about to have electricity smart meter installed

abbas5001

hi all

i am with first utility. i asked them to install smart meters as for gas and electric i never get round to checking the meters and then going onto the website to enter the usage details. therefore, my bills have almost always been estimated.

they said they are not rolling out gas smart meters but will install one for electricity. however, i just seen some horror stories of people claiming the bills will actually go up and it's all about an invasion of privacy.

i love how this forum is always so sensible and balanced so is there any truth to these stories?

Robin9

Your new meter will solve the problem of estimated readings.

The stories are stories.

tim_n

The only problem with smart meters is that the standard (at least the last time I looked) isn't set yet. Therefore if you get a smart meter from OVO, there's no guarantee if you moved to EON that the smart functionality would continue to work. That doesn't mean to say the meter won't continue - it will just like a standard meter, but if/when you move, you may end up feeding smart readings back into the system.

This was certainly the case about a year ago, I don't think anything has changed.

Any horror stories are limited purely to genuine meter faults that could happen on any meter. It being smart just means you get the readings sent automatically.

Certainly still seems to be the case with switching: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/energy-bills/11643750/1.5-million-smart-meters-wont-work-when-you-switch-energy-supplier.html but I would imagine this is a temporary setback and the routers can be retrospectively upgraded via the internet to solve that problem *eventually*

Would I have one? No. Mostly because my situation is different (my meter is new and I receive a solar subsidy which likely would affect my pay outs. Sometimes less accuracy is an advantage!

Rubidium

Why not simply provide meter readings to avoid estimated bills - how hard is that?

Implementation of UK smart meters is a joke! e.g. interoperability between suppliers, first generation smarts being fitted.

victor2

I hope you check and/or correct the estimated readings used for actual ones!
Personally I wouldn't bother get a new smart meter installed. If they can only do the electricity then you've still got the gas meter readings to deal with. As already said, there are no standards in use yet, so you'll probably find it would go back to being a "dumb" meter if you switch suppliers.
Don't believe the rumours regarding bills increasing. If anything you will get more accurate billing, as the supplier will regularly get actual readings.
The "invasion of privacy" is no more than using a credit/debit card in a supermarket, less so actually, as the supermarket knows exactly what you buy, the energy supplier only sees how much you have used over a period of time.

JReacher1

I wouldn't get one yet as the technology is still very new. It's best to wait a couple of years. If you get one now the chances are that you may have to get another one in a couple of years

System

My daughter lives in Toronto and energy complaints over high bills are now a major issue. Nothing to do with smart meters per se but complaints have rocketed after the introduction of tiered energy pricing: high peak, mid peak and off peak. This is why the Government is so keen on smart meters: it is desperate to get peak energy demand down and this can only be achieved when smart meters are installed.

teddysmum

abbas5001 wrote: »

hi all

i am with first utility. i asked them to install smart meters as for gas and electric i never get round to checking the meters and then going onto the website to enter the usage details. therefore, my bills have almost always been estimated.

My tariff (another provider) is an online one and they send reminder emails every three months (I chose this billing period), asking for readings, so there will be no need to estimate.

[Deleted User]

Accent on the word "stories " with the horror stories complaint.Utter rubbish. If the odd person suddenly finds out their bills have gone up its because their old meters were under reading, or they were fiddling. All smart electric are brand new advanced digital meters which will be spot on recording the consumption. Even if your new smart loses the smart function if you switch it still operates as an accurate meter but you will have an advanced energy monitor as well

abbas5001

I know it is lazy but for some reason my meters are outside so I only have free time in the evening and I just cannot remember or be bothered especially when it's raining or in cold weather like this.

Still to decide on the smart meter

[Deleted User]

Go to Poundland and for 4 quid buy a torch, umbrella, pen and calender.

On the calendar write, using the £1 pen, read the meters against the 1st of each month. So 12 times in total.

Put the calender up by then TV or computer or cooker depending which one you use the most.

Every day look at the calender. Ask yourself, have I read the meters this month? If you have you will have written down the readings on the calender and sent them to the suppliers. If not, get the torch and umbrella and go and read them now. Come back in, write them on the calender and log onto the suppliers website and enter them.

Easy really.

This is my method --

Use a smart phone/tablet, you can save £2 and use the calender and reminder functions in the phone/tablet. Take photos of the meters and then log onto the website from the device to enter the readings, taking them from the photo. In fact the phone will save another £1 as you will not need the torch as the flash will illuminate the meter. You just need to get a £1 umbrella!