Smart meters, good, bad or ugly?

stevewestern said:
I'm not sure I understand how a money-making business can justify giving something away 'Free' unless it benefits them...
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I'm just guessing here, but as its a government directive, I'm assuming its being subsidised ( at least in part) by the government.
In which case we paying anyway.
 
Cobra said:
I've not had my meters read in years . Although apparently they are supposed to read them every 12 months as part of a "safety check" yeah right.


Its the only one that is likely to save you money. (y)
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I read our meters every Saturday morning before brekky and I have them going back years. We're with Octopus now and they ask for the readings to be submitted online every so often. As someone mentioned,if you want to cook dinner you cook dinner, want a cuppa have a cuppa,need the house warming put on the CH but don't just let it run. There's the thermostat but I've found it can be running when it's quite warm and a millimetre or two turn down and it goes off.
 
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AndrewFlannigan said:
Oddly enough, that's not what's happening... https://www.theguardian.com/busines...-pays-12m-fine-sse-misses-smart-meters-target

So the companies have to install X number of meters at their own expense or get fined. All the more reason to stick with the ordinary ones! :naughty:

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Ahh the good old GEC Type C meter - takes me back as back in the 80’s I did my degree sandwich year at the factory in Stone where those were made. Actually worked with the guy that designed it for a while!!
 
I think there are a couple of reasons for the drive towards smart meters & the idea that they will save the customer money is laughable.

First is they are intended to save the energy company money by avoiding the need to read customer meters. Next, in theory they will allow the energy companies to interrupt the supply remotely if for example the national grid is in danger of being overloaded or you don't pay your bills.

I think the increased demand for charging EVs & running heat pumps in homes is going to increase energy demand, will the national grid be able to cope or is supply 'management' via smart meters the plan? Recent talk about being able to run appliances 'off peak' on cheaper tarrifs is fine in theory, but safety experts are already warning that appliances such as washing machines, tumble dryers & dishwashers should not be run when owners are asleep in their beds. A friend of my wife had her kitchen and utility room destroyed by a tumble dryer fire while she was out of the house......

Imagine if in the future you plug in your EV for a charge overnight because you have a long trip the next day & wake up in the morning to discover your car has not received its charge because it wasn't windy overnight & the amount of available 'renewable' energy generated was reduced?
 
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broc said:
...but safety experts are already warning that appliances such as washing machines, tumble dryers & dishwashers should not be run when owners are asleep in their beds.
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If that is really the case, they should name the dangerous machines and Trading Standards should insist on an immediate recall.

We always run our dishwasher overnight and I'd be very displeased if the manufacturer told me it wasn't built to be safe to do so.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
If that is really the case, they should name the dangerous machines and Trading Standards should insist on an immediate recall.

We always run our dishwasher overnight and I'd be very displeased if the manufacturer told me it wasn't built to be safe to do so.
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www.mirror.co.uk

Electrical safety warning issued as energy firms begin off-peak pricing trial

As a new trial on peak and off-peak energy use gets underway, fire chiefs have issued a safety warning to households, warning of the dangers of turning appliances on while you sleep
www.mirror.co.uk www.mirror.co.uk
 
The LFB page is here: https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/safety/the-home/bedtime-checks/

If they mean what they say, they should publish the names of every manufacturer of a device that has caused a fire. That shouldn't be hard to do as they say that...
Last year in England, 1,873 fires were connected to using washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers
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...hence, given that there are roughly 25 million homes in England, there is less than a 0.01% chance of being affected. :thinking:
 
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I had a smart meter fitted recently because my energy supplier has been getting my bills wrong for years.
I have heat pumps and for some reason their systems are completely of understanding that in winter I use a lot of juice and in summer I don't.
At one point the meter reader misread the display and put my economy 7 and regular readings in the wrong slots - took hours of phone calls and video of the meter to get them to accept the mistake and stop sending me demands for massive payments.

It turned out last time I owed them several hundred pounds because their system had cheerfully ignored the meter readings their contractor took as "implausible" (or what I prefer to call "January"). They let us run at a significant underpayment until I supplied an accurate reading then suggested tripling my payment to compensate for the balance and future usage that they'd enormously over estimated.

When the meter was installed it was set up to take a single monthly reading :eek: with "my permission" that was increased to daily so not what I would call smart.

