Smart Meter With British Gas - Time To Switch?

linzi_h

Hi everyone! I am after some advice please.

I have a smart meter with British Gas and my deal came to an end in December so I am now on the standard tariff. I have been looking at switching but I am concerned that my smart meter will not work anymore. Has anyone switched before, after this has been installed and if so, will the meters work the same as they did before if the supplying company I swap to don't offer the smart meter technology?

Thanks in advance for any help offered

footyguy

linzi_h wrote: »

Hi everyone! I am after some advice please.

I have a smart meter with British Gas and my deal came to an end in December so I am now on the standard tariff. I have been looking at switching but I am concerned that my smart meter will not work anymore. Has anyone switched before, after this has been installed and if so, will the meters work the same as they did before if the supplying company I swap to don't offer the smart meter technology?

Thanks in advance for any help offered

a) why don't you transfer to a lower cost BG (or BG white label) tariff if you wish to keep full functionality???
b) any other supplier should be able to supply you, but your meter will then be used as a dumb meter

Blueshark911

Hi Swapped from British Gas in November 2016 after having BG install smart meters both Gas & Elec. The meters still work although YOU will have to read them, very easy to do. The only thing you wont get is the link to the BG site showing actual useage. No need to worry find the deal thats best for you.

linzi_h

Thanks for the info. I wasn't sure if they would work like my old ones did before I had them changed. Time to switch

rusty_frog

We have a smart meter which was originally installed by SSE.
We have been on the BG Collective for the last 11 months and the meter is read automatically, without a problem by British Gas!

System

rusty_frog wrote: »

We have a smart meter which was originally installed by SSE.
We have been on the BG Collective for the last 11 months and the meter is read automatically, without a problem by British Gas!

That is not supposed to happen ! its supposed to be a dumb meter going from SSE to BG. I wonder if anyone else has that happen.

Rubidium

House_Martin wrote: »

That is not supposed to happen ! its supposed to be a dumb meter going from SSE to BG. I wonder if anyone else has that happen.

Your post reveals just how little you actually know about the current smart meter situation in the UK, despite constantly posting that we should all accept smart meters without question simply because you 'think' that they are fantastic.

The DDC is now being trialed in a couple of areas of the country with a small number of guinea pig customers and if SSE had the sense to wait until SMETS2 meters were available for fitting and with BG also trialing them in small numbers, then this situation will work for a very limited number of customers.

This however is not the normal situation and is why smart MSE'er will continue to say no to smarts until the meters and DDC are fully functional offering all of the features specified because smart MSE'ers know more than you do!

DavidP24

On this subject I am in agreement with Rubidium, even if he is a bit hostile in his response (unwarranted).

IMO the only people that benefit from smart meters are the energy companies.

Over time it will enable them to bill us monthly as the norm, currently they hold billions in overpaid accounts.

Even if they work I do not see how they help you reduce your usage, it is not as if they tell you your Fridge is using a lot of power, but a £10 device off eBay will do just that without all this incompatible kit.

Who pays for the power to run these things anyway?

Based on how many they have installed this far the project is not going to complete on time, in project management you review the benefits scrap it if you can see it is not going to deliver. We are at that stage.

I have no plans to get one and if one is installed I will disable it.

System

Even our politicians are confused about the aim of the U.K. Smart Meter programme: (no hope then for us lesser mortals)

67.
It is unclear whether the Government’s primary aim of the smart meter rollout is the establishment of a smart energy system (and the realisation of the corresponding benefits of this for efficient energy generation, both now and in the future), or to save individuals money on their energy bills. The Government needs to do more to communicate the national benefits of smart metering alongside the potential cost savings and efficiences for individual consumers. This was a weakness of the Government’s evidence check statement, and relates to a lack of clarity over the ‘problem’ that smart meters aim to address. In its response to this report, the Government should provide further information on how it expects smart metering to affect the required energy generation capacity of the network and the mix of energy generation sources.

HoC's Evidence Check - September 2016

PS I wouldn't disable any meter or part of it as it could be construed as criminal damage.

DavidP24

What me Guv, what is it they said in Bar Steward Operator From Hell, few iron filings

http://bofh.bjash.com/index.html#Original

DavidP24

Hengus wrote: »

Even our politicians are confused about the aim of the U.K. Smart Meter programme: (no hope then for us lesser mortals)

67.
It is unclear whether the Government’s primary aim of the smart meter rollout is the establishment of a smart energy system (and the realisation of the corresponding benefits of this for efficient energy generation, both now and in the future), or to save individuals money on their energy bills. The Government needs to do more to communicate the national benefits of smart metering alongside the potential cost savings and efficiences for individual consumers. This was a weakness of the Government’s evidence check statement, and relates to a lack of clarity over the ‘problem’ that smart meters aim to address. In its response to this report, the Government should provide further information on how it expects smart metering to affect the required energy generation capacity of the network and the mix of energy generation sources.

HoC's Evidence Check - September 2016

PS I wouldn't disable any meter or part of it as it could be construed as criminal damage.

Honestly, when I read that I think they should be taken out at dawn and shot, translated it means "we have not got a f'ing clue but we should make up some BS to justify all the public money we are wasting,"