Smart Meter - good or bad?

fuzzgun19

I've just switched to British Gas, and when I logged in today something had appeared on my account asking me to register my interest in smart meters.

I've not heard of these, and am unsure if they are any good?

torbrex

Smart Meter - good or bad?

My experience has been nothing but - no difference from the old meters.

System

A meter is a meter. Personally, I would wait until the much-delayed Data Communications Company goes live and suppliers start installing SMETS2 compliant smart meters. This will allow you to switch suppliers and retain your smart meter functionality. The Big 6 are required to install 1500 SMETS2 meters per supplier in the coming year so you may have to wait to 2017 - 2019 to get one.

GingerBob_3

In a word - bad. The topic has been debated at length here and elsewhere. There are entrenched views on both sides, including mine.


Why are they bad? In my view one thing stands out - they are a solution looking for a problem.

fuzzgun19

Thanks for the info.

[Deleted User]

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

I've just switched to British Gas, and when I logged in today something had appeared on my account asking me to register my interest in smart meters.

I've not heard of these, and am unsure if they are any good?

As you hate "jobsworths "you would be ideal for a smart meter, no more bloody meter readers banging on your door , some may have an attitude and muddy boots ! So get rid of those jobsworths and do the sensible thing for all, including your supplier, and install a smart meter. BG will still visit approx once every 5 years for a meter check.
Unlike most sensible European countries who gave the population no choice about having a smart meter, this country took notice of a few Lib/Dems and thought that the informed population of the UK should worry about breaching of their data and radio waves pulsing through their brains. In the future these strange people will probably be billed a yearly metering charge to cover the increased costs of using meters from the last century.

fuzzgun19

sacsquacco wrote: »

As you hate "jobsworths "you would be ideal for a smart meter, no more bloody meter readers banging on your door , some may have an attitude and muddy boots ! So get rid of those jobsworths and do the sensible thing for all, including your supplier, and install a smart meter. BG will still visit approx once every 5 years for a meter check.
Unlike most sensible European countries who gave the population no choice about having a smart meter, this country took notice of a few Lib/Dems and thought that the informed population of the UK should worry about breaching of their data and radio waves pulsing through their brains. In the future these strange people will probably be billed a yearly metering charge to cover the increased costs of using meters from the last century.

Not sure what all the waffle means, but they don't even have to knock on the door - meters are outside :T

[Deleted User]

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

Not sure what all the waffle means, but they don't even have to knock on the door - meters are outside :T

I ll simplify it then. Your supplier would prefer it if the energy metering was streamlined so they dont have to send someone to check the meters, or that you have to personally imput them monthly/quarterly for accurate energy billing. .These new meters come with an in house display so you can see your appliances energy usage in great detail so you would be better equipped to spot high using appliances and lower your energy use. As you have the right to refuse these meters, hence the waffle about oddballs who do refuse them, you can elect to ignore the requests to fit smart meters.Smart meters emit a very low level of radio waves (EMF ), likely to be 1000s of times less than a mobile phone or your laptop.Less than any other appliance, like a baby monitor, microwave, tv or wi fi and is considered to be very safe. The gas meter sends a reading to the electric meter once a day , the electric meter will send back hourly readings to the server.
Its your choice. I personally think you should nt have a choice in this and you should be getting the meters installed which the government/suppliers / DNO s want to fit.

System

sacsquacco wrote: »

I ll simplify it then. Your supplier would prefer it if the energy metering was streamlined so they dont have to send someone to check the meters, or that you have to personally imput them monthly/quarterly for accurate energy billing. Smart meters send the readings in automatically every day. These new meters come with an in house display so you can see your appliances energy usage in great detail. As you have the right to refuse these meters, hence the waffle about oddballs who do refuse them, you can elect to ignore the requests to fit smart meters.Smart meters emit a very low level of radio waves (EMF ), likely to be 1000s of times less than a mobile phone or your laptop.Less than any other appliance, like a baby monitor, microwave, tv or wi fi and is considered to be very safe. The gas meter sends a reading to the electric meter once a day , the electric meter will send back hourly readings to the server.
Its your choice. I personally think you should nt have a choice in this and you should be getting the meters installed which the government/suppliers / DNO s want to fit.

Thankfully, we have yet to adopt the North Korean model of Government. Please explain what is 'oddball' about waiting for a fully compliant smart meter which connects to a central data system and is used by all suppliers before signing up for this new technology? The benefits of smart meters have been over-played by suppliers who have claimed that massive savings can be made when this is patently untrue. To my knowledge, there is no mechanism in place to force suppliers to refund the savings in costs from not having to read smart meters. There is also a total lack of re-assurance about the potential for cyber attacks which , at the very least, could turn off a consumer's supply and, at the worst, cause massive damage to the National Grid through unbalanced loads.

There is, with respect, slightly more to this roll-out than an IHD and remote meter reading. If that makes me an 'oddball' then so be it.

[Deleted User]

So be it then Hengus ! an oddball/nutter/luddite in my world is someone who wants to use a horse drawn plough when a tractor beats it all round. If any business chooses to use a more modern and cheaper to run system, whatever that may be, then I m quite happy for them to do it .We see it in every other business so why condemn the energy businesses in doing just that.You brought up some post the other week about 2.5 million customers not getting billed properly.This leads to many many top price prepayment meters being installed, many many debtors owing thousands.. We see it on here every day about some idiots not putting readings in for years and expecting to be mollycoddled and organised by suppliers because that is how dumb meters can operate.Smart meters will solve that ridiculous situation for a start. There are other more serious advantages relating to theft and credit meter fraud which smarts will help to defeat.
France and Italy and Spain, and many other well run European countries all are fitting smarts with no refusals allowed , its a cheap laugh quoting the nutters in N.Korea and cyber attacks but the benefits of smart meters are 99% to the suppliers,DNOs and I personally dont give a monkeys about the benefits to the customers.The suppliers are more important than the whims of a few luddites and if a Smet1 has to be replaced by a SMET2..big deal, I ve dumped my INHD years ago and I m not in the slightest interested in what my cooker uses every hour but I would want a business to be run at the cheapest cost effective way possibly and therefore pass on savings that way and smart prepayment meters will be the only way to lower energy prices for the poorest in the UK.
I agree that the benefits to smart meter customers is overplayed.They really did nt need to go down that way to sweet talk householders into accepting them. They did nt need to sweet talk anyone but the bunch of MPs who did nt understand how the energy market is run who voted to give people the right to refuse them.

fuzzgun19

Don't think i'll bother.