The actual signal is nothing to do with mobile phones or my WiFi - the installer stuck on an extra aerial to deal with our remote location.

The display unit hasn't worked ever. I have a 3 phase supply - something that the meter installer didn't appreciate would affect its ability to read the data from the meter.
Or more likely something they knew all about but didn't give a toot about ;)

BUT - the things I actually care about are OK.
Accurate meter readings for accurate bills.
Not having some pillock knock on my door when I'm working and trample mud through my house every 3 months to enter readings I've just given electronically.
 
AMcUK said:
Not having some pillock knock on my door when I'm working and trample mud through my house every 3 months to enter readings I've just given electronically.
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No one gets past my front door mat without removing their shoes first. I've done this ever since a friend of my ex-wife walked dog poo all through my lounge, diner and kitchen about forty years ago.

Shoes are for outdoors.
 
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Sky said:
No one gets past my front door mat without removing their shoes first. I've done this ever since a friend of my ex-wife walked dog poo all through my lounge, diner and kitchen about forty years ago.

Shoes are for outdoors.
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Last time the idiot was so fast through the door I didn't get a chance to point out his mask was under his chin.
I pointedly left the front door wide open and retreated a safe distance.
Glad to never let them in again :D
 
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stevewestern said:
I'm not sure I understand how a money-making business can justify giving something away 'Free' unless it benefits them...
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it benefits them and us, win win.

There are very few ways to store electricity and capacity for that storage is very small so there have been times when electricity generators have actually paid big wholesale consumers to use electricity because shutting down a power station is not a trivial activity and not something that can be done for an hour or two. Smart meters allow the generators to predict the load on the grid much more accurately and so keep costs down.

As someone said up thread it is highly likely that they will introduce surge pricing, this might sound bad but will give you much cheaper rates as well as high rates so charging your electric car, for example, could be much cheaper if done at times when the price is low. There is even talk of taking some power from electric car batteries at peak times and putting it back at off-peak times which helps with the storage problem I mentioned above.
 
AMcUK said:
Not having some pillock knock on my door when I'm working and trample mud through my house every 3 months to enter readings I've just given electronically.
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A bigger point is the vulnerable are not having to let a stranger into their home, much less likely for that frail OAP to be robbed by a bogus meter reader if a smart meter fitted.

As for surge pricing Octopus all ready do the reverse, they give you FREE electic at times when there is over generation ( normally some ungodly hour in the middle of the night)
 
our supplier on the farm insisted that we agree to have a smart meter supplied, as a condition of supply. We had no intention of having one but knew that we could safely agree.

Then, once a year, they send someone to install it, which cannot happen because there's no mobile phone signal there. But it gets better, because they usually fail to turn up, and they then have to pay us £20 for the failed "appointment":)
 
I have one fitted , No problems here , I like the fact you can see what you daily costs are for both gas and electricity , Also no more request for meter readings or people knocking on the door , , When I moved in October 2021 it was on E-on , I am a Octopus energy customer and asked to switch over , All done seamlessly , When going through the meter menu options it now shows the supply as Octopus , ,
 
I also recently had a solar 10 panel system fitted with a 3.5 Kw storage battery
On a sunny spells day enough power to re charge the battery and run the home , On a sunny day same and also export excess power into the grid , All can be monitered on a app on my phone , The smar meter does not now show energy use from the grid as I use the stored power
 
My mind still hasn't been changed as to why I need one,
and as above, I've not had my meter read in years.
It takes me a couple of minutes to read both and send in the readings every 6 months.
 
When I ignored the letters about having my gas meter read (I always submitted my own readings) I got threatened with court action, forced entry and being made to pay costs if I didn't allow them access to do a "safety check" every two years.

Clearly they don't mind if Cobra's house blows up!
 
onomatopoeia said:
When I ignored the letters about having my gas meter read (I always submitted my own readings) I got threatened with court action, forced entry and being made to pay costs if I didn't allow them access to do a "safety check" every two years.
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I've never had a "letter" either, they, when they did, they always turned up ad hoc.


onomatopoeia said:
Clearly they don't mind if Cobra's house blows up!
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Yeah but I do :D
 
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Bobsyeruncle said:
I've had smart meters for a couple of years. They work fine, as does the energy monitor although that's now in a drawer.
I like not having to submit readings myself....
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just this realy why should i let some guy into my house every few months to read numbers.
had smart meters for years even water and yep its a win for me
 
onomatopoeia said:
When I ignored the letters about having my gas meter read (I always submitted my own readings) I got threatened with court action, forced entry and being made to pay costs if I didn't allow them access to do a "safety check" every two years.

