topic Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation in Meters & Connections

Hot water issue after smart meter installation

catear — Sat, 12 Jun 2021 09:40:15 GMT

We had smart meter installed 12 days ago and since then the hot water would run out in the evening. We're family of 4 with 2 small toddlers and even with very short showers, I'm having lukewarm to cold showers at the end of the day. The meter usage shows a jump in usage from 1am onwards which is presumably when the hot water system is getting heated. We're on controlled load 1 so it SHOULD kick in at 10pm (not 1am) which I don't mind if it's the case and I can a shower at 11pm but right now I have to wait until 2am to get hot water again.

Called and spoke with AGL 5 times so far, reassured it'll be investigated in 24-48hrs over the week, the matter gets "escalated" with lots of reassurance and sympathy but even when the "resolution team" called and I get a text 2 days later saying they're "unable to complete your electricity meter investigation." and to call again. Can't change to controlled load 2 because they want to sort this meter issue out first which is fine but please fix the issue!

Can someone please have a look since it's the long weekend and calling AGL doesn't seems to get any results. Thank you.

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

Sally1 — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 23:11:46 GMT

We have more hot water, so are concerned ours is constantly boosting our solar hot water system.

Agl tell me there are no issues.

Concerned

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

Justme — Tue, 09 May 2023 11:53:35 GMT

This is exactly our situation and I’m gettting fed up with calling to get it sorted and getting nothing in return, have you managed to get yours sorted yet?

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

BenA — Wed, 24 May 2023 06:37:55 GMT

Did you get your hot water fixed?

Ours is the same issue and keep getting the run around... Intellihub won't speak to us and supposedly our meter is reading as it should...

Absolute joke.

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

Sally1 — Wed, 24 May 2023 07:24:57 GMT

Hi, No changes, no answers.Bonus, hot water all day but paying for it.Waiting to see how price increases factor. May need to change companies. Not impressed as we definitely have no control. CheersSent from my Galaxy

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

catear — Wed, 24 May 2023 07:57:16 GMT

Sorry to hear you guys are having the same issue. We eventually fixed our issue but it took A LOT of calls. AGL kept telling me it was the distributor's (Ausgrid) issue and when I rang Ausgrid they said it's the retailer AGL's issue. Eventually when I got through to someone from AGL, I was put on hold while they rang Ausgrid directly and after some discussion, Ausgrid agreed to send someone to "switch" something on our meter. It happened again a few months later when we lost power (down tree) and AGL again asked Ausgrid to send a technician and we haven't had any issues since. I think keep trying with AGL and ask them to chase the distributor. Good luck

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

Sally1 — Wed, 24 May 2023 08:28:57 GMT

Thank you, will give it another go 👍Sent from my Galaxy

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

Justme — Wed, 24 May 2023 21:06:48 GMT

Do you know what they switched? After many many calls we got someone out to look at it but he says there is nothing wrong with it and that our old meter must have been faulty

just doesn’t make sense to us

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

jaydee — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 02:25:21 GMT

No one I spoke to could give me an answer to a simple question..CONTROLLED LOAD on my solar H/W system.

It is not mentioned on my last bill once the new meter was supplied,this is the bill that had 2 parts before and after new meter,I am not having any hot water problem but have asked and not had an answer as to when and if your version of a controlled load is active,possibly I would surmise in a dearer section of your calculations,please advise what of the 4 sections you use (peak.shoulder,off peak,peak shifty move having peak appear twice even though only shows once on

my split bill,can you also explain to me how I can read the meter myself..need an answer,as this is very important to us oldies (87 & 84 years)..with thanks for your co.operation cheers Jack Discombe

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

pwalex — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 07:38:03 GMT

Similarly, my usage quadrupled solely for hot water after replacing the so-called digital meter. AGL hasn't been helpful. I'm considering complaining to the ombudsman and possibly hiring a private investigator. I've heard of someone who battled this issue for a year.

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

Sally1 — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 11:24:16 GMT

We've enjoyed more hot water but prices have increased. Time to investigate further. Don't enjoy having no control tho.Sent from my Galaxy

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

Johnomalley — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 04:34:39 GMT

Just experiencing the same issue after a smart meter install. Guessing I'm not the only one and there is a fox for this now???

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

pwalex — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 08:05:50 GMT

Avoid communicating with any AGL personnel; instead, report the issue directly to the ombudsman. The pipe started leaking following the installation of the new meter, and I must locate a repair service before filing a claim. I'm extremely exhausted from dealing with all of this post-meter installation.

