Smart Meter Pros & Cons?

[Deleted User]

GingerBob wrote: »

Those figures really do seem extreme. I just don't buy 200,000. I think "estimate" is the key word here.

It does seem extreme but there were 5 new ones mentioned in my local small town paper this week alone. Bearing in mind that most cannabis growing houses will completely avoid detection I think its correct. The police have made it easy by allowing 14 plants ( per person ) to be designated as a police caution. It helps their crime figures and fools people into thinking they are lowering crime. I was told by the RPU people that three crops of the 12 week growing period can amount to a £40k a year profit. He even said that he knew a bloke who went down for 5 years for robbing a bookmaker of £1000 when they can safely make that sort of money ,40k a year and not even get prosecuted if they happened to be caught. The first offenders dont get prosecuted for both cannabis or the bypassing, just a little slapon wrist caution

Norman_Castle

GingerBob wrote: »

Those figures really do seem extreme. I just don't buy 200,000. I think "estimate" is the key word here.

I think "Daily Mail" are the key words.

spiro

Buzby wrote: »

You are SUPPOSED to get 8.5 hrs Off Peak - in Scotland it is branded White Meter (not Economy 7). Also, I do not have a Smart Meter, but a boring analogue one, BUT I have a RadioSwitch instead of a time clock. This takes a BBC R2 signal to sync and update switching if required so the clock change has no issues my OP runs from 00:00:00 to 08:30:00 daily winter and summer.

The government want to get rid of radio switched meters so they can sell off the frequency range.

gasmanmartin

Smart meters won't work. You don't need to tamper with the meter, you simply remove it.

If the supplier queries it, you just say i'm not using any gas/elec just now, away from home, working away - it's none of their business!
And as meters only legally need to be checked every 2 years it can be easily arranged for someone to refit them for inspection.

It won't stop energy fraud, it will only make bills higher!

spiro

gasmanmartin wrote: »

Smart meters won't work. You don't need to tamper with the meter, you simply remove it.

If the supplier queries it, you just say i'm not using any gas/elec just now, away from home, working away - it's none of their business!
And as meters only legally need to be checked every 2 years it can be easily arranged for someone to refit them for inspection.

It won't stop energy fraud, it will only make bills higher!

As soon as you try and do that it will send an alert. Also as soon as they loose comms they will investigate.

GingerBob_3

How do they set up a "smart" gas meter, I wonder. There's no electricity supply near my gas meter, and they sure as hell aren't cabling anything up on my brickwork. Still, you can refuse one anyway. So no problem I suppose.

aleph_0

gasmanmartin wrote: »

Smart meters won't work. You don't need to tamper with the meter, you simply remove it.

If the supplier queries it, you just say i'm not using any gas/elec just now, away from home, working away - it's none of their business!
And as meters only legally need to be checked every 2 years it can be easily arranged for someone to refit them for inspection.

It won't stop energy fraud, it will only make bills higher!

Removing the meter will surely cause it to ring home to say something is wrong. If it goes silent, that would be spotted too. Even if that's avoided, unusual usage patterns can be picked up quicker.

The supplier is required to check the meter every two years; that doesn't mean they can't ask to check it sooner. Most legitimate people will be helpful, those that refuse provide a good starting point for catching theft.

greyteam1959

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Without a smart meter you can provide your own monthly readings. The bills would be no more or less accurate.

I have better things to do with my time rather than running around taking meter readings every month..........

gasmanmartin

spiro wrote: »

As soon as you try and do that it will send an alert. Also as soon as they loose comms they will investigate.

Wrong,

it has a sim card in it that sends a meter reading every 30mins. Doesn't matter if you use all the gas out the north sea or none at all, it will still send a reading regardless if its connected to the supply or not.
Think of all the people that work away from home/holiday homes/ just dont use alot of gas, patterns can be all over the place and there is not alot they can do about it. They may suspect something but without the proof it's very hard

How do they set up a "smart" gas meter, I wonder. There's no electricity supply near my gas meter, and they sure as hell aren't cabling anything up on my brickwork. Still, you can refuse one anyway. So no problem I suppose.

Battery in it and a sim card. Just like a mobile phone.

that doesn't mean they can't ask to check it sooner. Most legitimate people will be helpful, those that refuse provide a good starting point for catching theft.

The law says different though. Legally every 2 years and if they want to check it earlier then fine, but they have to ask and then arrange an appointment - very easy to give yourself time to return to normal if need be .

I'm not saying everyone should go and steal gas, if someone is gonna do it, then they are gonna do it - idiots if you ask me.
All i'm saying is smart meters will not combat this at all. For the select few it will be more accurate billing if they don't update their account regularly, other than that it's just a big waste of money!

aleph_0

gasmanmartin wrote: »

The law says different though. Legally every 2 years and if they want to check it earlier then fine, but they have to ask and then arrange an appointment - very easy to give yourself time to return to normal if need be .

I'm not saying everyone should go and steal gas, if someone is gonna do it, then they are gonna do it - idiots if you ask me.
All i'm saying is smart meters will not combat this at all. For the select few it will be more accurate billing if they don't update their account regularly, other than that it's just a big waste of money!

I'm prepared to stand corrected, but can you clarify what law you are referring to? My initial claim doesn't need any law behind it, an inspector can politely ask if a householder would let them look at the meter. If they don't, then it would be worth the energy company finding evidence of usage, or make the request more formal, escalating to a court order if needed.

My understanding is that the energy *supplier* is obliged to check every 2 years, probably under ofgem rules. The consumer under their energy contract agrees to give the supplier safe access to the meter (but no mention of 2 years, at least with BG). As I understand it, the current system tries to rely on doing inspections based on spontaneous visits, and then appointments if that doesn't work, and then court orders.

Legally, the power to obtain a court warrant comes from this, I think:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/2-3/21?view=extent

I'm pretty sure that a provider could convince the court of the need to inspect a meter based on change in usage, or non-reporting/meter error, even if the last inspection was less than 2 years ago.

I agree, someone who refuses access, and then fixes things before a warrant is obtained would be difficult to catch. However, smart meters help show up when the usage stops, and so timing and targeting the inspection based on this could be very useful.