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Smart Meter Pros & Cons?

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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 12 April 2014 at 11:56AM
    GingerBob wrote: »
    You've got some evidence for this assertion? If true, I wonder how the £60 would be justified for a low tech device requiring next to no maintenance that no one apart from me ever reads (they don't even come round once a year at the moment).
    BBC 1, a couple of months ago on the Northern "Inside Out " TV program ,where they followed British Gas Revenue Protection on the hunt for bypassers.The UK head of BG RPU stated it loud and clear, "bypassing and abstraction is costing every account holder approx £30 a year extra on our gas/electric bills , and getting worse ".My evidence for the bad debtors amount is a strictly anecdotal conversation with a senior Brit Gas RPU man when he told me, only 2 weeks, ago, that the amount lost to bad debtors is rising also, and is far more than the amount lost to bypassing and abstraction of electricity. I have probably underestimated the total. I think if the MPs daft enough to allow refusals of smarts could get those figures in their heads they may get a different outlook. . Two weeks ago I went meter reading in the same street which was featured on the BB1 prog, Dundas Rd in Sheffield where the house blew up due to a gas meter bypass. BG RPU, as a test, visited 20 houses in Dundas Rd ( all suppliers , not just BG) and found 7 of the 20 had either bypassed gas or electric meters. I only found 2 bypassers of the people who actually opened the doors in the Dundas Rd area and nearby streets, many refused access. I might add that the Asian community which is the most popular of the racial mix in the Dundas Rd all were excellent and no bypassing was found from them whatsoever. There are a Roma Gypsy influx and other cultures in the area also
  • In 2007 cannabis factories were relatively in their infancy, the police recorded 2007-2008 figures were 3,033 for cannabis farms alone, currently we are all paying for the 20-30 farms per day being closed down UK wide, add to that the much bigger figure for domestic and commercial and any dent that can be made with smart tech is worth it. I don't see a downside with smart meters, being a 'node' on the web is a concern, however I would need to throw out my TV, this very internet I'm typing into, and particularly my mobile phone [GCHQ] and the iniquity that is google and its use of geo-location - and that's never going to happen is it !

    The pay don't pay debate - for myself I want it but would never pay for its install unless the install cost was about £100 and came with an inalienable legal right to a reverse gear. The £100 I pay would have to have enshrined in law my right to have it replaced with a standard metering device and the smart meter handed to me to do with as I wish including introducing it to my Stihl saw.
    Disclaimer : Everything I write on this forum is my opinion. I try to be an even-handed poster and accept that you at times may not agree with these opinions or how I choose to express them, this is not my problem. The Disabled : If years cannot be added to their lives, at least life can be added to their years - Alf Morris - ℜ
  • GingerBob_3
    GingerBob_3 Posts: 3,659 Forumite
    edited 12 April 2014 at 2:59PM
    I'm just wondering how smart meters detect meter bypassing. Also, the %age of the population engaging in bypassing will be miniscule. Of course BG are going to go on about it, and quote fatuous figures about how much it costs us all - a bit like uninsured drivers costing us all £30 a year (which is, of course total b/s).

    The key point is what are you, as an individual, going to get from "smart" metering. Not a greate deal, I would say. Well, apart from even more complicated bills. Who was the MP who get it through that they won't be made compulsory? Three cheers for him, whoever he is.
  • greyteam1959
    greyteam1959 Posts: 4,710 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I have had a smart meter on my business electric for several years now.
    What do I get............highly accurate bills for actual usage once a month that I pay by DD.
    What more do you want !!!
    I would love all my meters business & personal to be on smart metering.
    Get rid of this pay so much a month / build up a credit/debit/have a balancing statement once a year....blimey what a farce.
  • GingerBob_3
    GingerBob_3 Posts: 3,659 Forumite
    mervyn11 wrote: »
    I have had a smart meter on my business electric for several years now.
    What do I get............highly accurate bills for actual usage once a month that I pay by DD.
    What more do you want !!!
    I would love all my meters business & personal to be on smart metering.
    Get rid of this pay so much a month / build up a credit/debit/have a balancing statement once a year....blimey what a farce.

