Smart Meters Thread

[Baron99]

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for doing my bit to protect the environment but every home, shop, office block in the country could be covered with solar panels.  Every garden & spare bit of land could have a wind turbine plonked on it but the power companies would still find a way of billing you. 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Baron99 said:

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for doing my bit to protect the environment but every home, shop, office block in the country could be covered with solar panels.  Every garden & spare bit of land could have a wind turbine plonked on it but the power companies would still find a way of billing you. 

Very True.

The Government claims to have a green agenda but not much sign of it yet.

God help us when everyone is running electric cars.

[El Cid]

On 13/10/2020 at 15:51, Organgrinder said:

No idea as I don't deal with it . It's my partners realm.

She checks what's happening and switches suppliers quite often so I doubt we are being robbed.

Don't know whether you work for the energy companies but,   I AM STILL NOT HAVING A SMART METER.

If your wife decides she wants a smart meter, you will have a smart meter 

[Guest]

19 minutes ago, El Cid said:

If your wife decides she wants a smart meter, you will have a smart meter 

Ha Ha, you are a comic but, I'm afraid,  you are wrong again.

[nightrider]

On 11/10/2020 at 11:07, Arthur Ritus said:

Completely agree, yet again public money being used for a government backed con like cavity wall filling and condensing boilers, i find it hard to believe that the average person can believe that they will save any money with a "smart meter". Even the name is fashionable crap labling suprised it wasn,t called a"Digital  I smart E meter", it just reads the meter electronically, no -  "smartness" at all

I know one person (not the sharpest knife in the drawer) that was telling me they had one and it was going to save them £100 a year, i asked where it was (the display part) - "i put it in the drawer out of the way" was the reply, "how will it save you money in the drawer?" i asked, " i dunno how it works but the people on the phone said it would so i must be right" was my answer.

If you have to have a meter telling you how much you are using to not leave the shower on more than you need then you are a strange person to say the least.

 

A plugin meter that you can keep a check on your fridge/freezer as their consumption can rocket when worn / faulty or stick it on the dish washer or washing machince/ tumble drier to compare the cost of different programmes and ask yourself if its worth it rather than getting  a pot towel out to dry the pots or wait for a dry day and hang the washing out, now thats real benefit.

The main benefit, for me, is that I don't have to move all the kitchen furniture, lift the trapdoor and climb into my cellar to read the letters anymore. I never look at the usage display they gave me, and anyway it does not break down usage by device so the information is not very useful unless you constantly monitor it in real time with each device in your house (far too much faff to be practical). For that to be useful you really need all your electric/gas devices made smart too so they can report their individual usage.

[alchresearch]

17 minutes ago, nightrider said:

The main benefit, for me, is that I don't have to move all the kitchen furniture, lift the trapdoor and climb into my cellar to read the letters anymore.

Same for me, mine are at the back of the garage.  

[ivan edake]

The energy companies are blackmailing us.Most of them will only allow people who already have a smart meter,or who are willing to have one fitted,sign up for their cheapest tariffs.So a smart meter can save you money.This practice should of course be illegal,but of course it isn't.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, ivan edake said:

The energy companies are blackmailing us.Most of them will only allow people who already have a smart meter,or who are willing to have one fitted,sign up for their cheapest tariffs.So a smart meter can save you money.This practice should of course be illegal,but of course it isn't.

Martin Lewis said tonight,  in answer to a question on the Martin Lewis Money Show on TV,  that the power companies cannot force you to have a Smart Meter

and also that anyone can have  the same  cheapest tariffs as those  with Smart Meters.

I thought this was the case but am glad that Martin has confirmed it. 

[max]

A warning to anyone who has an older boiler:

Installation of smart meter leaves elderly woman facing £4,000 bill

 

The same thing nearly happened to us when the smart meter was installed. The installer had to switch the boiler off in order to install the meter and restart it afterwards. It wouldn't start, he didn't know how to restart it and was going to leave it and put a note on the installation notes. We insisted that he stayed and after about an hour calling all his fellow installers he eventually found one who talked him through the process.

 

The meter wasn't reporting the gas usage so after a couple of months they sent another installer with a replacement meter. As he was going to switch the boiler off I explained what happened last time so he once again rang around but he couldn't find anyone who could help. He left without switching the boiler off and the meter still doesn't record gas usage.

[the_bloke]

I live in an apartment and the meters are in a secure meter cupboard two floors and half the building away. I can't have a smart meter, as my wifi signal isn't strong enough to reach. It's not stopped me yet being limited to tariffs.