Who installs your smart meter: your energy supplier, not the grid
There is a common misconception that smart meters are installed by the National Grid or by a government agency. They are not. Your smart meter is installed by your energy supplier, or by a contractor working on their behalf.
This matters because it means the speed of your installation depends entirely on which supplier you are with and how efficiently they manage their installation programme. Legacy suppliers with large customer bases and ageing installation fleets often have longer waiting lists than newer, technology-focused suppliers.
Installation is always free. Under the government's Smart Meter Implementation Programme, all UK energy suppliers are required to offer free smart meter installation to every customer. There is no equipment charge, no call-out fee, and no labour cost. If any supplier quotes you a price for installation, that is incorrect. Push back or escalate.
The rollout is not quite complete: 71% of UK meters are now smart, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ Q4 2025). That means roughly 7 million homes still have traditional meters and every single one of those households can request a free upgrade today.
How to request an installation: supplier by supplier
The booking process varies slightly between suppliers, but the underlying request is the same. Here is how it works at the major UK suppliers.
Octopus Energy: Book online through your account portal or via the Octopus app. The booking interface shows available appointment slots in real time. Octopus is typically the fastest option for customers who are willing to switch supplier as part of the process. New customers switching to Octopus can request smart meter installation during sign-up, which streamlines the timeline considerably.
British Gas: Online booking tool available through the My Account portal at britishgas.co.uk. Waiting times vary by region. British Gas has a large installation fleet but also a large customer base, which means availability varies significantly by postcode. Customers in urban areas generally book faster than those in rural regions.
EDF Energy: Installation requests are handled primarily by phone. Call the customer service number on your bill and ask for smart meter installation. Online booking is available for some account types but not all. EDF's waiting times have historically been longer than average, particularly in the south-east of England where demand is high.
E.ON Next: Online booking via the E.ON Next account portal. E.ON has invested heavily in its smart meter fleet in recent years and typically quotes 3-5 weeks for installation in most areas.
Scottish Power: Online booking through the My Account section. Installation times vary by region. Scotland and northern England are generally well-served. Southern regions may have longer waits.
Bulb (now Octopus): If you are a former Bulb customer now served by Octopus, your installation request goes through the Octopus system. Use the Octopus app or website.
Why Octopus Energy typically installs faster than legacy suppliers
Octopus Energy has consistently quoted shorter installation waiting times than its larger competitors, and the reasons are structural rather than accidental.
Octopus operates as a technology company that happens to sell electricity, not a traditional utility that bolted on digital systems. Its booking system is built for efficiency: real-time slot availability, automated confirmation, and digital communication throughout. There is no phone queue to navigate for a booking, no manual input from a call centre agent, and no postal confirmation letter.
Octopus also has a strategic commercial reason to prioritise smart meter installation: without a smart meter, customers cannot access Agile or any of its other time-of-use products. The smarter their customer base's meters, the more value those customers unlock and the stickier the relationship becomes. Installation is not just a regulatory obligation for Octopus. It is core to their product strategy.
In practice, this means most Octopus customers in standard urban and suburban locations can book a smart meter installation within 2-3 weeks. In rural areas and some remote regions, the timeline may extend to 4-6 weeks, but that is still typically faster than the equivalent wait at most legacy suppliers.
If you are not yet an Octopus customer and your current supplier has a long waiting list, switching to Octopus first and requesting installation through them is often the fastest practical route to a working smart meter.
What to do to prepare your home
A small amount of preparation before the engineer arrives ensures the installation runs smoothly and does not overrun.
Clear access to your electricity meter. The meter is the engineer's primary work site. If it is inside a cupboard, in a utility room, or behind furniture, clear the area so the engineer can work safely. They need at least a metre of clear space around the meter.
Be present for the full appointment window. Most installations are booked in 2-4 hour windows to allow for engineer travel time. You need to be present for the entire window, not just the estimated arrival time. The engineer cannot let themselves in and cannot work if nobody is home. A missed appointment typically means going back to the end of the booking queue.
Have a recent energy bill to hand. The engineer may need to verify your MPAN number and meter serial number against your bill to confirm they are working on the correct supply point. Keep a recent bill on your phone or printed nearby.
Know where your consumer unit is. The consumer unit (also called the fuse box) is usually in a hallway, kitchen, or utility room. The engineer may need to check it during installation. Knowing where it is saves time.
Note anything unusual about your electrical setup. If you have solar panels, battery storage, a heat pump, or any non-standard electrical equipment, mention this to the engineer at the start. Some configurations require specific meter types or additional setup steps.
Installation day: the 2-hour process explained
The installation follows a standard process. Here is what happens from the moment the engineer arrives to the moment they leave.
The engineer arrives, introduces themselves, and does a brief visual assessment of the existing meter and surrounding electrical infrastructure. They will also check signal strength for the DCC network at the meter location, particularly relevant in properties with thick stone walls or in remote areas where signal can be weaker.
Before work begins, the engineer will warn you about the power outage. For most properties, the electricity supply is cut for 3-10 minutes while the old meter is removed and the new one installed. Anything running on mains power will switch off. Digital clocks, routers, and smart home devices will need resetting after power returns. It is worth making a quick note of any devices that need manual resetting before the engineer starts.
Once the new meter is installed and power restored, the engineer connects and configures the in-home display (IHD) unit. This small screen, usually placed somewhere visible in the kitchen or living room, shows your real-time electricity consumption and estimated cost per hour. It will begin displaying data within a few minutes of connection.
The engineer then registers the meter on the DCC network. This step establishes the communication link through which your supplier will receive half-hourly consumption data. In most cases, this completes during the appointment. If the DCC connection cannot be confirmed during the visit, the engineer will log a follow-up and it typically resolves within 24 hours.
Before leaving, the engineer explains how to read the new meter, how to interpret the IHD display, and provides a reference number for the installation. They take a meter reading at the point of installation, which serves as the starting point for your future billing.
After installation: confirming it's working
The installation is only complete when your supplier confirms they are receiving half-hourly data from your new meter. Here is how to verify that everything is functioning correctly.
If you are an Octopus customer, open the Octopus app within 24-48 hours of installation. Navigate to the usage or consumption section. You should see half-hourly bars appearing for the period since installation. If you see only daily totals rather than half-hourly breakdowns, the smart data connection has not yet been established.
If half-hourly data is not appearing after 48 hours, contact Octopus support directly. Provide your MPAN number and the date of your installation. In some cases, a manual re-enrolment request is needed to establish the DCC data flow. This is a known issue affecting a small percentage of installations and Octopus can resolve it quickly once they are aware of it.
Once half-hourly data is confirmed, you are ready to switch to Agile. From that point, the AgileAlert live dashboard becomes your daily tool for finding the cheapest windows and making every unit of electricity count. Read our complete guide to switching to Octopus Agile for the full step-by-step process.
The journey from "no smart meter" to "saving on Agile" has three steps: book the installation, wait 2-3 weeks, spend 2 hours at home on installation day. After that, the savings are available to you every single day. There is no easier home finance improvement with this kind of annual return.