What are the downsides to Smart Meters?

A.Penny.Saved

I will never have one fitted in my home! I would rather be disconnected from the energy than be exposed to them.

The radiation they put out is harmful to the human body and I will not be exposed to it. Mobile phones have already been shown to be harmful and smart meters use a similar technology. Many people walk around with mobiles stuck to their ears without a thought about what they are doing. For such people smart meters are probably not much of an added risk but I do not use mobile phones so will not accept the added risk.

Besides it being a total utter c!!k up from the start.

EssexExile

But in reality they're fine.

macman

A.Penny.Saved wrote: »

I will never have one fitted in my home! I would rather be disconnected from the energy than be exposed to them.

The radiation they put out is harmful to the human body and I will not be exposed to it. Mobile phones have already been shown to be harmful and smart meters use a similar technology. Many people walk around with mobiles stuck to their ears without a thought about what they are doing. For such people smart meters are probably not much of an added risk but I do not use mobile phones so will not accept the added risk.

Besides it being a total utter c!!k up from the start.

No they haven't. And even if they had, no one is insisting that you walk around with a smart meter clamped to your ear.
I do hope you don't have a wireless router (unless you wear your tin helmet 24/7)?

OP: you can have a water meter fitted for free, if it's not saving you money you can have it disregarded within the first 12 months and revert to RV billing. Bit of a no-brainer really.

wealdroam

I've had a smart meter fitted for some months now and the biggest benefit that I have seen is that the gas and electricity suppliers' nagging letters to get a smart meter installed have stopped.

It fact, that was the only reason I had it/them installed.

I have yet to see any other benefit.

trailingspouse

Thank you!! I've never really been able to understand the point of them. Obviously, I would like our gas and electric bills to be lower, but they are what they are and we can afford them. I couldn't see how a smart meter would pay for itself in reduced energy costs, as I feel we're pretty frugal anyway - I dry clothes outside and only use the tumble dryer to 'finish them off', the heating is only on if it's cold, the hot water is heated as needed, we don't leave lights switched on unnecessarily etc.

I would be quite interested to know, for example, how much it costs to watch the TV for an hour, or whether my daughter's ex-boyfriend (who knew everything...) was right when he said that the kick-plate heaters in our kitchen were expensive to run. But as I will be watching the TV anyway, and only have the heaters on in the depth of winter, it's just idle curiosity really. Would a smart meter be able to answer those questions? And if so, could someone let me know the answers?

firebird082

We had a BG smart meter installed and it can't do any of those things. However, the biggest benefit (and why I really got it!) was so that we can store loads of stuff in our meter cupboard, and now don't have to empty it all to read the meters! Best thing ever :rotfl: We have subsequently changed suppliers, and I have reverted to supplying monthly meter readings to our new one.

Ganga

We have one fitted and it makes meter reading a thing of the past,as for the person who said lack of privicy,because they can tell if you are in or out,rubbish,so if you go out and leave the heating on low and the washing machine on does that mean you are in because the meter is showing usage.
The engineer who fitted our did say that universal meters are on the way that means if you change suppliers the readings will be sent to a central point then on to the supplier.
As for people being paranoid about" big brother watching us",get a life.

r2015

Complaining to wife that it cost 30p in gas because she went out without turning the heating off and being told to F. off.

macman

You don't need a smart meter to know what it costs to run any electrical device. They all have rating plates on showing how many watts they draw. So a 1,000 watt kickplate heater will use 1kWh in an hour, multiply that by your unit rate (typically around 12p) and that's the answer.
Your daughter's ex was probably right, in the sense that it will cost you 250-300% more to heat by electricity than gas per kWh typically 4p per kWh). Assuming you have gas CH and DHW, then just turn up the TRV in the kitchen.
Forget the lights and TV, your tumble drier will be the biggest power consumer after heating and hot water.

Keep_pedalling

A.Penny.Saved wrote: »

I will never have one fitted in my home! I would rather be disconnected from the energy than be exposed to them.

The radiation they put out is harmful to the human body and I will not be exposed to it. Mobile phones have already been shown to be harmful and smart meters use a similar technology. Many people walk around with mobiles stuck to their ears without a thought about what they are doing. For such people smart meters are probably not much of an added risk but I do not use mobile phones so will not accept the added risk.

Besides it being a total utter c!!k up from the start.

How is the weather in your alternative universe?