Smart meter and solar panels

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Sorry for the late reply pinnks but been away recently.

Malc

There's me thinking you'd been sacked?

Or have they let you out for good behaviour?

Anyone for cricket?

I had smart meters fitted a couple of weeks ago, I am with Scottish Power.
I also have solar panels, the read out tells be how much the electricity being used is costing me, per day/month.
As the solar panels generate a certain amount of electricity, the cost per day is zero even though I have a number of appliances running. But my 8 solar panels only pay for my fridge, PC, radio and the other small bits like wifi; if I put the kettle on, it costs a few pennies.

Exiled_Tyke wrote: »

I reckon I have a pretty good handle on what my electricity is costing me, what is using the power and how best to juggle appliances without the need for a smart meter.

Hi

Same here, and we've been able to monitor the position for years without having to pay £500 for a smart meter ..... I'm currently consuming 280W, generating 2.58kW and therefore exporting 2.3kW (82% of generation) ....

Sorry ET, but I'm going off on a rant here in the hope that someone reading this post will in some way be enlightened with a viewpoint which isn't quite in line with the industry's, their lobbyists, or the various governments which have naively taken their bait, hook, line & sinker ... so, here goes ....


I'm pretty sure that almost no-one would support smart-metering if they really understood what the technology will cost them in the long run, both in the immediate terms of paying £500/household to recover the £12-£15billion project cost, and down the line being hammered with excruciatingly high peak tariff charges to encourage us all to not have a cooked meal on a winter's evening when we get home from work .... hey-ho though, such is the power of the media, after-all, seeing that 'free' must be the new term for '£500' and that sum used to be referred to in slang as a 'monkey', then we should all be asking the industry 'Are you trying to make a monkey out of me ... twice ?' (fool & money) ....

We currently pay for meters, the reading of meters, the maintenance of meters, the safety checks on meters & the regular replacement of meters within our current bills ... the problem here is that the industry is being allowed to charge for smart-meters as if they're something completely new, an additional cost having no financial benefit to the industry and no relationship to the 'dumb' meters we currently have ... which is not the case at all seeing that it's the industry which is in line to make a fortune out of the project.

These meters benefit the consumer little more than a basic energy monitor at a fraction of the cost (<5% ?), above that the meter itself costs little more than a standard meter, but more importantly, if smart-meters were rolled out within the industry's standard replacement cycle, there would be almost no additional project effort, and therefore cost.

Anyway, with the latest round of electricity price increases being moaned about by the industry as being down to the governments 'green' policies and that a significant proportion of these 'additional supply costs' must be down to smart-meters, perhaps we should all tell the industry that we'll support them in opposing this horrendous government policy and refuse to have smart-meters fitted ...

.... That's it 'Mr Energy Supplier', if you're telling us that the nasty government is twisting your arm and forcing your hand under duress into doing something that you don't want to do, then we can all help you ... just say the word, we, your 'loyal customers' are here to help ... note the word 'loyal', that is what you always want us to be ... isn't it ? ...

Rant over, time to take a breath .... well after all that we're now only generating 1.55kW and consuming 150W, which tells me that there's just enough spare to put the kettle on .... come on, hands up all those with smart-meters who can say that without referencing some other form of monitor ... :whistle: .... that'd probably be very few then - but isn't that the very point of smart-meters, so what's the use of charging us £12-£15billion for nothing ....

HTH
Z