Smart Meters - Ask me anything!

beeringo

4legs wrote: »

Hello

I have a problem believing the sincerity of Energy Company's are we getting something for nothing or do we over time pay for them say with a slight increase in tariff or most alarmingly the ability of the EnCo's fiddling their calibration remotely..can you confirm this can be done!?

Its totally up to the suppliers- they may or may not raise tariffs, i cant say. But with the market so competitive just make sure you keep moving suppliers to get the best deal.
All i can say is for certain is there is no upfront cost to get a smart meter

The CPA (CESG's security requirement document) approval for SMETS2 meters means that if the calibration (amongst other important functions) CANNOT be fiddled with AT ALL BY ANYONE. That includes suppliers and manufacturers.

Hope that helped!:D

D_M_E

A new tenant would have to contact the old supplier to get back on or change supplier as it would be that supplier's security certificate still on the device.
Posted by beeringo

I can see a further complication here - you have introduced a requirement for any new supplier to issue security certification for any device which they add to their systems, i.e. any smart meter when the end user switches supplier(s).

beeringo

jack_pott wrote: »

As a means of getting people to cut their energy consumption, how does the cost of smart meters compare with the cost of banning regressive tariffs, and making progressive tariffs compulsory?

Hi, what do you mean by progressive and regressive tariffs? Do you mean tariffs that change with the time of day, or react to the price of generation?

If so, i need to check my old masters thesis but there was a meta study done of 30 odd trials of smart meters around the world, using different methods of customer engagement (twice monthly billing, single rate tariff, Time of use multi rate tariffs with and without an IHD, and Critical Peak pricing system.

Have a look around the internet if you're interested, but it was the Critical Peak Pricing system that saved the most money with a smart meter and IHD. Cannot remember that figures.
The UK is nowhere near getting to anything like that. Economy 7 is as adventurous as the we get, although British Gas are bringing out innovative tariffs with the free weekend thing.

beeringo

D_M_E wrote: »

I can see a further complication here - you have introduced a requirement for any new supplier to issue security certification for any device which they add to their systems, i.e. any smart meter when the end user switches supplier(s).

Thats right. The new supplier must regenerate the security certificates in order to communicate further. This is to stop just anyone trying to communicate with the meter. The UK metering system is very security centric. Although it sounds complicated, these processes should be automated to some extent.

beeringo

olbas_oil wrote: »

I am currently with OVO, but may well be changing when my contract ends in a couple of months. If I got a smart meter fitted now (presumably SMETS1), which companies would be able to use this meter without it becoming dumb?

Cant help there sorry! You'd have to know what meters OVO used and what contracts it has with communications providers

But... i would suggest if you want a smart meter, seeing as i imagine you will have 1 year with your new energy supplier or OVO, to go with a SMETS1 meter and come this time next year you could request a SMETS2 one... then you can switch freely and keep your smart-ness

beeringo

Sterlingtimes wrote: »

Thank you, beeringo.

The Smart Gateway collects data from the Smart Meter (WIFI, radio) and then uses the Internet to pass the data to Ovo, so the central platform, via 3G radio, would be bypassed in this instance. There is a good level of granularity on the data collection. Below y axis is kW and x axis is time today.

Thats brilliant. If it was me i'd keep this for as long as possible as long as the tariff is competitive!
In the industry they call these 'CADs' - Consumer Access Devices. While they are not mandated to be provided to all customers, manufacturers of IHDs are getting ahead of the game and often offer a product very similar to that!
Seeing as the IHD displays this information anyway, why not connect it to the router and have a service like yours?
Obviously you would have to connect it to the router yourself so if you're not comfortable with this don't connect it

GingerBob_3

lstar337 wrote: »

This does make me laugh!

Sure dude, they're lining up around the block to find out when you boil your kettle. :rotfl: Careful now, you never know how they'll use that information against you. Keep your eyes peeled for targeted Tetley ads!

Well now, if you're happy to let your energy supplier know precisely when the house is unoccupied - and when I say energy supplier I mean loads of people in call centres and whoever else wants to view the real-time data - you go ahead and get a smart meter. And while you're at it, why don't you give a running commentary on Facebook detailing when your house is empty? You wouldn't do that - would you?

superbigal36

How much does 02 (Or whoever) charge for data transfer via GPRS ?
How much data is required to communicate etc ?
Do they charge by each communication or an annual fee or by the kilobyte or what ?

beeringo

superbigal36 wrote: »

How much does 02 (Or whoever) charge for data transfer via GPRS ?
How much data is required to communicate etc ?
Do they charge by each communication or an annual fee or by the kilobyte or what ?

Good question. If you have a SMETS1 or current smart meter the energy supplier will pay whoever owns the sim card, and is billed directly.

For SMETS2 or future meters, the Energy Suppler pays the CSP (communications service provider) for use of their network, and is billed directly.

You as the consumer will never pay for this.

Similarly people ask me how much does a smart meter cost to run? The answer is nothing (for consumers) as it powers itself from the outside power source, not your household circuit - not measuring it's own usage.

beeringo

GingerBob wrote: »

Well now, if you're happy to let your energy supplier know precisely when the house is unoccupied - and when I say energy supplier I mean loads of people in call centres and whoever else wants to view the real-time data - you go ahead and get a smart meter. And while you're at it, why don't you give a running commentary on Facebook detailing when your house is empty? You wouldn't do that - would you?

When you call a bank all your banking information comes up to the call centre advisor... Does this worry you?

There is no 'whoever else'.
Data privacy is a high priority for banks as it is energy suppliers.

Facebook posts information to the public so there can be no parallels drawn there.

Obviously i would vouch for the data privacy but energy suppliers will always respect your wishes to not install a smart meter, that is your decision :cool: