Can you remove a smart meter?

mailmannz

We are in the process of buying a house that comes with a smart meter so was wondering if it was possible to get it replaced with a normal "dumb" meter?

Regards

Mailman

Raxiel

No, you can ask to have the comms disabled, although that would probably happen anyway unless you stay with the current supplier.

Why do you want to?

mailmannz

I don't like the idea, no matter how outlandish it may be, of being at the mercy of an energy supplier cutting my supply off in the event of a brown out or some other issue related to the lack of energy generation in the country.

[/tinfoilhat]

dogshome

Chances are is that the existing supplier to this house is the one who fitted the Smart meter.

You must report your occupancy and the meter readings to that supplier the moment the house is yours, but as soon as you have recieved their 'Welcome Pack' you are free to move to another supplier.
It's unlikely that new supplier will be able to support the old suppliers Smart meter, and it will revert to being a 'dumb' meter that has to be physically read

brewerdave

Interesting point -if you inherit a SMART meter when you move in ,can you actually ask for comms to be disabled with the existing supplier?

Robin9

mailmannz wrote: »

I don't like the idea, no matter how outlandish it may be, of being at the mercy of an energy supplier cutting my supply off in the event of a brown out or some other issue related to the lack of energy generation in the country.

[/tinfoilhat]

They dont need Smart meters to be able to cut you off.

I can remember the days of rota load shedding during the miners strike.

System

mailmannz wrote: »

I don't like the idea, no matter how outlandish it may be, of being at the mercy of an energy supplier cutting my supply off in the event of a brown out or some other issue related to the lack of energy generation in the country.

[/tinfoilhat]

Things have moved on. Suppliers were very keen to have this facility built in to smart metering; however, legal, and health and safety advice now is that remote disconnection will never happen without the supplier following the due legal process and only where there is a site visit. Just think of the public outcry if Granny X's supply was cut off in error in the midst of a cold snap by a supplier and Granny X died. Similarly, Health and Safety are now - quite rightly - saying that a supplier cannot just turn supplies back on without doing safety checks.

Remote disconnection has also added significantly to the cost of the project and made cyber security paramount. Was it worth doing it? The Government's own Smart Meter Cost/Benefit Analysis gives the following assumed cost saving:

7 Remote disconnection The meter functionality that is specified in SMETS will enable the remote enablement or disablement of the electricity and/or gas supply. The direct benefits associated with these capabilities are the avoided site visits in instances where an authorised supplier operator is despatched to a customer’s premise to disconnect supply. We continue to assume that a benefit of £0.5 per smart meter per year is realised, which is unchanged from the 2014 IA. This results in a present value benefit of £6m over the appraisal period.

Seen in the context of a £12Bn project cost, the saving - if it can be realised - is minimal.

macman

Just wrap the meter in tinfoil...

badmemory

Save the foil for cooking dinner, just change suppliers.