Customers with smart meters can take advantage of a new generation of products and services. Smart meters enable your electricity usage to be logged remotely, reducing the need for manual meter readings and estimated bills. You can choose between Interval (30 minute) or Non-Interval (Bi-Monthly) smart meter services.

Making the switch to Smart Services means you'll have more accurate bills. We'll move you to a Day / Night / Peak tariff, so you can start to shift your daily energy usage to times of the day where energy costs are lower.

If you select Interval (30 minute) Smart Services, your smart meter will log your usage every 30 minutes. You'll be able to see a breakdown of your daily usage, in 30 minute intervals, online through your My SSE Airtricity account the day after you’ve used this electricity. Your meter connectivity will need to be Level 3 or Level 4 to avail of Interval (30 minute) Smart Services. Find out more about smart meter connectivity.

If you select Non-Interval (Bi-Monthly) Smart Services, or if this is the only option available to you, you won’t be able to see your 30 minute usage breakdown but we will receive your read once every two months. This will reduce the need for manual meter reads and will help keep your bills more accurate.

Note: Once you've switched to Smart Services, you won't be able to revert to your previous meter type. 

To activate Smart Services, you need to have a smart meter. If you’ve already had a smart meter installed by ESB Networks, please visit our product and plans section here or call our Options Team on 0818 81 29 10 to enable Smart Services.  

If you’ve selected Interval (30 minute) Smart Services, you’ll have access to a full breakdown of your usage data through your My SSE Airtricity online account. Your breakdown will be available for you to view the next day and will be updated daily.

This will provide you with “at a glance” information about how you are using electricity. This will help you make more informed choices so you can start to shift your daily energy usage to times of the day where energy costs are lower. You can also get an idea of how much electricity different appliances are using by seeing your 30-minute usage breakdown.

If you select Non-Interval (Bi-Monthly) Smart Services, or if this is the only option available to you, you won’t be able to see your 30 minute usage breakdown, but we will receive your read once every two months. This will reduce the need for manual meter reads and will help keep your bills more accurate. You will also be able to view your Day, Night and Peak reads on your bills giving you a more insightful view of your electricity usage compared with standard non-smart meters.

Smart meters rely on a secure 2G network. Using this network, smart meters will log your electricity usage information remotely. You don’t need internet connection or WiFi for Smart Services to work.

If you have a low mobile reception in your area, you can opt-in for Non-Interval (Bi-Monthly) Smart Services. Depending on your connectivity level, we will receive your remote read once every two months. You will also have an option to provide manual meter reads if you opt-in for Non-Interval (Bi-Monthly) Smart Services. This will help keep your bills accurate. 

If you have activated Interval (30 minute) Smart Services and your meter connectivity drops, we may need to move you to Non-Interval (Bi-Monthly) Smart Services.

ESB Networks are managing the installation of all smart meters regardless of your energy supplier.

Check below for your current meter type to know how to request a Smart Meter:

As of now, smart meters are being rolled out in Ireland for electricity only. Your gas meter will continue to function as usual and you should continue to provide your gas meter readings regularly

Your smart meter will record the details of your consumption of electricity. ESB Networks will collect data on the total amount of electricity consumed over the previous 24-hour period daily for Interval (30 minute) Smart Services activated meters. This data will be used to provide information to support customer billing, customers switching suppliers and customers moving premises. 

Smart meters that have been activated for Interval (30 minute) Smart Services will collect a detailed breakdown of your electricity consumed e.g. usage every 30 minutes. However, this information will only be shared with us if you have given us your consent while activating Interval (30 minute) Smart Services. To make sure the meter is working properly, ESB Networks will also collect non-personal data about the meter itself. 

Smart meters that have been activated for Non-Interval (Bi-Monthly) Smart Services will read meters six times a year and will you’ll see Day, Night and Peak reads on your bills giving you a more insightful view of your electricity usage compared with standard non-smart meters. 

Meter connectivity refers to ESB Networks’ ability to connect with your meter and get your electricity usage data from the meter. Meter connectivity levels depend on how many days in a rolling 30-day period ESB networks can retrieve data from your meter. The higher the number of days your meter can be read remotely in a month, the higher your meter connectivity will be. If you have high connectivity your connection can support both Interval (30 minute) Smart Services or Non-Interval (Bi-Monthly) Smart Services but if you have low connectivity, your connection will only support non-interval services. 

