Smart Meter Upgrade?

Furts

tim_n wrote: »

Benefit of a dumb meter on solar with FIT payments is you're getting 50% of your electricity generated as export tarrif - so 4p per unit or somesuch.
With a smart meter, they know exactly how much you're feeding back into the grid, so they could reduce that payment.

Plus many electric meters are said to be going backwards where people have PV Panels. Which Magazine ran an article on this a year or two back. I doubt these people will be keen to have smart meters.

tim_n

Sadly only affected a few with old mechanical meters! But yes that would be nice, mine is digital!

phil24_7

I thought you needed a separate export meter for the actual reading to be used for your FIT payments? All the old mechanical meters should be flagged once your bill drastically reduces or even ends up with a negative reading. Your are contractually obliged to inform the supplier anyway if this happens. If you don't, once they find out they can use predicted readings to calculate what you owe them...this will nearly always be more that you actually do!

Furts

phil24_7 wrote: »

I thought you needed a separate export meter for the actual reading to be used for your FIT payments? All the old mechanical meters should be flagged once your bill drastically reduces or even ends up with a negative reading. Your are contractually obliged to inform the supplier anyway if this happens. If you don't, once they find out they can use predicted readings to calculate what you owe them...this will nearly always be more that you actually do!

With some houses I have looked at it is apparent the supplier could not care less about the situation. They are aware but they turn a blind eye. Which on reflection is probably a sound commercial thing for them to do.

pimento

I have had a smart meter for about two years. I love not having to go into the garage every month to read the meter. Apart from that, not much change.

Le_Kirk

Keep trying to fit them at my house!! I had two appointments from our supplier (they called me) because I HAD to have Smart meters installed by 2016 (not true) and they were "in the area." Both times I received a phone call just before the appointed time - sorry we have a problem, we will have to reschedule but because we have failed to appear here is a payment. The payment went onto my account and when I phoned to reschedule I told them not to bother.

I am with MisterBaxter, I know when to turn on and off devices and I don't say it's dark, let's look at the Smart meter before we turn the light on, I supply my own meter readings once per month and my account is controlled down to the exact pound per month on a DDR calculated to ensure I am never in debt or too much in credit.

bugslet

My elec and gas for a 3 bed semi is about £550 p.a., seems reasonable to me and I don't use anything I don't need to.

Ectophile

Not all mechanical meters will run backwards - the newer ones shouldn't. Mine won't go back more than one turn before it stops.

To answer phil24_7, I have a generation meter to say what I'm generating, and the usual meter to say what I'm importing. But there's no meter to measure what I'm exporting (and there's no way to calculate it from the other two meters). So it is just assumed that I export half of what I generate, and I'm paid on the basis of that.

phil24_7

Ectophile wrote: »

Not all mechanical meters will run backwards - the newer ones shouldn't. Mine won't go back more than one turn before it stops.

To answer phil24_7, I have a generation meter to say what I'm generating, and the usual meter to say what I'm importing. But there's no meter to measure what I'm exporting (and there's no way to calculate it from the other two meters). So it is just assumed that I export half of what I generate, and I'm paid on the basis of that.

Someone mentioned smart meters record feed in but I was questioning this as I have never heard of it. Can you confirm either way (do you have a smart meter)?

Regards
Phil

Ectophile

phil24_7 wrote: »

Someone mentioned smart meters record feed in but I was questioning this as I have never heard of it. Can you confirm either way (do you have a smart meter)?

Regards
Phil

No, I just have a spinning disc meter.

Some smart meters are programmed to measure export, but I believe the earlier ones weren't. It gets particularly problematic if your FIT company isn't also your electricity supplier.