Smart meters and switching provider

wiredworm

Hi,

We had smart meters fitted by British Gas about 8 months ago.

We're now looking to change provider because doing so will save us around £400 per year.

If we do this then does the new provider have to fit new meters? Or can they simply take over the existing meter?

Thanks in advance for any advice on this. I'd rather know the answer before going ahead with the switch.

Pete

Consumerist

New meters will not be required. It is possible, however, that some of the functionality which BG provided using the meter will not be supported by other suppliers.

[Deleted User]

Change supplier to the excellent rates of Sainsburys Energy, who are British Gas in disguise and keep the smarts operating as they were, (collecting £30 cashback ). Any of the others and the meter is a dumbo. Smart switching appears to be a long long way off yet.The IHD will operate as an accurate energy monitor.

wiredworm

Thanks for the advice guys.

Now switched to Sainsburys Energy, thus saving £35 per month and with cashback.

Free money - whats not to like eh?

System

wiredworm wrote: »

Thanks for the advice guys.

Now switched to Sainsburys Energy, thus saving £35 per month and with cashback.

Free money - whats not to like eh?

Are you sure about the savings? The amount looks very high to me UNLESS you are switching from a standard variable tariff to a fixed tariff.

Consumerist

Hengus wrote: »

Are you sure about the savings? The amount looks very high to me UNLESS you are switching from a standard variable tariff to a fixed tariff.

Could be that BG had set the DD too high or Sainsburys have set it too low. I agree it's unlikely that the actual savings (on consumption cost) are as high as £35 per month.

Edit
Or is this the "savings" claimed by a comparison site?

[Deleted User]

They can well be somewhere near that from BG standard or Fix and Fall to a Sainsburys dual fuel one year fix.Its amazing how BG can offer these much cheaper rates via a smokescreen of Sainsburys Energy. Ukpower.co.uk state that its their most popular switch to Sainsburys Energy

Consumerist

sacsquacco wrote: »

Ukpower.co.uk state that its their most popular switch to Sainsburys Energy

That's odd. UK Power site tells me (Eastern region) Sainsburys is third most popular and FU has the top spot.

[Deleted User]

Consumerist wrote: »

That's odd. UK Power site tells me (Eastern region) Sainsburys is third most popular and FU has the top spot.

Well it will vary,Sainsburys was top billing a few days ago, or maybe the comp site wants to promote certain suppliers. I can t believe people are trusting First Utility after the horror stories of a couple of years ago. They must have improved their act a lot.

System

sacsquacco wrote: »

Well it will vary,Sainsburys was top billing a few days ago, or maybe the comp site wants to promote certain suppliers. I can t believe people are trusting First Utility after the horror stories of a couple of years ago. They must have improved their act a lot.

With respect, Ofgem-accredited comparison sites are not into promoting certain suppliers in their tables. As MSRers know regional tariff differences can be significant.

Consumerist

sacsquacco wrote: »

Well it will vary,Sainsburys was top billing a few days ago, or maybe the comp site wants to promote certain suppliers. I can t believe people are trusting First Utility after the horror stories of a couple of years ago. They must have improved their act a lot.

The majority of switchers are probably not MSE wise so it's my guess they just don't know what they are letting themselves in for. Most will only look at the annual cost - and I suspect FU are only too aware of this.