I switched onto a new tarrif with Scottish Power about a month ago and didn't realised I had agreed to a smart meter in the T&Cs.
They just called me to book an 'appointment'.
I don't want one to be installed, so it appears they will revert me onto a SVR tarrif after three months.
So just a warning that this is now becoming the standard way to 'lever' customers ino smart meter installation so watch out.
Can I ask why you wouldn’t want a smart meter?
Not intended to sound confrontational- I’ve just moved into a new house with a dual fuel tariff and smart meters weren’t available in my previous property. We’re on the wait list for an appointment with E-On and thought that a smart meter would be a beneficial thing?
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What is the down side of having a smart meter installed?
I had one installed a month ago and find it very useful.
edit - doebag beat me to it
Not as if it affects your bill - like a water meter?
I've had 3 smart meters, no problems. Means I dont have to send meter readings and the bill us just adjusted to what I use. No over paying or under paying. The "monitor" part is just a gimmick to me after 1hr. Everyone knows the items in the house that burn money if switched on, dont really need a monitor to tell you.
afaik you can ask for the smart meter to be fitted in 'dumb' mode - it just acts as a normal meter showing readings.
smart meters give no savings whatsoever to the end user , the person that leaves the lights on will still leave the lights on regardless.
Last edited by pugster; 21st October 2019 at 14:47.
You've clearly met my wife.Originally Posted by pugster
When I looked into a while back smart meters didn’t transfer between companies to say npower fit one and you switch to British Gas a year later the smart meter is effectively useless you need a different one fitting or back to just reading the meter. I’m not sure if they’ve standardised it now or not but that was my main gripe when I almost had one fitted a couple of years back.
Gen 1 Smart Meters were as you descibed. Gen 2 became available earlier this year and are now transferrable.
Had a smart meter fitted a couple of months ago as there was a (very) minor ussue with the old dumb one and because ultimately it was inevitable and it saves me sending readings each month via the Bulb website (we only have electricity, no gas) - hardly a chore I know. It has to be one of the most ill-conceived government initiatives that forces expenditure by the electricity companies and, therefore, ultimately the consumers. This cost is currently estimated at £11Bn which means it will probably be over £15Bn by the time it's complete. The smart display is a complete waste of time and now sits unused in a draw. How much has it saved us or changed behaviours? Zero to both.
Last edited by Skier; 21st October 2019 at 15:12.
And my kids
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We have had one for 12 months now I don’t have a problem with it, it’s not as it costs any more .
What is it with women and leaving lights on EVERYWHERE even in rooms they aren’t using. Seriously!!
The clue is in... "Once people have accepted them in sufficient numbers,". When they reach that point they can set tariffs which are dependent on having said meters. 'Want a good tariff? Have our smart meter'
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
You might want to double check. I just signed up with EON and got an email about fitting a smart meter. I phoned their "Helpline" and was told it was mandatory (that was the word used) for the particular tariff. Went onto the Martin Lewis site and EON rep on there advised it's not mandatory; I have just signed up to be pestered about it, apparently!
Last edited by David_D; 21st October 2019 at 14:47.
I wish I had known that yesterday when I switched to EON on the Martin Lewis site, I know you get 2 weeks to change your mind, still as hassle.
Why don't you just move to another supplier like Bulb or Octopus? They handle everything & Bulb will pay any exit fees (& give you £50 if you use a referal code):
https://bulb.co.uk/
https://octopus.energy/
With Bulb you don't have to have a smart meter (I'm not sure about Octopus).
It’s of no benefit to me. It costs them money. Therefore it can only benefit them.
Until they’re made compulsory they can keep them.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
It's not cost them anything. We've paid for it as the cost has been added to our bills.
And it may be a government requirement so they have to push them.
We moved from EON to British Gas a few months ago. We then got an email telling us that, as part of the new contract, we would be obliged to install 2 new smart meters, each for gas and electricity. Their website stated they’re would be SMETS2 devices and as such would be compatible with any other supplier, should we decide to move again.
Based on that, the app owns made but when the engineer turned up, he failed to mention that he was about to install SMETS1 meters, as “there were issues” with one of SMETS2 meters. It transpired that you can’t have a mix of SMES1 & 2, so he would be installing 1s. He didn’t offer this information upfront but readily told me when asked.
On that basis, I told him to pack up his gear and leave, which he duly did. Haven’t heard a word from BG since.
They are not being pushed to help you.
They are being pushed in order to introduce variable tariffs. Once people have accepted them in sufficient numbers, peak usage periods such as breakfast time, dinner time, overnight EV charging etc. will incur additional costs.
Coupled with the proposed removal of the UK domestic gas supplies/grid, electricity will rocket in price.
To be avoided, imho.
Can you link to any reputable evidence for your statements?
Last edited by Skier; 21st October 2019 at 20:07.
Plans for the future of energy here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48186443
Nothing there backs up any statements you made.
Smart meters are a damn sight harder to tamper with than standard pre-payment electric (key) meters. In fact they trigger an alert to the supplier if they become faulty or someone tries to clock them. I see a lot of tampered with meters, some of the tampering is quite sophisticated but most instances are fairly blatant. The one I came across last week had a display debt of almost £420 but the electric was still on. No-one wants smart meters in the neighbourhood I work in.
If you don’t know what you’re doing then you’ll likely end up with a partially melted meter and a scorched back panel. It’s rare for the utilities to prosecute anyone for this reckless behaviour.
Have you read it? 197 pages. It talks about everything from removal of gas supplies to future horrendous energy costs!