    I don't want that. I don't want to pay a large amount in winter and less in summer. I want the thing smoothed out over a year, or perhaps six months, even if it does mean I'm sometimes in credit. That's what I want. How do I get that with "smart" meters?
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 13 April 2014 at 12:04PM
    GingerBob wrote: »
    I don't want that. I don't want to pay a large amount in winter and less in summer. I want the thing smoothed out over a year, or perhaps six months, even if it does mean I'm sometimes in credit. That's what I want. How do I get that with "smart" meters?
    you can still do that off course. monthly direct debit average of your years useage remains. They can get very accurate yearly useage so no big hikes or over payments due to estimated reads, yet another smart meter advantage
    Ok Gingerbob, now YOU explain to me how the UKs head of Brit Gas Revenue protection is coming out with "fatuous " figure of £30 a year, thats a big word to come out with, come on then back it up ? also your word "miniscule " to describe the vast amount of bypassing. (1 house in 44 was reported by the Daily Mail growing cannabis ) , did nt you read my quote of "7 out 20 were bypassing in Dundas Rd ?. Do you know I ve just popped out to my Town Centre area and read about 50 British Gas meters and 2 were bypassed, one electric, one gas prepay. My next job now is to email my RPU contact. And dont forget Brit Gas are the best at detecting bypassing , Npower are the worst followed by Eon etc.Brit Gas find approx 80% of the UK total. Shocking figures proving that the others decide not to invest in RPU people because of the millions they would have to spend ( lowering their profits ) and have decided to virtually ignore meter bypassing, houses burning down/blowing up and let us carry the burden of the extra costs, so we pay for their deliberate policy, meantime cannabis farms are absolutely flourishing everywhere. They use approx £75 a week electric to grow their crops so every farm has a bypassed meter(s)
  • aleph_0
    aleph_0 Posts: 539 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    GingerBob wrote: »
    I don't want that. I don't want to pay a large amount in winter and less in summer. I want the thing smoothed out over a year, or perhaps six months, even if it does mean I'm sometimes in credit. That's what I want. How do I get that with "smart" meters?

    That's fine. The problem is that lack of data caused by estimated or infrequent readings, or just change of usage, cause direct debits to get way behind/ahead.

    There would still be room for you to agree a fixed DD to smooth things over - and if the demand is there, that's what will be offered (it probably is good for energy companies too). Smart meters would offer the opportunity to pick up on over/underpaying and adjust DD sooner, before serious debt builds up.

    It would also help highlight and spot accidental high usage quickly, reducing the risk of large debts building up.
  • Norman_Castle
    Norman_Castle Posts: 11,871 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    mervyn11 wrote: »
    I have had a smart meter on my business electric for several years now.
    What do I get............highly accurate bills for actual usage once a month that I pay by DD.
    What more do you want !!!
    I would love all my meters business & personal to be on smart metering.
    Get rid of this pay so much a month / build up a credit/debit/have a balancing statement once a year....blimey what a farce.
    Without a smart meter you can provide your own monthly readings. The bills would be no more or less accurate.
  • Be_Happy
    Be_Happy Posts: 1,392 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    My concern will only affect a few people, but our meter is one of the old Scottish 'white meter' type. We get 8.5 hours off peak. I've heard that smart meters will allow the companies to standardise timings, so we may lose 1.5 off peak hours.
  • GingerBob wrote: »
    I'm just wondering how smart meters detect meter bypassing. Also, the %age of the population engaging in bypassing will be miniscule. Of course BG are going to go on about it, and quote fatuous figures about how much it costs us all - a bit like uninsured drivers costing us all £30 a year (which is, of course total b/s).

    The key point is what are you, as an individual, going to get from "smart" metering. Not a great deal, I would say. Well, apart from even more complicated bills. Who was the MP who get it through that they won't be made compulsory? Three cheers for him, whoever he is.
    Smarts can detect when the lower cover is removed, error codes are sent back to the servers. It was nt one MP but a vote which led the idiots to allow refusals. Anyone having a moan on here about smarts sending wifi signals through their brains is an absolute first class hypocrite, even as they type their complaints ( whilst occasionally glancing at their smart phone) and their "smart TV ), they are getting a much bigger dose of radio waves.
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