Smart meters not worth the bother?

malky39

Just to mention your power will not be off for the full duration that the engineer is there, it will be off until the electric meter is installed. Power will be restored before the gas meter is put in

House_Martin

Ilona wrote: »

I can't understand why you are speaking to BG about Smart Meters, if you don't want one. They are not compulsory yet.

Ilona

If BG fit a replacement gas meter it will only be a smart meter ,Landis and Gyr g370 but will be not operating in smart mode.They will not be fitting any other meters as far as I know other than the G370..The present occupier may have a change of mind later on, or vacate ,or an appealing smart gas tariff may be introduced. They already have a popular smart electric Time of Use tariff which appeals to many standard/variable tariff users in the free 8 hrs on Saturday or Sunday.

Katie-Kat-Kins

And they still can't cope with any non-standard meter situations. Recently spoke to my supplier to see whether a Smart Meter might enable me to ditch my awful meter with two MPANs and 5 rates but apparently not.

Robisere

NineDeuce wrote: »

Smart meters in the end will become obligatory, so you will have it done at some point.

Further to what you say though, I can tell that you arent that bothered though. You would save a lot of money if you switched every year rather than every 3.

Where do you keep your crystal ball? There are no plans to make them compulsory:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/your-energy-meter/getting-a-smart-meter-installed/

Scroll down to "Refusing a Smart Meter."

I have used various websites to check whether I could save by switching, every year for 6 years. Every time I come back to my supplier's deal. They have the best customer service and website, which is worth more than just money. I also send regular readings and they adjust my DD accordingly. If I don't accept the figures, I use the efficient Chatline and a compromise is reached.

It takes 10 minutes to go to each meter, take readings and send them. Why do I need a smart meter, with all the reported problems?

Neil49

The smartest thing to do is to read your meters every month a few days before your monthly bill is generated, login to your online account and post the readings yourself. Stick a reminder on your online calendar.

Ideally, keep a basic spreadsheet of this information so that when you come to renew your tariff you can work out your annual usage without wading through bills. I use the free Google Sheets online (part of Google Docs) for this so you don't need a fancy word processing application.

At present, smart meters are a waste of (our) time and money.

Chomeur

Robisere wrote: »

Where do you keep your crystal ball? There are no plans to make them compulsory:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/your-energy-meter/getting-a-smart-meter-installed/

Scroll down to "Refusing a Smart Meter."

I have used various websites to check whether I could save by switching, every year for 6 years. Every time I come back to my supplier's deal. They have the best customer service and website, which is worth more than just money. I also send regular readings and they adjust my DD accordingly. If I don't accept the figures, I use the efficient Chatline and a compromise is reached.

It takes 10 minutes to go to each meter, take readings and send them. Why do I need a smart meter, with all the reported problems?

I could see them becoming compulsory once they can be transferred between providers. But until then the government would face too much protest, maybe even judicial review.

House_Martin

Robisere wrote: »

Where do you keep your crystal ball? There are no plans to make them compulsory:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/your-energy-meter/getting-a-smart-meter-installed/

Scroll down to "Refusing a Smart Meter."

I have used various websites to check whether I could save by switching, every year for 6 years. Every time I come back to my supplier's deal. They have the best customer service and website, which is worth more than just money. I also send regular readings and they adjust my DD accordingly. If I don't accept the figures, I use the efficient Chatline and a compromise is reached.

It takes 10 minutes to go to each meter, take readings and send them. Why do I need a smart meter, with all the reported problems?

The smart meter roll out was started by the Labour government when Ed Milliband made them obligatory in 2008..One Tory minister, who is now in a different job probably , relaxed the term "obligatory " but did not pass legislation to that effect..
In a list of EU countries showing the smart meter roll out the UK is listed as "mandatory ", only Germany and Sweden are listed as "opt out ".All the rest in the EU are listed as mandatory..When push comes to shove, behind the slight relaxation of one government minister, the roll out has got to be mandatory for all otherwise it will fail.
Florida and California bill refusers quite an annual sum for opting out.That is the only way it can work.We can t have a stubborn few refusing the new meters.. I can understand the SMETS1/2 reasons for refusals but once that is out of the way then everyone has to fall in line,,or they get an annual metering costs billed to them
i don t think Citizens Advice are as good as some of the forum members on here for answering questions on utility problems

The_Green_Hornet

House_Martin wrote: »

The smart meter roll out was started by the Labour government when Ed Milliband made them obligatory in 2008..One Tory minister, who is now in a different job probably , relaxed the term "obligatory " but did not pass legislation to that effect..
In a list of EU countries showing the smart meter roll out the UK is listed as "mandatory ", only Germany and Sweden are listed as "opt out ".All the rest in the EU are listed as mandatory..When push comes to shove, behind the slight relaxation of one government minister, the roll out has got to be mandatory for all otherwise it will fail.
Florida and California bill refusers quite an annual sum for opting out.That is the only way it can work.We can t have a stubborn few refusing the new meters.. I can understand the SMETS1/2 reasons for refusals but once that is out of the way then everyone has to fall in line,,or they get an annual metering costs billed to them
i don t think Citizens Advice are as good as some of the forum members on here for answering questions on utility problems

Currently there is no legal obligation on individuals to have one unless you can link to something that contradicts the Government's own website (see last paragraph in the Supplier led roll-out section).

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/smart-meters-how-they-work

anotheruser

In answer to the question, yes, they're not worth the bother at the moment.

Many companies want meter readings monthly, but there's nothing forcing you to do that.

I'd like to hold out as long as possible so I get the newest model. However they could decide to start charging at some point I suppose.