Our contract ( just signed) is for 2 years - none of your bollocks is included in our paperwork.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
But his point is valid. It’s all about getting to critical mass. The key is having enough homes equipped.
Think of it asGoogle: they can use the information they gather to make money. It can be obvious ( heavier tariffs at peak, but they can and already do this). It can (and will) also be sneakier.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
So I just unplug it. Our contract is not conditional, no more is the ‘black box’ for car insurance.
Smart meters aside, they know who we are, where we live and our energy consumption - what extra are they gaining via the smart meter except not physically visiting the address?.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
I’m with you on the Smart meters not being conditional however car insurance black boxes are. That’s how younger policyholders get insurance with half reasonable premiums. The insurers can monitor their speeds and if they go over the speed limit regularly, the insurance is cancelled. Safer drivers are rewarded with further discounts on their policies.
If you removed the black box, your policy would be terminated.
Why do you think it's bollox? Its fecking obvious that's the way it's going! Only an idiot wouldn't see what's happening... Generation capacity and stability at risk, gas planned for phase-out, more renewables, more EV's...
Do you think they are pushed in order that you can see your usage? lol
However they monitor my usage, be it smart monitor or analogue clock - they know what I use, it’s how they bill me.
FFS.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
...and at the moment its flat rate...
In future you'll be heavily charged during peak times.
We know you're neither a nice or particularly clever chap, but surely even you get this?
At the moment, they only know how much electricity you use in total between two meter readings (which indeed they use to bill you).
If you have a Smart Meter, they will know exactly how much electricity you are using at every minute of every day. Having that much richer data will allow them to charge you selective tariffs (and it's not likely that it will be to your financial advantage). More to the point, analysis of that data will allow them to tell, to a high degree of accuracy, your affluence level, the number of people in your household, whether they are employed, etc, etc. which is information that can then be sold on to advertisers and others. This is why people are investing so much in Big Data analysis systems.
I was with N power and had a smart meter for 2 years with zero problems, swapped to EDF and the meter was not compatible and the human that entered my opening meter reading put the . In the wrong place, I then got a bill for £2k and 6 months down the road it’s still not be resolved despite a dozen emails, half a dozen meter readings and pictures etc
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Am I correct in thinking that smart meters tell you when you are using gas or electricity?
As I can see when I've got the telly, lights, heating, washing machine etc going, and I can input my readings on the website, am I missing something?
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Yes you’re right but for the customer, you can see exactly how much you’re using on the display whether it be in kwh or pounds and pence for both has and electric.
As for others who are saying that the energy companies will use this to charge a higher rate at peak times, they already offer this under tariffs such as Economy 7 etc etc.
Smart meters can be used to interrupt your supply remotely. I don't fancy being cold and hungry thanks to a hacker, glitch or Brazil style bureaucratic foul up. Unlikely? probably but why risk it for something that is only beneficial to the company installing the kit. It takes me 2 minutes to submit a reading every few months, less now the meter is more accessible in my new place. I know when I've left lights on I don;t need a display to tell me about it.
Quite agree ,don’t fix what ain’t broke comes to mind.
Rather like watching the wheel going round faster on the old electric meters! The day I want to spend time watching how much it costs to have a light on will be a sad one indeed.
My mother tells me it costs her 9 pence to mow the lawn 😂😂
Yup this.
They are a solution without a problem to solve.
Off on a slight tangent........it came to light when an engineer came to install our 'smart meter' last year that we couldn't have one because we have some huge old fuses on the supply side coming into our meter. You'll have to get those changed first he said and packed up his gear.
Now I'm no expert but surely the supply side coming into the meter is not my responsibility and in fact I'm not allowed to touch it even if I wanted too. So my question is in the modern age of all these different supply companies that we can change between.......who actually owns and is responsible for the infrastructure?
I see it a bit like the railways with Eon etc. being Thameslink, Midland etc. so who is the electricity/gas equivalent of Network Rail?
I'm not really bothered about the smart meter, hence why I've not done anything about it.......just curious as I suspect at some point they will become compulsory like the water meters.
Like apps to see what's in the fridge.
Nonesense.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Really?
https://rogerhelmermep.wordpress.com...-smart-meters/
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/bl...of-the-uk.html
I work from home so if my electricity company decides to do some sort of rolling blackout during the day I'm screwed. Then there's the increase in electric transportation with little sign that the infrastructure needed to support them being implemented. While I'm actually very in favor of electric cars and the like I'm not going to sit in a cold dark house unable to work and support my family just so my neighbors can charge their cars that evening. Smart meters are a stop gap to mask the lack of necessary investment in power infrastructure for this new millennium.
I agree thinking like this may be a bit 'tin foil hat' but I'd rather not risk it, and as I say I see no advantage to me to adding a piece of gadgetry they've already got wrong once before into my life (I write software for a living and the cartoon below is very true)
I think people who believe there is not some ulterior motive down the line for smart meters are being a little naive.
Why would the government push an agenda costing billions just so that we can see when we are using more energy and don’t have to send a meter reading once a month.
Anyone who wants to know more about how electricity supply will change in the future and how it will affect the relationship between consumers and the utility companies could search for ‘Smart Grids’.
In time individual appliances will reduce their demand based on signals from the grid based on the overall demand. ‘Involuntary rationing’ will kick in if the overall demand is too much for the grid to cope with.
Smart meters are part of the development of smart grids. Some of the more advanced features of smart grids have already been deployed, especially in the US, eg the power company turning off your air conditioning if they judge your house is cool enough and demand overall is high. A SMETS smart meter can’t do that though.
What could possibly go wrong? :-)
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