British Gas Energy Smart - Installation?

pimento

Sorry if this has been answered here already, I had a look in this forum and could only find questions about taking readings once it was set up.

How does this work? The BG web site is very light on details. Does it have to be attached to the meter? If it does, it's a deal breaker for me because our meter is in the garage and not easily accessible.

Can someone explain how iot actually works?

Thanks

Plushchris

I assume its the energy monitor that you are talking about, it gets connected to one of the cables coming out of the meter, its a simple clip that goes around the cable, not much of an "instalation" I'm not sure if it matters how far it is down that cable from the meter, but it only has to be connected once and its done.

pimento

All the videos show the meter sitting on the kitchen counter, not clipped to a cable near the meter. Does it come in two parts? A transmitter and a receiver?

smallblueplanet

Does it have to be done? I imagined it was 'a gimmick' as it doesn't actually do anything beside tell you how much you're using does it?

pimento

smallblueplanet wrote: »

Does it have to be done? I imagined it was 'a gimic' as it doesn't actually do anything beside tell you how much you're using does it?

It's optional, but as I pay £37 a month for my electricity, I thought it would be good to be able to see where I might be able to make some savings. Not if I have to go into the garage to see the results though.

Plushchris

pimento wrote: »

All the videos show the meter sitting on the kitchen counter, not clipped to a cable near the meter. Does it come in two parts? A transmitter and a receiver?

Spot on, transmitter goes near the meter, the monitor is what sits in your kitchen.

If your meter is so hard to reach you cant fit the transmitter you should think about getting it moved, how do you take meter readings??

broxis11

It comes in two parts. The first being the transmitter which is attached to one of the wires on the meter and this is where it will remain. The second part is the receiver which is the lcd display which can be moved around the house.

It is a very useful device as it allows you to understand where the costs come from and allows you to make simple changes to your day to day activities which in return save you money.

Everyone knows that electricity is expensice but when you walk into your house it is difficult to know exactly where your costs come from. The monitor will bridge that gap - and it`s free!

You may not know that as part of energysmart you will have more control over your billing. You will have an accurate statement sent to you monthly allowing you to understand what your consumption is for gas and electric. You can take up to two payment holidays per year if you notice large amounts of credit builiding or you may opt for a monthly variable direct debit where you simply pay for the previous months consumption.

You can also compare your consumption to similar properties in your neighbourhood to see how you fare.

macman

All these meters are in two parts, the transmitter clipped around the meter feed, the receiver/display elsewhere in the house.

pimento

Plushchris wrote: »

If your meter is so hard to reach you cant fit the transmitter you should think about getting it moved, how do you take meter readings??

It's not impossible to get to the meter, but we don't have a door between the garage and the house, so to get to it means going outside and opening the up and over garage door and winding my way through Mr.P's extensive collection of [EMAIL="!!!!"]!!!![/EMAIL]. Quarterly is often enough for me.

pimento

Hm. My Websaver 11 ends on July 1st and the cheapest then is Websaver 12 but you can't have Energy Smart on that tariff.

Is it worth going up a tariff and getting the Energy Smart? We're not mega users, paying £34 for gas and £37 (per month) for electricity in a four bed detached.

macman

Energy Smart is a gimmick, it's not worth paying more on your tariff just for a cheap metering device that you can buy yourself if you want it.