Smart meter offered

robti

Hi my mother has dual fuel with Scottish gas and she has just received an offer to upgrade them both to smart meters.

So can anyone tell me if there are any adverse points not to accept this offer ?

Thanks

Robert

CashStrapped

Some of our resident meter readers will no doubt respond but I'll try to cover all the bases.

1. There are already 2 generations of smart meter. The first generation (currently available) is not compatible with all companies. So if you ever switch to an unsupported company it will become a dumb meter (like a normal meter). The second generation is due out later this year (I think). So instead of halting the installation of current meters companies are trying to shift them, even though they may need replacement. You may therefore want to wait until the new generation arrives. At which point a new version will probably arise.

2. If you want a smart meter now and your company is compatible, then there will be no issue.

3. Some people do not like or are wary having a meter sending data about how and when they use gas/electric or do not trust the devices. I am not saying this is right or wrong or something to be concerned about. Just stating a basis on which some people may refuse them.

A better way of helping out would be to do an energy comparison to see if her current supplier is the cheapest for her annual KWH use. Unrelated I know but worth mentioning.

Scottish Gas = British Gas + Older person = being ripped off

[Deleted User]

There are no adverse points to smart meters IMO. Its just a better way for all concerned to operate the business at the lowest possible price which in the end will result in cheaper energy for all users. If the suppliers are using the word "upgrade " as if the occupier is going to benefit then I think they are over doing the hard sell too much. All suppliers will benefit much more and it is in their interests to have a smart grid in place.
One point to mention though is that if your mum says no thanks to the suppliers wanting to improve their systems then they are within their rights to add metering costs to people who want to keep the old meters from the last century in place. These costs could well be in the region of £60 a year. States in the USA (Florida and California )have applied these costs to refusers .
Your mum needs new meters anyway so why not get smart meters installed like over two million have already. I ve got them and they are not any different to a normal meter except I can sit back and forget about meter readers or sending in my own readings.
OP, just try and make sure that your mums dual fuel is nt on "standard/variable tariff as that is more important than what type of meter she uses.Meter readers will call a few times after installation of smarts and if all is well that is the last you will see of them for 5 years and more with BG and probably over 2 years with the rest.

Sterlingtimes

There are three adverse points which have affected me.

[1] If your mobile phone signal strength is anything but high then the smart meter may require an external aerial, or it may not work at all.

[2] If you have solar then you will lose your right to deemed export payments.

[3] It is an illusion that meter readers will not call frequently.

Having said this, smart meters make perfect sense in the country's managing its energy distribution better.

Rubidium

Refuse smarts now and wait at least a couple of years until they are all fitting SMETS2 smarts, which will allow easy, painless switching between suppliers. The current smarts are pointless for most customers and will not save you any money.

[Deleted User]

sacsquacco wrote: »

Your mum needs new meters anyway

Sorry but OP does not state that anywhere.

I have a 4 year old meter and was offered the chance to have a SMART meter installed. The meter I have is more than adequate and didn't need replacing yet. So I ignored the letter as that was all that was required.

Some companies are desperate to install smart meters to get their quota up to the Government mandated levels that they will remove good meters with plenty of years left in them. And then will need to replace the current generation to make them compatible with the yet to be finalised second generation meters which allow for the smarts to be portable between suppliers.

ToomanyPies

CashStrapped wrote: »

Scottish GAS = British Gas + Older person = being ripped off

Correction

System

sacsquacco wrote: »

There are no adverse points to smart meters IMO. Its just a better way for all concerned to operate the business at the lowest possible price which in the end will result in cheaper energy for all users. If the suppliers are using the word "upgrade " as if the occupier is going to benefit then I think they are over doing the hard sell too much. All suppliers will benefit much more and it is in their interests to have a smart grid in place.
One point to mention though is that if your mum says no thanks to the suppliers wanting to improve their systems then they are within their rights to add metering costs to people who want to keep the old meters from the last century in place. These costs could well be in the region of £60 a year. States in the USA (Florida and California )have applied these costs to refusers .
Your mum needs new meters anyway so why not get smart meters installed like over two million have already. I ve got them and they are not any different to a normal meter except I can sit back and forget about meter readers or sending in my own readings.
OP, just try and make sure that your mums dual fuel is nt on "standard/variable tariff as that is more important than what type of meter she uses.Meter readers will call a few times after installation of smarts and if all is well that is the last you will see of them for 5 years and more with BG and probably over 2 years with the rest.

The suggestion that customers will be 'fined' £60 is complete scaremongering. There is no proposal, as yet, to force domestic customers to accept the offer of a smart meters. Indeed, SmartEnergy GB has admitted that they have yet to come up with a technically-robust solution for all property types.

Whatever one's view on smart meters, I wouldn't even considering accepting one until DCC goes live and SMETS2-compliant meters are available for installation.

[Deleted User]

Not "fined ", that is scaremongering on your part, just passing on the extra costs that the suppliers have to incur because a few , now sacked, Lib Dem MPs gave people the option to refuse. Sounds very fair to me to make people pay for suppliers facing increased costs running the old meters .Its great for all the fiddlers and professional renters ripping us all off to have the right of refusal and obviously they will now just say eff off I m sticking with my Landys and Gyr/Siemans easy-fiddle prepay meter.
The French and Spanish etc had the right idea, saying you re having a smart because we want them and tough luck if you re a paranoid or an energy thief or an EMF radio wave baby. Buts that the UK for you, the laughing stock of the world where benefit scroungers and NHS free health care tourists all queue up to rip us off because the UK Governments are too soft.
I agree that if someone does nt care for smart meters that can t smart switch then its worth the wait until SMET2 comes in. My smarts have been able to smart switch ok but that was BG to Sainsburys energy and vice versa. I find the smart switching ability to be overplayed anyway and its no big deal either way to me if I submit reads myself or its automatic, the important thing is that the millions of customers who are either messing up their own billing, thieving energy or getting into big debts like a poster today will have their billing more or less spot on and will save everyone a lot of money. Magistrates wont be signing warrants every Monday, locksmiths wont be breaking into properties and people wont be coming on here every day bleating about suppliers not being magicians and having the ability to guess their usage.

robti

Thanks all for the helpful replies her meters are around 2 years old in a new build but will advise her to wait as she is not interested in them, now I had totally forgot about doing a comparison on her tariffs so will concentrate on that for the moment.

Thanks

reeac

Sterlingtimes wrote: »

There are three adverse points which have affected me.

[1] If your mobile phone signal strength is anything but high then the smart meter may require an external aerial, or it may not work at all.

[2] If you have solar then you will lose your right to deemed export payments.

[3] It is an illusion that meter readers will not call frequently.

Having said this, smart meters make perfect sense in the country's managing its energy distribution better.

This does not accord with my experience. I have had PV panels for 5 years and a (non working) Smart Meter for 15 months but the FIT payments continue to arrive.
I haven't seen a meter reader for years apart from the man who once read the PV meter.
We were promised an antenna almost a year ago but it hasn't arrived yet.