Clearly they don't mind if Cobra's house blows up!
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Like Cobra, I do not have a smart meter. I have not seen a meter reader for years. I am with Octopus, I read my meters once a month, submit the results and receive a monthly bill within the next two days. All works. . . simples.
 
I like not having to read my meters anymore, handy seeing a monthly total of what my bill might be. (I always request variable bills)
 
Modernising the systems for free and people still object
Do you have a man walking in front of your car waiving a red flag ? or have you moved on to more modern ways.
 
Mr Bump said:
just this realy why should i let some guy into my house every few months to read numbers.
had smart meters for years
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My meter is in an outside cupboard so no need for anyone to come in the house to read it.
 
We had one installed a few years ago and the display never worked ,despite being .75m away from the gas meter and 3 m from the electric meter.
We changed suppliers and of course it did not work at all , periodically the new supplier contacts me to have one , when I say yes I get a reply saying we are not installing in your post code.
Fortunately they have an excellent web site so I put my readings in every month and keep track of my account very easily.

The best energy saving advice I got was from the local electrical shop who sold me 3W LED bulbs to replace 60W halogen in a 6 lamp light.
 
F1.2 said:
Modernising the systems for free and people still object
Do you have a man walking in front of your car waiving a red flag ? or have you moved on to more modern ways.
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It's not free, with the amount of faults reported its hardly modernisation and we don't need a red flag for motorists as we now have cyclists riding in the middle of the road.
 
F1.2 said:
Modernising the systems for free and people still object
Do you have a man walking in front of your car waiving a red flag ? or have you moved on to more modern ways.
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Poor old meter reader, his job will soon go the way of the red flag man.

Do you have a smart meter, if so how have you benefitted from being modernised?
 
Try reading post 60
 
F1.2 said:
Modernising the systems for free and people still object
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They wouldn't object if they worked.
I think this thread has shown that by and large its a shambles..
 
I've been with British Gas for over a decade and I got them to install a Smart Meter years ago because I kept forgetting to send in readings, plus the Gas meter is a bit awkward to get to as I have to move furniture. They did have to upgrade something, I think it was my electricity meter.

I like having it, so far it's been reliable and it is handy to quickly see how making changes can impact the costs, such as changing the heating schedule, temps, dishwasher cycle etc. I've recently made some changes to my heating schedule etc and it's almost halved my gas bill with little effect to anyone in the house.

It's easy enough to check the actual meter readings against the Smart Meter to make sure it's reporting the correct numbers.
 
Never had a problem with my smart meter, but in the old days when I did get my meter, they read it wrong once and then over charged me for years. I did eventually get a rebate back of many hundreds of pounds.

It cost you nothing to have one fitted take a very short time to do, no meter reader no hassle, a win win for me.
 
Don’t remember the last time someone read either meter, I do recall a guy did appear years ago, l asked to see his ID, he just about faced and walked away. None of the neighbours seem to get a meter reader either when I asked, I thought they were to do a visit at least if nothing else to check the meter hadn’t been tampered with? IE, gas meter by-passed at weekends.
 
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the black fox said:
We have had one for a couple of years ( Scottish power) it does help to monitor your daily usage if your bothered ,but it also stops strangers coming round every few months to read the meters . I can’t honestly see any downside to them .. and think we might even apply for a water meter after reading this thread
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Be careful with water meters, they can really make your bill jump up, especially if you water your garden a lot in summer. I wouldn’t have had one if it wasn’t already fitted when we moved in.
 
Depending where you live you might have no choice about having a water meter.

A 1991 Act gave, where the SoS deems an area to be in serious water stress, water companies permission to meter water to domestic properties on a compulsory basis.

Dave
 
boogie man said:
Be careful with water meters, they can really make your bill jump up, especially if you water your garden a lot in summer.
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It seems in down in usage by 7% from last year when I used gallons topping up the pond due to evaporation,
and the amount of water my bonsai's consumed.

I thought it was going to be quite an increase this time, but as noted previously I'm £30 odd in credit.
 
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