Smart Meters Thread

[the_bloke]

On 17/10/2020 at 23:16, BigPP said:

Suppliers cannot cut off your supply. It's the law. 

They can, unless the person falls into a number of groups, such as them being vulnerable.

 

As far as I know, the only supply that can't be disconnected is the water.

[the_bloke]

8 hours ago, RiffRaff said:

Gas 'smart meters' can shut off without warning because they depend on battery power, as opposed to their electric equivalents which run off the national grid.

When/if a battery fails, the supply can be automatically turned off.

An engineer is needed to replace the battery unit before the gas is reconnected.

Try that on Christmas Day without upset! 😉

 

Meters are designed to automatically inform the supplier when a battery is nearing the end of life so they can arrange for it to be replaced before it dies completely. Apparently they beep when the battery is failing too.

 

https://www.npower.com/faq/129

 

 

[BigPP]

4 hours ago, the_bloke said:

They can, unless the person falls into a number of groups, such as them being vulnerable.

 

As far as I know, the only supply that can't be disconnected is the water.

You're correct the_bloke and apologies for my mistake. 

 

This is from https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/problems-with-your-energy-supply/if-youve-been-told-your-energy-supply-will-be-disconnected/

 

If you have a smart energy meter in your home, your supplier could potentially disconnect your supply remotely without needing to access to your meter. However, before they do this, they must have:

contacted you to discuss options for repaying your debt, eg through a repayment plan
visited your home to assess your personal situation and whether this would affect you being disconnected, eg if you’re disabled or elderly

[truman]

How long before suppliers use smart meters to micromanage pricing..charging you more when demand is high through the day..

[ivan edake]

On 18/10/2020 at 09:17, El Cid said:

In winter, when people need hot water, leaving families with children and old people without hot water.

I bet he gave you a large bill and you believed everything he had done 

Yes I did believe everything he had done and it didn't cost me a penny for the repair.

[pattricia]

I have gas and electric smart meters , and receive a quarterly bill through the post for them both.  Are they automatically read by British Gas ( as I’m under British Gas for them both) ? Or do I have to read them myself and pass the readings on ? I have left them for British Gas to read automatically but have often wondered about this.

[Ghozer]

If you have smart meter, the point is it can report back to your supplier, so no need for readings again..

I believe you can still submit them if you wish, but it shouldn't be needed anymore!

[Crissie]

The meters automatically transmit their readings, so you don't need to do it, although it doesn't hurt to keep a note of them for your own records.  Once in a while a real meter reader comes to the house to verify the readings.

 

[pattricia]

Thank you both for your replies. It’s put my mind at rest.!

[Fiat500]

We had EDF smart meters fitted August 2019 (after having price increase threats) and still haven't got an 'in house' display. They say they couldn't commission the meters because of signal issues at the commissioning centre. Complained last year and still in same situation. We have to send in meter readings every six months as the meters have no way of sending them. After complaining again, after reading this thread, and after a threat of calling OFGEM, they are going to try and sort it out. Let's see.