your permission. 

If you give your permission, your supplier and third parties can use your data to offer you new products and services such as advice on the best tariff for you. 

Find out how smart meters work and get our tips for how to use your smart meter data.

My gas and electricity meters are hard to access

'My smart meter is unreadable unless a step ladder is used.' - Ovo Energy customer

If your electricity or gas meter is difficult to get at, tell your energy company before it comes to install your smart meters so it's prepared. For example if you meter is:

• in a small cupboard or other confined space
• partly concealed in a case outside
• very high up.

Your energy firm might ask you to dismantle the cupboard, remove obstacles in front of your meter or come with the appropriate equipment so your installation can go ahead.

Find out: what to expect from a smart meter installation.

Are there any smart meter dangers?

Some have been concerned that smart meters give off radiation. But the evidence to date suggests that exposure to radio waves produced by smart meters doesn't pose a risk to health.

A 2017 study of a selection of smart meters available in Great Britain found that exposure to radio waves from smart meters was below guidelines set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.

It also found that smart meters expose people to fewer radio waves than mobile phones and wi-fi equipment.