Smart meters - npower

[gingerpaul]

I had calls about this but they stopped when I switched to a different supplier (Flow) about 6 months ago.

Out of curiosity, what happens if you buy a new build house?

Do they all come with smart meters as standard now? Is there any way to revert back to an old fashioned type of meter? My opinion matches many here in that if something is being pushed so hard there must be very little in it for us. What business wants their customers to spend less with them?

[rincewind]

Thanks, that is news to me, my research showed no mention of 3g/4g for SMETS2 and the National Power contact I spoke to, also said none of the SMETS 2 would be using phone networks. I live in an area with no phone coverage, so guess SMETS2 won't work here. I have to use a booster that gives me phone coverage in the house or use wi fi calling.

No 4G yet, the current Comms hubs don't have 4G chipsets but they will do in the future. If there is no Tef mobile signal to where you are then they will need to get one there under their coverage measure. They have solutions to achieve this including high gain antennas and a hub to hub mesh network.

[rincewind]

I had calls about this but they stopped when I switched to a different supplier (Flow) about 6 months ago.

Out of curiosity, what happens if you buy a new build house?

Do they all come with smart meters as standard now? Is there any way to revert back to an old fashioned type of meter? My opinion matches many here in that if something is being pushed so hard there must be very little in it for us. What business wants their customers to spend less with them?

Yes, all new builds come with smart meters. There is no way to revert back to a dumb meter once a smart meter is installed (unless as mentioned previously you have a SMETS1 meter and change to a different supplier that is unable to to remotely communicate with that meter type).

[Yorkshiremadmick]

I had calls about this but they stopped when I switched to a different supplier (Flow) about 6 months ago.

Out of curiosity, what happens if you buy a new build house?

Do they all come with smart meters as standard now? Is there any way to revert back to an old fashioned type of meter? My opinion matches many here in that if something is being pushed so hard there must be very little in it for us. What business wants their customers to spend less with them?

My new build is Smart meters new 24/1/2018

Meters fitted 11/2017


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[Brian]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/co...o-smart-meter/


Still worth taking into account ................................B

[julian2002]

I point blank refuse to have one for 2 reasons

1) The security in most is a joke, having my electrickery at the mercy of some Russian hacker or war-driving idiot is just not on the cards for me.

2) The ability for suppliers to cut your supply remotely by tapping a few keys. I don;t say this due to some desire to defraud but I have seen enough Terry Gilliam films to know that I don;t want my electricity supply at the mercy of a monolithic bureaucracy who demand I phone them to cancel an install i never booked rather than be able to do it on line. I also am a little paranoid about the future where the demand for electricity has outstripped supply and so rolling blackouts are orchestrated - but that might just be me.

There are many other reasons to reject the min the short term but the above 2, for me, mean I'll fight tooth and nail to reject them.

[rincewind]

I point blank refuse to have one for 2 reasons

1) The security in most is a joke, having my electrickery at the mercy of some Russian hacker or war-driving idiot is just not on the cards for me.

I can assure you the security wrap for SMETS2 smart metering is not a joke. It would be worth googling what the head of NCSC has to say on the matter for an expert view.

[Skier]

I had a Smart Meter installed a few days ago by Siemens (I am with Bulb for electricity only). I had refused them for years because of the fact that they wouldn't support a change of supplier; they now do. Aside from automatically reporting energy usage/meter readings, what a complete and utter waste of time and money. The small display tells me what I'm currently using and my running totals for the day/month/year - so what? Here are some examples of the 'Energy Saving Tips' in the accompanying booklet (I'm not blaming Bulb here):

Turn Your Thermostat down by 1 Degree. It's fu^*ing Summer, the heating isn't on! In the Winter I have the thermostats set to where we're comfortable - why would I reduce the temperature so that we're uncomfortable?
Wash Clothes at 30 degrees or less. Let's save even more money and just use cold water. It's pathetic; I'll wash clothes and other items to get them clean at 30, 40, 60 or 90 degrees as necessary.
Replace light bulbs with LEDs. A sensible suggestion if you can afford to do it and I have done this. In my house (a large barn conversion) it cost me almost £400 to replace halogen bulbs and some light fittings with LED fittings and bulbs and I've recently replaced the 500W halogen outdoor security light with a 50W LED light at a cost of £55.
Switch off Standby. The only things on standby are TVs which I'm not going to switch off standby as this negates the ability to use the remote control to switch them on. The booklet states that it could save up to £30 a year to not use standby - bo^*"cks! This may have been the case years ago but if you measure current usage on a modern TV it's no longer accurate.
Heat less water in the kitchen. The case made here is that washing up under a hot running tap will cost you £25 a year more than using a bowl to wash up. Who uses either method today? I have a dishwasher and am happy to pay for the facility. My mother died in 1972 when I was 7 and I have two younger sisters. When we were young we had a washing up rota and as kids we hated it. We asked my father for a joint Christmas gift - a dishwasher. He bought it (thankfully along with other gifts) and we were so grateful.

There's absolutely nothing 'Smart' about Smart Meters.