• If your meter connectivity is 1: ESB networks will not be able to connect with your smart meter remotely and will continue to read your meter manually. In such scenario, you won’t be able to opt-in for Interval (30 minute) Smart Services. 
• If your meter connectivity is 2: ESB networks will be able to connect with your smart meter but not reliably. In such scenario, you won’t be able to opt-in for Interval (30 minute) Smart Services. 
• If your meter connectivity is 3: ESB networks will be able to connect with your smart meter reliably enough. In such scenario, you will be able to opt-in for Interval (30 minute) Smart Services. 

• If your meter connectivity is 4: ESB networks will have full connectivity with your smart meter, you will be able to opt-in for Interval (30 minute) Smart Services.

ESB Networks will check the level of connection at your meter point on a frequent basis. If you are an interval customer and your connectivity level dips, then your connection won’t support Interval (30 minute) Smart Services and we will be unable to receive your 30-minute usage data.

To avoid estimations, your meter will be switched to Non-Interval (Bi-Monthly) Smart Services and we will receive one remote reading every two months. You won’t be able to access your 30-minute electricity usage breakdown information in your My SSE Airtricity online account. If you are a non-interval customer, change in connectivity won’t impact your current non-interval services.

30-minute usage data is the information regarding your energy consumption in every half hour period. Your 30-minute usage information will be logged remotely by your smart meter if you’ve opted for Interval (30 minute) Smart Services. ESB Networks will connect with your meter throughout the day to receive your 30-minute usage information, which will be sent to SSE Airtricity the following day. You will be able to access this 30-minute usage data at your My SSE Airtricity online account. Your account will be updated daily. 

A time of use (TOU) tariff is a time-based billing structure. The rate charged for each unit of electricity consumed will vary depending on the time of the day.

For example, you could have one rate for electricity consumed during the day, another rate for electricity consumed during the night, and another rate for electricity consumed during peak hours.

The Standard Smart Tariff is a time of use (TOU) tariff that is available to all smart meter customers. The time structure for this tariff is:

• Day (8 am to 11 pm, excluding peak time)
• Night (11 pm to 8 am)
• Peak (5 pm to 7 pm)

For more details on products and offerings, please check our products page here.

Peak time refers to the time of the day when the electricity demand on the grid is typically at its highest. These are the times when Irish energy networks are under strain as most households and businesses use electricity during this time. To take the pressure off the electricity grid, we offer varying electricity rates to our customers throughout the day to encourage customers to consume their energy during non-peak hours.

Currently, peak hours for smart standard tariffs are between 5pm to 7pm. During peak hours, electricity rates are usually higher than non-peak hours.

Having a smart meter does not affect your ability to change supplier as smart meters speak the same “language” regardless of which energy supplier you are with. You will still be able to choose between interval and non-interval smart services. However, the product plans and offers may vary across different electricity suppliers. This is applicable to all our electricity and dual fuel customers.

• You might be asked to submit readings if you have a smart meter but have not activated Smart Services.
• If you have a smart meter and have opted for Non-Interval (Bi-Monthly) Smart Services, we will receive your meter readings remotely once every two months. This is an increase from the current meter reading frequency, which aims to read meters up to four times a year. The reads we receive from ESB Networks may not align with your billing cycle specially if you are on a monthly billing cycle. To keep your bill accurate and to avoid estimations, we may ask you to submit your meter readings.

• You may receive estimated bills if you have a smart meter but have not yet enabled smart services.
• If you have Interval (30 minute) Smart Services activated, you may receive estimation on your bill if your smart meter was not able to communicate with ESB Networks to provide your 30-minute usage data. In such cases, the estimated usage will be replaced by actual usage as soon as the meter connectivity is restored to normal. Adjustments will be made to your next bill accordingly.
• If you have Non-Interval (Bi-Monthly) Smart Service activated, we will receive your meter read once every two months from ESB Networks and if this does not align with your billing cycle you may get an estimated bill. To avoid this, non-interval customers are advised to submit their meter reads regularly.

As a smart meter customer, when you switch to a time of use tariff, you will have a choice to either share your meter read once every two months or share your 30-minute usage data every day.

