IGT no Smart Meter until 2020

Kalikat

Hello never posted first time.

I have just recently got my electric smart meter installed by British Gas. They could not install the gas smart meter because I'm connected via an independent gas transporter. The reason I asked to change the meters was to get on the free time tariff however they have told me I can't switch tariff unless both meters are smart. I complained but they said they have tried speaking with them (igt) about permission to change the meters but they are not interested as they will lose revenue because of this, I'm told this will affect about a million people stuck until 2020? Can anybody help
Thanks Andy

CashStrapped

I cannot answer the issue regarding when smart meters will be available for IGT. The roll out has been a mess thus far,

The current smart meters are not compatible across all suppliers. So if you were able to get one, if you switched to an un-suppprted supplier, there is a strong possibility it would not work as a smart meter any more.

They are kind of hobbled first versions. There has been talk about them being upgradable at a later stage but this is not confirmed yet.

Version 2 smart meters should be launched in the next few years. This is when everything should be compatible across all suppliers. Personally I would wait till then anyway, so you are not missing anything.

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Furthermore, I assume you are talking about the free day weekend tariffs. Free gas and electricity on one day if you have a smart meter.

If so, do be aware that the offer may not be as good as it seems.

1) The tariff the rest of the time is pretty poor and more than compensates for the free day

2) So even if you use a huge amount on that one day, it may actually be cheaper to go with the cheapest tariff available.

You have to do the maths.

Say you have an annual use of 3500kwh electric and 1200kwh Gas

The cheapest duel fuel would be £842

The cheapest individual tariff would be £819

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Now, as far as I can see, the comparison sites cannot take into account a free weekend offer. So lets assume that for one day a week you do all the heavy use electrical stuff. If you managed to use 25kwh on that one day for a year this would equate to 1300kwh over a year.

The British gas free tariff, using the same figures, would cost £1048.36.

But, this does not take into account the free day. So assuming we can take off 1300kwh electric.

12000kwh Gas
2200kwh Electric

This total gives us a revised result based on the British Gas free day tariff -

The cost would be around £888.65

(I am not sure if they deduct the standing charge for the free day, but this would not equate to a lot)

That ends up costing more than the cheapest duel fuel tariff!

That is assuming you could maintain that high use, on that one day, year round.

Furthermore, overly excessive use can be capped by British Gas. So if you were thinking of doing something out of the ordinary, British Gas may not like it.

Of course, this is all just rough estimations.

But, my point is, before you think a tariff may or may not be beneficial, look at your use. Look at what you would feasibly use on that free day, do the maths and work out the estimated annual cost.

If it works out, great, if it does not....then....erm...don't switch on to it.

System

Kalikat wrote: »

Hello never posted first time.

I have just recently got my electric smart meter installed by British Gas. They could not install the gas smart meter because I'm connected via an independent gas transporter. The reason I asked to change the meters was to get on the free time tariff however they have told me I can't switch tariff unless both meters are smart. I complained but they said they have tried speaking with them (igt) about permission to change the meters but they are not interested as they will lose revenue because of this, I'm told this will affect about a million people stuck until 2020? Can anybody help
Thanks Andy

I am still of the view that this is primarily an issue between BG and this particular IGT(s). Gas supplied by IGTs is more expensive than gas transported by the National Grid. In the days of yore, this was reflected in higher prices to IGT customers. Today, most suppliers but not all, spread the cost amongst all their gas consumers. From a simple search, it is possible to find references to the fact that IGTs are already fitting smart meters, and have been doing so for the past 6 years or so. That said, my guess is that this is targeted at the new homes sector.

FWiW, I agree wholeheartedly with CS. BG's Freetime tariffs are nothing more than a lure to keep you on their standard variable tariff. You would save much more by doing a full market price comparison and looking for a cheaper fixed deal.

MeterMan

IGT will fit smart meters on their sites where the housing developer has requested them. The problem is that when making the meter smart, BG can only do this before the home owner has moved in.

I do not know the whys, but it comes up quite often.

We get told that its IGTs fault and not BG because IGT maintain their own metering infrastructure.

System

I ve been reading quite a few smart meters on the new freetime tariff. Its an electric smart meter tariff only , so why would it matter if the gas is nt smart or even if they had a gas meter at all.
It looks a great tariff for those users who want to stay with BG. They now have no cheap tariffs themselves or with Sainsburys Energy, OFGEM have put paid to that.
One meter I looked at only last week on the fFreetime tariff had been in only two weeks and they had done 80 kwhrs on the free 8 hrs on a Sunday.She was going to ask to come off it because she thought it was nt a good deal..Seemed ok to me TBH

CashStrapped

I have made an edit to my calculations:

I realised.....stupidly....that gas is not included in the freetime tariff. I thought the savings were too high.

So based on the new calculation. It would still cost more than the cheapest duel fuel tariff.

British Gas seem to estimate you will use 11% of your annual use on freetime. Far less than I estimated.

There are lots of articles about it.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/energy/2016/07/british-gas-offers-free-weekend-electricity-if-you-get-a-smart-meter---but-will-it-save-you-money

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/bills-and-utilities/gas-electric/british-gass-free-energy-saves-money-if-you-do-25-washes-every-s/

System

Many people are determined to stay with British Gas, maybe its because they think they are the old "gas board " or purely British , either way they are staying with them for their reliable customer service. The Freetime tariff is quite good for those who can make it work on either Saturday or Sunday. Its unknown how cheap it is.No one so far has got a years usage on this tariff to say if its any good, but every unit used on the cheap 8 hours lowers the Standard/Variable tariff that the approx 50% of users are still fixed too. If people can make good use of that free 8 hours and do all the washing/drying/ironing etc and any other use they normally do at other times in the week they can make it pay and effectively lower the 13.2 p kwh single rate price similar to how eco 7 night storage users do. ..
I ve seen quite a few of these new tariffs now and if possible I ask the user how long the tariff has been in use.The free 8 hours is measured on rate 2 of the smart meter with rate 1 being the rest of the total so its easy enough to work out if its more or less than 11 % less. Certainly the one who had used 80 kwhs in two weeks had easily beaten 11% less.

CashStrapped

I would agree with your point about "loyal" Britsh Gas customers....although they are a lost cause in my mind . I only just managed to switch a family member to decent Sainsbury's tariff by proving it was British Gas in disguise.

But....that was not the thrust of my argument....I was specifically focusing on those who do switch being mislead by the potential savings of one free day per week. That is all. Because until you do some rough sums, it may sound like a better tariff than it really is.

Furthermore, British Gas do have a reasonable use clause in the tariff contract. I do wonder what the upper limit of that is.

Looking at your example of 80kwh from two free days (or two 8 hour periods). That is nearly 5kw per hour of use. I wonder how long before British Gas start having second thoughts on their use.

brewerdave

80kwH in 8 hours ??? What were they running? That's more than the average consumer in a week - CANNOT believe that BG would regard that as fair use -sounds more like commercial usage.

Michaelw

British Gas depend on who you speak too I received an email saying to contact them for installation.I rang IGT Independent Pipelines they informed me they had no problems with smart meters being installed but added they had calls form British Gas customers who were told various reasons for not having them installed.

I'am on prepayment here so it will remove the need for a card and key and "hopefully" make topping up easier.Their being installed next month through Independent pipelines with British Gas it will save going outside and having to read.