Smart Meters. Are they worth it?

Pedro1877

If you have no idea how much all the individual electric and gas appliances in your house cost it will change your life and you will save hundreds of pounds a year ! I have bought myself various Elec. monitoring devices over the years but the smart meter is the bees knees monitoring gas as well! No more estimated bills but the main thing is knowledge. If you haven't already switched you will immediately be rushing out to change all your light bulbs (when you get back from hospital after your heart attack) to lo energy when you find out how much ordinary lighting costs per hour especially those fancy kitchens with loads of halogen bulbs. When you know how much elec power your house uses with everything switched off (my house currently 70 watts) you can check this anytime/when you go to bed/go out to see if the reading (in £ or kwh) is not what you expect and find that you have left the oven on, a hob plate/ring on, the iron on,/fire on or even a few lights that you could easily have forgotten to switch off.

Having a smart meter is absolute proof and knowledge of something you only could guess in the past and will explain all the shocks you felt when receiving a high bill.

Meter readings are available anytime you wish to see them as well as much more info on hourly/daily/monthly and yearly useage in £ or Kwh. These are actual, easy to read, readings transmitted from the meters - not estimated.

Boy would I love to have had one when I had the kids living with me!!

nic_c

The problem is there are two styles of meters, the newer ones do allow you to switch between suppliers and they remain smart but most installers are still using up supplies of the old style, so maybe in a year or two it might be worth getting.

TBH it wouldn't work in my household as I'd be continually turning things off and moaning abut the cost. Keeping the non-smart meters will keep the tension down in the household

SpotlandRules

badmemory wrote: »

So your IHD says you have already spent what you hoped to spend for the full day and it is only 7pm. What do you do? Well personally & I do stress that this is only personal, shrug my shoulders & say oh well that's another day over target then. You can probably tell from my comments that I am not one to turn the heating off at the end of March & back on again at the end of October. If you are cold, then you are cold. Of course you could sort yourself a hot water bottle, but don't forget to check that IHD & you will probably find that the hot water bottle cost you more than putting the heating on would have cost.

@SpotlandRules does your IHD show the gas meter reading or the Kwh usage?

My SM is from my SP days, and along with the other stuff, it shows my gas and electricity meter readings.

However, I use my IHD to enter my daily usage into excel. This then gives me an up to date figure for my DD cost. I can then readjust my DD as needed, Is my SM meter saving me money, probably not. Is it making it easier to ensure I pay the correct monthly price, yes.

greenchilly

Smart meters are great when the provider you are with will use them correctly, i dont feel they save you money they just give you a more accurate bill.
Only way to save money is by getting the best deal for you and trying not to use the heating or lights
The only downside to having a smart meter is when you move provider and your new provider does not support smart meter reads......... then its a fuss to try and access them yourself and then send them off each month.

footyguy

Scoobs2006 wrote: »

The reason i opted for the meter is because eventually i will have to have one anyway as per government requirements...

A guick referral of a well known search engine reveals, amongst numerous other sources saying similar

...The Government requires suppliers to roll out smart meters as standard to homes and small businesses across Britain by 2020 but there is no legal obligation on individuals to have one....

Source: http://www.britishgas.co.uk/help-and-advice/Meters-meter-readings/Smart-Meters/the-smart-meter-revolution/Do-I-have-to-have-a-smart-meter.html

Do I have to have a smart meter?

While government and Ofgem believe that all consumers will benefit from having smart meters, they aren’t compulsory and you can choose not to have one....

Source: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/understand-smart-prepayment-and-other-energy-meters/smart-meters-your-rights

What a mistake to make ...:eek:

Good luck!

Tigsteroonie

I've just had to get very insistent with SP that I don't want a 'smart' meter installing - their contractor has been texting me, SP have been emailing me - I don't remember ever saying that I wanted one, so I told them to shut up about it!!

We already have a dumb meter left by the previous home owner.

wild666

Smart meters are fine while you stay with your present supplier but once you move supplier they become DUMB, the only advantage is to take meter readings that I can see. I haven't switched yet as I am on British Gas Freetime so not 100% as to any additional things like the gas or electric you use daily I don't know yet or if the trariff price changes so you can get a true daily cost. I have already chosen my new supplier but am using the freetime to it's maximum until it ends.

brewerdave

There is no current proof that the situation will be any better when they (finally) start installing SMETS2 meters - the centralised data collection system is unproven and, initially ,my suspicion is that SMETS2 meters will revert to being dumb on swapping suppliers until a) ALL suppliers have started installing them b) most of the meters in an area are SMETS2 compliant and can form this area network and c) the SMETS1 meters have been upgraded (if even possible) or more likely replaced.
2025 anyone ??

Joyful

I don't believe a company should insist on reads every 30 mins. At British Gas we have to read out different timescales as well. I will say though, if you really want to monitor usage and use the website you can see when your usage peaks during the day so you get a handle on when you are using it most. I'm sure companies at sometime will charge different amounts during the day so this way you can check in advance.

The_Big_Bamboo

brewerdave wrote: »

There is no current proof that the situation will be any better when they (finally) start installing SMETS2 meters - the centralised data collection system is unproven and, initially ,my suspicion is that SMETS2 meters will revert to being dumb on swapping suppliers until a) ALL suppliers have started installing them b) most of the meters in an area are SMETS2 compliant and can form this area network and c) the SMETS1 meters have been upgraded (if even possible) or more likely replaced.
2025 anyone ??

I’m in the transition period of moving to Avro Energy from Br.Gas;…when my switch is complete on 10th October my Br.Gas smart meters, that I’ve had since Feb.2016, will be stuck ‘dumb’ I’m afraid.

I think(??) that my little Br.Gas ‘Smart energy monitor’ will still work to a degree that allows me to see the Elec/Gas meter readings without the need for me to go outside and brave the elements.

I’m a little ambivalent when it comes my overall experience of Smart meters with Br.Gas;…I rather stupidly and naively believed the advertising hype about how ‘Smart Meters’ would lead to accurate bills and no more wildly fluctuating monthly estimated D/D’s. “Don’t worry,..we’ll do it all for you,…just leave it to us!” they said. “Come Join The Party!” was another slogan that was in use at the time.

Well, silly me believed what Br.Gas told me;…I foolishly “did leave it all to them”…and what a !!!!-up it was. If you want accurate billing, even with Br.Gas ‘Smart Meters’ fitted, you still need to actively micro-manage your own account on a very regular basis to ensure they’re charging you appropriately. I didn’t monitor my account and to my great surprise I’ve got a credit of £500 that’s built up since I joined the ‘Smart Meter Party’. So much for accurate monthly D/Ds!

I think the overall concept of Smart Meters is sound;…however, the implementation and the roll-out programme has been something of a dogs-dinner since the day they started. The fabled ‘Universal Smart Meter’ that’s been mooted for several years still seems something of a distant pipe dream.

How much the whole programme has, and will, cost is anybody’s guess.:eek:

When I think of the Smart Meter roll-out programme the old phrase “a camel is a horse designed by a committee ” springs to mind.