You will have an ongoing choice over whether your energy usage data is retrieved daily or not. So, at any point in time, you can choose not to have your 30-minute usage data logged and you can switch to non-interval services. You will still be subject to the terms and conditions of your contract and your tariff structure and rates may change. It will also impact some of the smart interval specific services that we provide to you. You will no longer have access to your 30-minute electricity usage information in your My SSE Airtricity online account and we will be unable to provide you energy saving hints and tips based on your energy consumption.

The digital display screen on your new smart meter shows your current meter reading in Kilowatts per hour (kWh). To read the new meter, note the figures on the screen before "kWh" from left to right and include all digits.

To read your meter:

1. Read the numbers from left to right, including any zeros (As shown in the image below highlighted in the red rectangle)
2. Ignore any numbers after the decimal point. If your meter does not have a decimal point, read all numbers, including any zeros.

To manually submit your meter read you will need to have your 11-digit MPRN number to hand. This can be found on your electricity supply bill and always starts with ’10’.

Please click here for a video demonstration from ESB Networks which can be found under the heading of Smart meter.
 

Your total meter reading is displayed on the main digital display screen in kWh.
To get your 24H meter reading, take the meter read digits before kWh from left to right and include all digits.

When you press the button once you’ll see the date and time screen and second press of the button will bring you back to the total reading.

Day reading: Press the left blue button 4 times until you see A+ and T2 alternating in the top right-hand corner of the screen. This will show your day reading. 

Peak reading: Press the left blue button 5 times until you see A+ and T3 alternating in the top right-hand corner of the screen. This will show your peak reading. 

A sixth press will bring you to test screen display.

Exported electricity reading: If you are a Microgen customer you can also view your net export of electricity. Press the left blue button 7 times until you see A- in the top right-hand side of the screen Please note that you do not need to submit this reading to us.

Quick guide to viewing electricity readings

The table below is a useful reminder of how to get your Total, Night, Day, Peak and exported electricity readings from your meter.

Other resources

ESB Networks have provided a useful video to help you read your Smart Meter, watch it here.
Note: If you have a smart meter for electricity with Interval (30 minute) Smart Services enabled, you don't need to submit readings as your usage is logged remotely by your meter. If your meter has Non-Interval (Bi-Monthly) Smart Services enabled, it's still recommended that you submit regular meter readings.

If your electricity meter has been configured for Interval (30 minute) Smart Services, there are two electricity usage reports available to you.

On-demand electricity usage report

This report can be accessed for any time period where your meter has been configured for Interval (30 minute) Smart Services. You can view this in three easy steps:

1. Log into your My SSE Airtricity account
2. Go to the Meter Readings and Usage section
3. Enter your selected date range in the Electricity usage report

The report will show: 

• Date range: The range you have selected for the report.
• Account number: The number associated with your SSE Airtricity account.
• MPRN: (Meter Point Reference Number) The meter number associated with your property.
• Meter Serial Number: The barcode or number associated with the actual meter.
• Registers & Timeslots: This shows you how your meter is set up and the time bands associated with it.
• Usage Type: This shows whether your usage is Actual (A) or Estimated (E).
• Usage breakdown in 30 minute intervals: For each day selected in your chosen date range, you’ll be able to see a breakdown of your electricity usage in 30 minute intervals. The table will also show if the usage is Actual (A) or Estimated (E).

Usage report for billing period

This report can be accessed for a specific billing period where your meter has been configured for Interval (30 minute) Smart Services. You can view this in three easy steps:

1. Log into your My SSE Airtricity account
2. Go to the Bills and Payments section
3. Select Download in the Usage report for this billing period section

The report will show:

• Billing Period: The date range of the billing period included in the report
• Account number: The number associated with your SSE Airtricity account.
• MPRN: (Meter Point Reference Number) The meter number associated with your property.
• Meter Serial Number: The barcode or number associated with the actual meter.
• Registers & Timeslots: This shows you how your meter is set up and the time bands associated with it.
• Usage Type: This shows whether your usage is Actual (A) or Estimated (E).
• Usage breakdown in 30 minute intervals. For each day of the billing period range, you’ll be able to see a breakdown of your electricity usage in 30 minute intervals. The table will also show if the usage is Actual (A) or Estimated (E).