octopus forcing smartmeter

avenue12

Hi guys love this site!
A guy came round to read our meter first time in yonks. He was reluctant to show ID, but did eventually. He went to the meter cupboard and knelt down fiddling  around for ages, so we guessed he wansn't just reading the meter.
We told him we don't want a smart meter, but he didn't reply.
Then we got an estimated bill, which was kinda odd! Then an email saying our meter is too old and must replaced by a smart meter.
Now a previous retiring meter reader told us never ever get a smart meter as they often go wrong and never undercharge!!! Plus they are going  to be used to ration energy in the future.

So anything we can do, for a start we can't read digital displays and I doubt a new smart meter will fit in our self made cupboard so will ruin our indoor wall. Any ideas please?

EssexHebridean

Firstly - I'm not totally convinced that your "meter reader" was genuine I am afraid. I've never encountered one who is in any way unhappy to show ID - these days they are so used to being asked they usually produce it immediately, and cheerfully. the estimated bill add to that suspicion. With that in mind, I also suspect that the timing of the contact about the end of life meter is probably purely coincidental. Are you on the priority Services register and so routinely see meter readers or was this an "out of the blue" thing?

As for the "information" you were given by the previous meter reader - meters generally don't "often go wrong" - but failures have always been possible regardless of meter type. Anyone trying to tell you otherwise is not being truthful!  

If you meter has reached end of life then yes, it will need replacing as it will be approaching outside of its certification date, and the supplier has a duty to ensure that your meter is within certification. The replacement meter is likely to be of the type currently being installed - and these are smart, yes. Even a non smart meter being installed now would have had a digital display though, so in fact you sound like the perfect candidates for a smart meter as of course beyond needing to get someone (a friend, relative or neighbour) to check the readings every few months to ensure that what it is sending is correct, it will do the rest for you - so no more estimated bills! It also sounds like your existing meter is old enough to be pretty large - so the chances are that the new replacement one will be smaller and so should fit in your cupboard just fine. 

Hopefully that sets your mind at rest a bit! 

SAC2334

Probably best thing to do for your finances is to get  smart meters, especially Octopus s excellent reliable smart meter .Despite what Jacob Rees Mogg and Nigel Farage are saying that smart meters will cost you more , getting smart meters and going onto an Octopus smart tariff is a gateway to the cheapest possible energy prices in the UK at the moment.
 I m an ex meter reader too of 20 years service and that newbie meter reader will be trying to protect his job to keep more dumb meters so he can read them more often . By the way, he should have had his I.D on display at all times , not wait till someone has to ask for it . 

EssexHebridean

I just spotted the comment about smart meters being used to "ration energy" - it is true that they can be used that way. However, in the event that things were problematic enough with the grid that this sort of "rationing" was required, then currently the situation is that entire areas will simply be "blacked out" for a period of time - indeed this was what was being discussed last winter in particular as a possibility. In the future, once smart meters are in use across the board, more nuanced "rationing" might be possible - so the household of extremely high users with everything left switched on at all times, high end gaming computers running for 8 hours a day, people cooking meals at all times of the day rather than people trying to combine on oven use, for example, might find they get their use capped, to enable the elderly couple next door sitting in their front room with a lamp and the TV, eating a meal they batch-cooked previously and just "pinged" in the microwave to reheat are able to continue with their low-use lifestyle as normal.  It should enable a fairer approach rather than "everyone" being left without power because "some" people aren't being mindful of their use. 

Smart meters can also enable time of use or dynamic tariffs which can actually save you money - just browse around the forums and you will find lots of happy customers on Octopus's Tracker and Agile tariffs, for example. 

dunstonh

Now a previous retiring meter reader told us never ever get a smart meter as they often go wrong and never undercharge!!!

You cannot help the stupidity of meter readers.  I know one that got scammed out of his pension despite me warning him in no uncertain terms that it was a scam. He still proceeded to lose his pension.  Any meter of any type, if it goes wrong can undercount or overcount.   To suggest smart meters would only be in one direction but conventional would not is just plain stupidity.

Smart meters have a similar failure rate to conventional meters.   The only real issue with smart meters is connectivity.   And if that fails, they revert to being conventional until connectivity is fixed.

Remember that if people relied on facts, you wouldn't have daily express or daily mail readers.   There are plenty of gullible people out there.

So anything we can do, for a start we can't read digital displays and I doubt a new smart meter will fit in our self made cupboard so will ruin our indoor wall. Any ideas please?

Smart meters are similar size to previous generation digital conventional meters (many of which, btw, had poor reliability).  They are generally smaller than analogue meters.

A guy came round to read our meter first time in yonks. He was reluctant to show ID, but did eventually. He went to the meter cupboard and knelt down fiddling  around for ages, so we guessed he wansn't just reading the meter.
We told him we don't want a smart meter, but he didn't reply.

That is worrying.   They should have no issue with ID and a meter reader would give an actual meter reading and that would show on the billing.  It would not be an estimate.

Then we got an estimated bill, which was kinda odd! Then an email saying our meter is too old and must replaced by a smart meter.

These things may not be linked.  However, all meters are certified to a date.  Once they get close to that date, they need to be replaced.   After that date, there would be concerns over their reliability.   And you seem very concerned about reliability.   

born_again

EssexHebridean said:

I just spotted the comment about smart meters being used to "ration energy" - it is true that they can be used that way.

Anybody of a certain age will remember the 1970's rolling blackouts. So no need for a smart meter to ration anything.

https://www.theblackoutreport.co.uk/2023/04/17/three-day-week-1974/

& for the daily fail readers...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10012345/When-lights-DID-1970s-Britain-plunged-darkness-three-day-working-week.html

Peter999_2

Used to ration power?   Yes, that is possible.   Just like it was possible in the old days.   I remember in the 70s where we lived, they used to switch off the power for half our city for a few hours - didn't need smart meters, just turn it off further up the chain.       I can remember my parents driving to my grandparents so my mum could watch Coronation Street as they still had power.

EssexHebridean

born_again said:

EssexHebridean said:

I just spotted the comment about smart meters being used to "ration energy" - it is true that they can be used that way.

Anybody of a certain age will remember the 1970's rolling blackouts. So no need for a smart meter to ration anything.

https://www.theblackoutreport.co.uk/2023/04/17/three-day-week-1974/

& for the daily fail readers...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10012345/When-lights-DID-1970s-Britain-plunged-darkness-three-day-working-week.html

Indeed - however the OP may not be as old as we clearly both are! I can remember being quite envious of my pal living in a house a short distance away from us whose TV always stayed "on" because they lived right by the fire station and their power could not be turned off!  

As I went on to say - as recently as last winter the possibility of blackouts was raised as a significant issue. 

MattMattMattUK

I was not alive in the 80s, but I still remember power cuts in the late 80s (although for different reasons), the top of my road was on a different circuit to the rest of the area, I remember my mum cooking by torchlight on a few winter evenings, and reading with a head torch on. I believe that I am currently on the same circuit as the local hospital so I suspect that I might still have electricity if there were rolling blackouts, though it would not be the end of the world if they did happen, I could still use my laptop (tethered), read, or in a worst case scenario, go to the pub!

Gerry1

MattMattMattUK said:

I was not alive in the 80s, but I still remember power cuts in the late 80s

You can remember things from before you were born? 🤔

MattMattMattUK

Gerry1 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

I was not alive in the 80s, but I still remember power cuts in the late 80s

You can remember things from before you were born? 🤔

I meant I was not alive in the 70s. I am not one of those "past lives" people.