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

lismich — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 12:40:18 GMT

Well im on controlled load 2 and am waiting 8 hours for hot water since having smart meter installed. Im supposed to be getting 18 hours power a day for hot water but im getting approx 2. I have complained 3 times and still waiting for resolution. Ive told them to just try and give me a high bill when ive spent the whole quarter going without showers or waiting all day for one. I wont be paying it.

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

Xander-AGL — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 23:49:11 GMT

Hi @lismich thank you for your comment, I'm sorry to hear about your trouble with the hot water, I can imagine how frustrating that would be.

I'm going to reach out privately to get some more details.

Kind regards,
Xander

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

Christylee — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 07:34:37 GMT

Same issue, new meter installed Monday June 3rd, we never have run out of water until Monday night, had a plumber come by today Tuesday, change thermostat and fuses in box to make sure, now second night go to shower my toddler and no hot water after one person only had a 10 min shower.
called AGL now waiting on a response back as it’s now to late in the evening to investigate.

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

Danniellef — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 12:13:24 GMT

Nice to know this is still an issue, smart meter installed on Thursday, Friday we have no hot water except for maybe two hrs a day 😤 and then a lovely email this morning stating our rates are basically doubling

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

Caban — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 01:26:50 GMT

I am lucky in that I very rarely have to heat water with electricity. I used to have my booster on the SHW connected to CL1 but worked out that was an expensive option as it was only used less than ten days a year and I was paying a daily fee every day. Got rid of the CL1 and now switch on the booster when required. Just make sure I do that after 10pm or on a weekend.

The issues that people here are having is that to get the most from your system YOU require an understanding of how your system and supply operate.

These posts seem to mainly concern stored off peak hot water. This works by heating the whole tank up when power is cheap and due to it being insulated there is enough for the whole day. So to do this the capacity of the tank has to be adequate for the usage. If everyone is having 10-15 minute showers then you may require a larger tank.

These storage tanks ofhen have two elements. The main one at the base, a booster higher up. This is so you heat the whole tank on the normal daily cycle. If more hot water is needed the booster is used and it only heats up a smaller proportion of the tank, which makes this quicker (less water being heated) and a lower cost too. What is possible is that when the new meter was being installed a sparky may have mixed up the two elements. This would effectively make the capacity of the tank smaller as only the top is being heated. It is the only explanation I can think of for a reduction of hot water volume when the meter is changed. Unless someone specifically looks for this error it would be hard to detect.

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

Lester — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 04:05:59 GMT

Excellent thoughts @Caban

A lot of people forget how good the solarhart type panel HWS were in the day, and still can continue to assist is that regard for minimising HW cost.

Most now of course are onto solar PV and solar PV with battery, which makes old SHWS more or less obsolete in modern terms.

Hopefully yours will give you many more years of good service.

I did something similar recently, and got mine of CL as it was outside ability to use excess solar to heat it.

I got that switched to normal circuit, had a timer fitted, and usually just leave it on very cheap EV tariff early hours.

Only costs 30c-40c each day, but in summer and shoulder nice sunny days I hit the timer to on and heat the water free during good solar soak, and when it boosts very briefly early morning, it only uses 4c-6c.

@Danniellef I got my July 1 price rise email this morning . . . where are you located and did it really double across the board ?

From memory, NSW was to get somewhere around 9.5% increase, QLD 3.5%, and SA 3.2%, but my peak here in SA went up nearly 15%, and daily supply charge up nearly 14%.

Re: Hot water issue after smart meter installation

Fleup_ — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 12:08:36 GMT

We had a smart meter installed 13th Oct 2025 and since then, we've had no hot water in the afternoon/evenings.

There are only two of us who live in the home and we barely use the hot water during the day, except for when we shower or wash dishes.

We first noticed on Friday night when I went to shower at 9.30pm that there was no hot water. We had hot water the next mornings, however at the end of the day if we went to shower again, there was nothing.

Today for example, I showered at 9am with no issues. My husband went to shower at 5pm after work and there was no hot water.

I've tried calling AGL and they were much help other than wanting to send a service person out at a cost of $210 which we didn't agree to. Otherwise they wanted to switch our service from CL1 to a more costly service.

We had no issues with our hot water prior to the installation, even when we had family staying with us and the hot water was being used multiple times a day. Can this be solved by having a service person take a look at it?