Smart meters - what is the catch?

[Deleted User]

Kim_kim wrote: »

Booked mine in for an install Wednesday week.

Are they a similar size to current meters?

My meters are a bit of an awkward position, will the "smart" bit be cordless rather than part of them meter?

electric smart is double the size of most meters, gas meter is smaller

Hedgehog99

My normal meters are outside and can therefore be read when ever the supplier wants. This doesn't stop them sending me cheeky emails asking me to do their work for them, of course.

I've been pestered with various letters about my electricity meter. I've said I am not taking time off for them to do it because it is outside. They were offering me useless all-day slots and then admitted they did offer two-hour slots.

They've tried tempting me with "If we said you could have a smart meter, you'd want one, right?"-type letters. Errr, no, actually.

Then their tone seemed to change and I got the impression I'd receive a standard meter.

They sent a letter saying they were coming on a particular day, so I banked some time off in lieu. They weren't meant to come until after 0800. I made sure I was ready by 0750 and found a "sorry you were out" card on the doormat - classic "don't ring, just leave a card" tactics who's been given far to many house calls for his/her schedule.

Then they sent me a letter saying they were in my area for a week and could do the work unattended if the meter was outside. Every day, I switched off "sensitive equipment" as the letter requested, left a note on the meter saying go ahead & returned from work to find nothing had been done.

I don't want a smart meter. I don't care about reducing my usage - I am already very careful and don't want to be badgered about it further. I'm not interested in giving precious socket-space to a snooping machine that tells me how bad I am for cooking a meal, and for the cost of said useless gadget being absorbed into my bills. I work, therefore, surprise surprise, I will use power in the evenings, especially since they say you shouldn't leave a w/m or d/w unattended. I also don't want to jeopardise my property value by tying in to a supplier when the next owner might wish to have a s/m from another company, particularly if they're a landlord.

I don't like s/ms sending readings back to base so often. Apparently you can choose the frequency from a selection. The suppliers have no business receiving multiple daily readings (even if the householder chooses to view their in-house monitor that often) - monthly should be enough and preserves householders' privacy / holiday times etc. More frequent readings can only be for future manipulation of charging, which people with average working hours cannot avoid, and supply (which they already know about).

Kim_kim

Precious socket space?

You mean it uses a plug socket?

Sterlingtimes

Hedgehog99 wrote: »

The suppliers have no business receiving multiple daily readings (even if the householder chooses to view their in-house monitor that often) - monthly should be enough and preserves householders' privacy

The Smart City idea is that is that Electricity Distributor has a good fix on demand and can manage supply accordingly. Once a month would be insufficient to be useful. As electricity demand increases it will be necessary to manage better manage the infrastructure.

Hedgehog99

Kim_kim wrote: »

Precious socket space?

You mean it uses a plug socket?

The customer's in-house monitor (if you choose to use it) uses a plug socket and since my property isn't the newest, it doesn't have as many sockets as you might ask for in a new-build these days, given the additional devices and gizmos we have these days.

[Deleted User]

sacsquacco wrote: »

A prime example of why the smart meter roll out should be dumped.Giving people like this. the choice , was the big mistake.The MP s who voted for smarts being optional knew not what they were doing.It should have been left up to the local DNOs to fit them with no options, anyone who did nt like one could have the choice, electricity or no electricity its your choice take it or leave it.
Funnily enough, that choice will soon be coming for people with old gas meters who wont allow their fancy fitted kitchens to be dismantled to fit a new metric meter when the meters are tucked away in corners of kitchens. A National Grid manager I met said eventually they would have no option but to shut the gas supply off on Health and Safety grounds when the meters pass the 25 year mark

We live in a democracy, not in a dictatorship land like North Korea.

sacsquacco wrote: »

Why are you getting "hassle ", ? its enshrined in law from our government that you can take it or leave it.Once the supplier receives your opt out, thats it .However they will still hassle you to fit a normal dumb meter and you have to let them fit it.

Hassle in the way of random emails and text messages asking me to book an installment appointment. Since when was it acceptable for these companies to do business by text message at 10.30pm at night.

alderpoint

Deleted_User wrote: »

. Since when was it acceptable for these companies to do business by text message at 10.30pm at night.

Text messages are a non-guaranteed service. When one is sent there is no guarantee when it is delivered, or even it if is delivered at all. The only thing you can tell about a txt received at 10.30pm is that it was sent before that time: maybe minutes before, hours before, or even weeks before.

dericS

Thank you for all the views folks. Some interesting points made. I think I might wait before jumping in to order my smart meter - hopefully the market will standardise itself and further regulation will result in a better deal for consumers (ATM it seems the big winner in all of this are the energy companies themselves). I am also concerned about the sizes of the meters. Ideally I'd like my meters moved out to the front of the property where they are easily accessible in the event of an emergency. ATM they are awkwardly tucked away in my garden and bigger meters would certainly create a problem in the space they currently housed in. Given how much they're benefitting from this, energy companies should offer free relocation to more appropriate locations within 30 meters of the original site. That would certainly sweeten the deal.

System

dericS wrote: »

. Ideally I'd like my meters moved out to the front of the property where they are easily accessible in the event of an emergency. ATM they are awkwardly tucked away in my garden and bigger meters would certainly create a problem in the space they currently housed in. Given how much they're benefitting from this, energy companies should offer free relocation to more appropriate locations within 30 meters of the original site. That would certainly sweeten the deal.

And the Government has just announced that it intends to abolish all taxes. The cost of all meter moves is normally the responsibility of the property owner. You only have to look at threads on this forum to see how much the charge is for moving a meter box from an inside to outside wall. That said, 'what emergency' do you have in mind, and why would you want the meter location changed.? Surely, the whole point of smart metering is that is that the meter does not need to be read by the customer. Smart Metering is already forecast to cost us about £12.1Bn and this cost is rising year-on-year. I cannot see the Government wanting to move meter locations FOC. Sorry.

How big is a smart meter?

You'll get two smart meters – one for gas and one for electricity (or just an electricity one if you haven't got gas). The smart gas meters are about the same size as current gas meters, while you may find that your electricity smart meter is slightly bigger than the old-style meter you have now.

Source: Which

[Deleted User]

"Whitch " has got it wrong.Smart gas is an e6 meter, about the same width but prob half the height of a normal G 4 gas meter and the electric is both wider and prob 3 times the height of a digital Ampy or double the height of an analogue meter.Meter fitters routinely walk out of a property failing to fit meters because, they say that the gas and electric meters are too close together citing current regs. Even separating the two meters, say in the pantry, the cost would unfairly fall on the householder.