Smart Meters Thread

[Arthur Ritus]

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.

[Janus]

I refused to have one fitted.

 

As an aside,  i also feel that paying a charge for the meters for most of your life should be abolished. How much does that amount to over the course of a lifetime? Utility companies should pay for meters out of their profits.

[Arthur Ritus]

27 minutes ago, El Cid said:

So if the energy suppliers will save money, that means that they could charge their customers less.

They can only save money by not having to pay meter reading services to send out their person twice a year to housholds than cannot read their own meter and submit it online ( whom can be then made unemployed and have to be supported on benefit by the taxpayer) which on the scale of things would be a drop in the ever warming ocean.

I would not expect to see any financial benefit myself.

[Arthur Ritus]

15 minutes ago, Janus said:

I refused to have one fitted.

 

As an aside,  i also feel that paying a charge for the meters for most of your life should be abolished. How much does that amount to over the course of a lifetime? Utility companies should pay for meters out of their profits.

You mean the fixed charge, Gas or electric that's for the whole infrastructure pipes cables storage etc. I think it is probably higher now than it used to be compared to the usage cost when more of the cost was covered by the useage charge as customers are supposed to be using less but the infrastucture still needs to be there and competition between companies to charge less per KWH.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, El Cid said:

So if the energy suppliers will save money, that means that they could charge their customers less.

And pigs might fly - I'll believe that when it happens.

We all remember the days when a company was happy if they made half a million or more profit.

They are not happy now unless it's counted in 10's of billions.

The top execs and the shareholders go home happy and the public, the goose that lays the golden eggs for them, are forgotten.

[Guest]

I switched to the Scottish Power gas meter automated reading. First, the meter did not provide gas readings at all, electricity only.   Scottish Power said :"Everything is fine!" Couple of months later, I got £600 of gas based on their estimation. I said, **** it, paid a lot. And then, this July I got £300 gas charges for gas in June?? for 2 bedroom apartment!? I didn't even turn the heating on that month. I called SP, and they said that they cannot do nothing for now, because of Covid 19, nobody can take a look at the gas meter. I binned the "smart" meter and went back to manual reading.   That is my experience with "smart" meters, never had single problem on manual reading

[Janus]

@croat77

Re-you got rid of the smart meter and went back to manual reading? I am surprised to hear that. Surprised that a provider would remove a smart meter and put a manual one back  in. 

[Pettytom]

30 minutes ago, Janus said:

@croat77

Re-you got rid of the smart meter and went back to manual reading? I am surprised to hear that. Surprised that a provider would remove a smart meter and put a manual one back  in. 

You can read a smart meter and submit your own readings if you like.

 

My SM doesn’t work. My supplier keeps on emailing me for a reading. I email back and tell them to make the SM work, because I don’t work for them. They say ok. 
 

Rinse and repeat.

[Baron99]

7 hours ago, Janus said:

I refused to have one fitted.

 

As an aside,  i also feel that paying a charge for the meters for most of your life should be abolished. How much does that amount to over the course of a lifetime? Utility companies should pay for meters out of their profits.

Same with us.  We had a letter from NPower years ago, (it must have been when  the first generation meters were out), that on first reading, looked as though it was compulsory to have one?  It was only when you got to the very end did you realise that you didn't.  We've had other similar letters over the years & a few phone calls as well.  Still not got one. 

 

As others have said, the only saving is to the electricity companies in that they don't have to have the occasional meter reader call on you. 

 

You can only turn so many appliances off in your home.  You're never going to get to the point of such low usage unless you're prepared to spend time sitting in the dark & cold & without any entertainment. 

 

Over the years I've had loft insulation & double glazing fitted.  Tried to eliminate as many drafts as possible & changed all the bulbs over the years from the old type to dim low energy ones & then to the newer, brighter but even more energy saving LED ones.  Funny enough, I'm still paying more than I was 10 years ago.  Why?  Well, NPower, now E-on, just keep putting their standing charges up to ensure they maintain their profits. 

 

Only way to save I've surmised, is to regularly change suppliers & be treated as a new customer. 

[Pettytom]

19 minutes ago, Baron99 said:

 

 

Only way to save I've surmised, is to regularly change suppliers & be treated as a new customer. 

I do that every year.

 

With energy, home insurance, car insurance. I change broadband and mobile tariffs as often as I can and I argue with Sky every 18 months or so.

 

My rationale is that if I can get just £3 a month off each of those, I’m a couple of hundred quid a year better off.