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is anyone happy they had a smart meter installed?

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I'm due to have one next week and all I read is people complaining about them, has anyone actually had one installed and felt it all went smoothly and finds having one useful to monitor energy usage?

Comments

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 23 January 2015 at 12:43AM
    Yes, I m happy why should nt I be ?. Its just a new meter, albeit a dumb one for the time being as I ve switched a couple of times from BG who installed it. I ve given up on looking at the superior energy monitor as the novelty has worn off . Everyone should just shut up moaning about these meters, inventing silly spurious reasons why they should be refusing one and get one installed. The big mistake was having a few gutless wet MPs voting against making it compulsory to have one and giving the thieving scrotes of the UK an excellent chance to carry on thieving energy to their hearts content, whilst a foreign owned bunch of suppliers sit back doing nothing and expecting the honest to pay for it.
    I was glad to see my first prepay smart gas meter appear this week giving the chance for prepay customers to enter the 21st century and top up with modern methods and also to be able to avail themselves of the cheaper yearly fixes once the suppliers have confidence in the much more efficient meters which dont require an army of meter readers driving around all day sorting out all the faults on cards and key meters. People who spout off rubbish about smart meters are not doing the poorer and less well off any good publicising the negatives and helping them to stay in their shackles with their outdated key/card meters
  • Robin9
    Robin9 Posts: 12,770 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Its a meter to record your consumption - it saves you having to give readings and reduces the number of meter reader visits but they will still visit every couple of years.

    Forget about any benefits in helping to reduce your consumption - it won't - that's down to the traditional simple things - lights off, tv stand by off etc
    Never pay on an estimated bill. Always read and understand your bill
  • Thanks for your reply, one question when it was fitted by BG did the smart features work straight away as I read a few people with a different supplier their meters didn't read properly and they were told it would take up to 16 weeks to register correctly?
  • Carrot007
    Carrot007 Posts: 4,534 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I have no issue with mine. It saves me the effort of having to submit readings!

    The display gets boring after a while. At first you can go ooh att the spending wehen having a shower etc!

    Mine was fitted by npower and worked straight away on the smart functions.
  • Terry98
    Terry98 Posts: 1,155 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    sassy100 wrote: »
    Thanks for your reply, one question when it was fitted by BG did the smart features work straight away as I read a few people with a different supplier their meters didn't read properly and they were told it would take up to 16 weeks to register correctly?

    The smart features worked straight away on my unit but it took 16 weeks before the meter reading information was transmitted properly to the supplier.

    So if you want your supplier to have up to date information for your bills you will still have to supply meter readings for four months after fitting the smart meter!
  • matelodave
    matelodave Posts: 9,075 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    In the end you need a meter - does it really matter if it's smart, dumb or even a strange colour just so long as it records your consumption accurately.

    If it saves a man coming or you having to read it and you get accurate bills what's the problem.

    Having a pretty display is a bonus and it might help you be a bit more aware of your consumption and the display will remind you when stuff is turned on but in the end it's down to you to turn stuff off.

    They won't fry your brain any more than a mobile phone, wifi, laptop, Bluetooth or any other of the wireless devices that you and all your neighbours have.
    Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers
  • Daz2009
    Daz2009 Posts: 1,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I read somewhere the smart meters have poor security and are easily hackable.
    A nasty neighbour could mess with the readings and you could get bills from zero to thousands and no end of hassle.

    Possible or just a myth ?
  • matelodave
    matelodave Posts: 9,075 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Another urban myth - the data is sent via the mobile phone network and is as secure as your mobile phone or even your home wifi.

    Despite all the publicity about so called "phone hacking" it wasn't actually hacking, it was accessing people's voicemails because they hadn't changed the password from the default setting so anyone could access it

    The same with your home wifi, if you don't change your router password from the default (usually admin/admin) then anyone can access it, change it or access your home computer etc.
    Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers
  • I think I was 'phoned and told smart meter installers were going to be in my area and would I have them installed. I'm interested in technology so I just said yes. The installation was fine albeit the guy left me with the final "dumb" electricity meter reading but not the gas one ... Anyway, he said it would take a couple of months for the readings to come through and just to ignore any requests for meter readings. Fair enough. What neither he nor Ovo that I'm with told me was that I would lose access to my online account for now 15 weeks and counting. Yet they still keep sending you e-mails telling you to go online to manage your account. The process should have been tested before inflicting it on customers. I don't see why you can't have access to your online account even though the meter readings haven't come through. I don't see why if they know your meter isn't working and you can't get online, they keep sending you e-mails telling you to go online. When I move house, if there isn't a smart meter in the new property I will ask a lot of questions about the quality of service with commitments and financial penalties if I end up compensating for their incompetence, if they want to install a so called "smart" meter ...
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