MSE News: Guest comment: Ofgem's plan for a fairer, smarter energy market

The problem is not that Ofgem are useless (although they are) it is that Ofgems view of what consumers want is nothing like what consumers actually want. It will always end in tears.




Darren

So much of that comment was ridiculous.

The so-called "smart" meters they have been rolling out are actually stupid meters. They don't work if you switch suppliers, and they don't actually save you any energy.

However, they do make it easier for the suppliers, who don't have to read your meter. And they have a remote kill-switch, so they can cut you off if you don't pay your bill.

As someone with solar panels, I would really like to be paid the correct amount for all the electricity I generate. But the stupid meter I have been offered hasn't been properly tested. While it can measure exported electricity, you're not allowed to use any readings it gives. :mad:

As for battery storage, it looks like a good idea. Buy a battery, charge it up from your solar panels during the day, and get free electricity at night. There's just one little problem - they are too expensive. If I had bought a battery, then the total value of all the free electricity I would have got from it over the entire life of the battery would have been less than the cost of having the battery installed. I'm saving money by not wasting money on the battery.

In the past, technology has constrained consumers from interacting in the energy market. In the future, the possibilities from new technologies and innovation will be vast. The extent to which consumers are able or willing to take advantage will be key.

It would be a missed opportunity if most smart meters are left untouched gathering dust under the stairs. If consumers instead embrace smart meters and other new technologies, it could save billions of pounds on energy bills.

Last year, this house used about 8 electricity units per day in summer and 9 a day in winter.

I thought about things around 3 months ago, emptied the old second freezer, and turned off a tube heater in the bottom of the airing cupboard, for the summer.

Now the use is 4 or 5 units a day.

What difference could a smart meter make? Nothing will alter the TV watching hours. The wifi router telephone and central heating control are on all the time, about £5 to £9 a year each. Clocks in microwave and gas cooker might cost a quid a year each. All the lights are low energy tubes or LEDs. Don't want to turn off the fridge-freezer for too long. Charging phones and tablets costs £1 to £2 a year.

Running the washing machine or dishwasher at a well-chosen time is about the only chance to make any difference. Average of 4 or 5 runs a week between them.

I'd be amazed if changing washing hours could save much, but wouldn't really want to run them at 4 am anyway.

Agree its a load of rubbish, its not always practical to change the times of day when you use electric, for example I can't change my TV watching from evening to daytime as I'm at work during the day. I could put the washing machine on timer to run while I'm at work, but rather not have loads of wet washing sat in the washer all day going musty (and then needing an extra rinse to freshen it up).


The time of day when most people use energy is very difficult to change. People need to be encouraged to monitor and reduce instead. Smart meters don't necessarily need to be an answer to that as its easy to monitor just by reading your meter and tracking your usage.


Maybe they need to look at incentives to buy energy efficient appliances over cheaper less efficient models etc etc.