It turns out that my "smart" meters haven't been working for almost a year and that my bills have been estimated due to "software problems". Over the summer we changed from gas cooking to A grade electric oven and hobs. My actual meter readings are way out from my estimated ones! The induction hob and environmentally friendly oven are far cheaper to run than the gas was and our kitchen has much less damp this year!
We’ve had three smart meters and multiple visits from EON for our dumb-meter which doesn’t, nor has it ever, reported correctly either to EON and the display only ever showed gas readings and not electric.
I phoned EON and told them to revert us back to manual metering and they could collect the gadgetry but surprise, surprise - they never did.
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I’ve never bothered with smart meters as they are if no benefit to the consumer. Just send them monthly readings and you know it’s all correct
Even when they work there is nothing smart about them. It’s better data insights for the provider and gas network, but that’s it. The price you pay stays the same and it’s still based on usage (same as submitting meter readings) so there’s no benefit.
I found I stopped paying attention to the display once I realised my kettle and electric oven hobs used the most energy, and everything else was minimal. All things I already knew.
If they offered some genuine usage insights, proactive monitoring of consumption devices, opportunities to save money, or anything at all proactive and useful, I’d be all for them.
Thames Water are no better - a few months ago I had a new 'smart' meter installed under the pavement outside my property with an assurance that it could be read by a Thames Water operative/contractor simply walking (or driving) past. Needless to say they have just asked me to give them a manual reading because it isn't working (more likely they don't want to spend money sending someone around taking remote readings). I told them I'm not going to crawl around on my hands and knees in the rain pulling up the meter cover and peering down a hole in the pavement!
I had a message from BG to read my own meter, when I asked about their "Smart" meters I was told it wasn't sending the correct info.
A couple of weeks ago a chap turned up to read the meters!
What are these Smart meters for I ask?
Cheers,
Neil.
BG converted both our meters to smart a few months ago. The stand-alone display only ever shows the electricity usage and never the gas, in fact, it doesn’t even seem to know there’s a gas meter installed. Spoke to them on several occasions about this but the standard response is “please leave it a few weeks”. In the meantime, I have no clue how they are guesstimating our gas usage, as we don’t get asked to submit readings any more, so Lord alone knows…………
I’ve reported a dead BG “smart” meter at least three times over the last twelve months to no avail. On hold for ages every time. Given up.Originally Posted by tixntox
is there any actual benefit for the user to having a schmart metre ?
Without it is have not noticed the missus had put the emersion heater on...and left it on.
Other than that, no not as far as I can tell.
Is there not an option to view either gas usage electric usage or both during the month?
Only be doing a manual reading on the gas meter. As I say, the box that should show it has never had visibility of it. The electric does show usage but we’re not even sure it’s connected to the network to pass that data on.
Ours is set to show daily use.
Use FB to contact them, I’ve had my meters & IHD replaced, IHD to be replaced again shortly. They take you to messenger & get it sorted easily.
Once you have the appointment, the engineer leaves his details with you & contact him direct with any issues & he adds to his work log.
Nightmare company until you find the right way to approach / navigate through the call system.
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My Octopus meters not worked since it was installed 2 months ago despite an engineers visit so it’s not just BG
Smart Meters are designed to feed metrics over to electric companies. Its not enough they gouge the price year on year, now they want the data - what time you're using energy, how much, and through this they can garner living habits which they (in the most pedantic view) probably sell on to marketing companies.
There is no reason to go "smart". More trouble than they're worth, they just make you an even more profitable source of income for energy companies.
Is there a link between using gas appliances and damp?
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Likewise, I find you can also change it to see just gas, just electric or your monthly use so I wondered if the other chap had just had it on a different setting.
I keep getting invites to book an appointment to have smart meters installed, as though it is a foregone conclusion that that is the “smart” thing to do. And I keep refusing the offers. Reading this thread just confirms my decision.
We went from a 110 gas hob electric oven range to an induction hob kitchen has far less condensation whilst cooking.
When you burn gas, it produces water vapour. Central heating boilers and gas fires should send the steam outside, via the flue but gas cookers and hobs release the water vapour directly into the room unless you have a very efficient extraction system (sometimes water will condense in the extraction system too, if it is cold!). Our kitchen and adjacent windows used to run with condensation in the winter, but are almost clear now.
My next door neighbour went smart meter and the electric company has been back a few times as he has seen a 30% increase in his bills without any lifestyle changes at all ..........................Kerchinggggg!!!!
B
I submitted my actual meter readings and I am now having trouble accessing my account at all!!! "We’re really sorry if you can’t access your online account – there are some technical issues we’re trying to resolve as quickly as possible. Please try again later. Thank you."!
Our's don't work, installed by Bulb about 3yrs ago(2nd Gen), they couldn't get them working after complaining. Same with the in 'house display unit'. Totally useless.
Always struck me as another of those computerised ‘solutions’ to a problem that doesn’t exist ?! - curiously every time I’ve changed supplier in the last 5 years they’ve insisted on installing a smart meter, then when I confirm my address they say they can’t currently fit one in my area. Normal for Norfolk I imagine!
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Scottish Power installed, or rather their chosen smart meter contractor did in July this year. So far it is a load of bollox. Won’t record night rate and the little box in the house is hopeless, it can’t even show the correct tariffs. Scottish power struggled to even tell me when night rates apply. (It should be clearly shown on the online account I suggested to them) It is unbelievable that it depends on which region you live in. They are guessing my night rate usage at this time!
Last update from them is that some fix should be in place by the end of 2021. I won’t be holding my very patient breath.
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Nothing remotely smart about these things, just another badly designed and specified Government iT project.
Let me know when the meters are smart enough to change my tariff on a daily basis to the cheapest one and I'll think about getting them fitted.
My personal read now appears on the "read (as in past tense) meter" section but my bill is still based on the estimated reading, which is miles out!!! You couldn't make it up! My actual bill (dated as when I took the actual reading) is still "not ready"! We have made a good effort to use less fuel by having a new boiler, oven and hob fitted, all of which are "A" rated for efficiency but can't see whether the changes are costing more or less in terms of cash layout! BG needs to get more efficient in its admin and sort out the metering problems which seem to be troubling a lot of people! Did it cost so much more to have Mr (or Mrs) Meter Reader round every quarter?
Last edited by tixntox; 16th November 2021 at 20:10.
I had a nightmare for a period of about 6 weeks when I was moved over from British Gas to British Gas Evolve.
It all started when BG gave the wrong meter reading as a start point to BGE having used the right reading initially for my BG final bill.
You wouldn't have believed how it escalated until finally common sense of a sort prevailed. At the end of the day it was by more luck than judgment that I was left satisfied with the change over. I was given an end and start meter readings that bore no relation to actual and have never seen so many adjustments and counter adjustments on the revised statements. It proved impossible for BGE to simply use the correct start reading.
I was however impressed with the BGE chat line (you can't phone them) as the first operator stuck with me by numerous emails throughout the 6 week period.
scooter
Wowcher! They've finally sorted it! They must have heard my rumbles! Onward and into the winter with a steady hand on the thermostats! :)
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