Smart Meters

Nick_C

House_Martin wrote: »

Some people may welcome the chance to use heavy use appliances at certain times of the day. I would

Me too. I am no longer on E7 because I have gas fuelled CH/HW, but I would happily do washing and drying during the night if it saved money, or even use the immersion heater of it was cheaper than gas.

A._Badger

House_Martin wrote: »

British Gas have been running a Time of Use tariff for a while now. Only available to smart electric meters with BG.
Its the free 8 hrs electric for either Saturday or Sunday tariff
.Popular with the many people who do not want to go on fixed deals and stay on S.V.
Nothing to fear from TOU tariffs.They have been in use for decades anyway with Eco 7 and 10 etc.
Some people may welcome the chance to use heavy use appliances at certain times of the day. I would

Some (a tiny handful) might. Most won't. The inevitable end result will be that the majority, who have lives to live beyond clock watching to see when they can run the washing machine, will simply end up paying more for their energy. Which was the intention all along.

Pretending otherwise is just sophistry.

zeupater

buglawton wrote: »

...Biggest issue with lack of EU planning is standardisation. We need a supplier-agnostic smart meter standard (stop rolling out obsolescent smart meters now) and a communications standard for smart energy consumption in smart appliances and add-on smart plugs.

Hi

... and this has been the case all along, I know it, you know it and so do many others,including the industry themselves .... and it's nothing to do with the EU, it's how their directives have been interpreted & then gold plated within the UK before legislation is passed.

However, government, as government do, have absolutely no idea how to deliver projects, believing that all is well as soon bills pass into legislation - job done, move on - nothing to see here! ... Of course, the civil service (god bless them!) do their best with what they've got, and it's not much ... not money that is, they spend plenty of that, but gumption - the ability to convert ideas into action, so of course they talk (/consult) with industry as if they had consumer interests in mind, where any sane individual would see this as 'revolving door' collusion with vested interests (the enemy!) and stay well clear ... anyone starting to see why even sub-performing smart-meters will cost every household in excess of £500 yet?

Don't dwell too long on the promises of 'carrots' being dangled by those with soft voices , take more interest in the future pain to spread around by wielding the hefty 'sticks' afforded to the industry through the use of HHM & the associated ability to bill on a half-hourly basis at peak demand times (HHM/TOU/HHB) ...


Lemmings always seem to do what lemmings do ... but don't worry, at least there's a free IHD and 10 minutes/year of on-line reading submission activity saved! ... ready, steady, jump - yippee!

HTH
Z

House_Martin

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

... and this has been the case all along, I know it, you know it and so do many others,including the industry themselves .... and it's nothing to do with the EU, it's how their directives have been interpreted & then gold plated within the UK before legislation is passed.

However, government, as government do, have absolutely no idea how to deliver projects, believing that all is well as soon bills pass into legislation - job done, move on - nothing to see here! ... Of course, the civil service (god bless them!) do their best with what they've got, and it's not much ... not money that is, they spend plenty of that, but gumption - the ability to convert ideas into action, so of course they talk (/consult) with industry as if they had consumer interests in mind, where any sane individual would see this as 'revolving door' collusion with vested interests (the enemy!) and stay well clear ... anyone starting to see why even sub-performing smart-meters will cost every household in excess of £500 yet?

Don't dwell too long on the promises of 'carrots' being dangled by those with soft voices , take more interest in the future pain to spread around by wielding the hefty 'sticks' afforded to the industry through the use of HHM & the associated ability to bill on a half-hourly basis at peak demand times (HHM/TOU/HHB) ...


Lemmings always seem to do what lemmings do ... but don't worry, at least there's a free IHD and 10 minutes/year of on-line reading submission activity saved! ... ready, steady, jump - yippee!

HTH
Z

Wow ! bit over the top,
At the end of the day the suppliers are just replacing a meter from the last century with one where millions of customers do not "mess up " their meter readings and energy consumption because their meters are stuck under the stairs or a big dog is blocking the way of a meter reader
Its a given that Joe Public cannot be trusted with his/her manual gas and electric consumption so we fancy replacing it with an automated system.
Just look at the stupid stuff we get on here every week to see how your useless meters from from 1950 are out of date
Thats progress is nt it ? Its happening all the time around you, every thing possible is automated
They even want us to accept self drive cars now !

Michaelw

I am considering asking British Gas to remove the smart meters'.It does not save me money and as far as I can tell it serves the suppliers purposes more then the customers.

buglawton

nxdmsandkaskdjaqd wrote: »

However, if you have changed supplier, the smart meter becomes dumb, therefore No ONE is monitoring the battery!

Why can't smart meters use mains power with battery only for backup when there's a power cut?
I have a timer plug plugged into a socket, it does this, the last lithium battery is still going after 7 years.

Nick_C

buglawton wrote: »

Why can't smart meters use mains power with battery only for backup when there's a power cut?
I have a timer plug plugged into a socket, it does this, the last lithium battery is still going after 7 years.

Its the gas meter that needs a battery. You may not have a power socket next to your gas meter. I certainly don't.

EachPenny

House_Martin wrote: »

At the end of the day the suppliers are just replacing a meter from the last century with one where millions of customers do not "mess up " their meter readings and energy consumption because their meters are stuck under the stairs or a big dog is blocking the way of a meter reader.

Where is your evidence that "millions" of customers "mess up" their readings? Are you really saying such a large percentage of the population are so stupid they cannot read the digits on a meter - and that the energy companies are so stupid they cannot use the vast amount of data they already have to identify gross errors in customer readings?

I assume you use the phrase "mess up" to imply there is deliberate misreading for financial gain... when will you accept that the majority of the population are not energy thieves?

House_Martin wrote: »

Its a given that Joe Public cannot be trusted with his/her manual gas and electric consumption so we fancy replacing it with an automated system.

It is only a 'given' in your view of the world. Others might suggest it would make more sense to target investment at those known to have stolen energy or are considered high risk. The majority of customers can then retain fit-for-purpose meters which don't cost hundreds of pounds to buy, install and maintain.

House_Martin wrote: »

Its happening all the time around you, every thing possible is automated.

And many people believe that automating or using technology for the sake of it is a bad idea. Most engineers work on the 'KISS' principle, knowing that the more complex you make something, the greater risk it will fail. If you don't need energy meters with the abilty to remotely cut the supply, if you don't need the ability to provide readings on a half-hourly basis, then why go to the vast expense of installing them?

House_Martin

I ve been on the energy board now for many years. We have selection of the problems throughout the UK appearing on here. We only see a small fraction. If anything in the world needs automating its an old analogue meter buried away behind the washing machine.
I am certainly not saying occupiers are "stupid " as you suggest, just "too busy " and happy to let a direct debit pay the bills or happy with the word "guestimate "
I have the experience of 20 years battling my way to try and get to meters where the occupiers have never ventured in years to know the truth.You can t possibly have any experience of my job, nor me yours, whatever that was
Can YOU stop saying " where is your evidence "please. Its not a court of law here, we re having a natter online and having a break from the telly or whatever. Take your lawyers wig off .
There is nothing as nicely made as an electric meter as an old Sangamo Weston dial meter. Its so complex and expensive to make compared to an IC stamped out in seconds in South Korea for the innards of an electric smart meter but its certainly more reliable. I ve only found one faulty in 20 years
I do like the comment on targeting known energy thieves, that`s around a million for a start ! check out Dundas Rd in Tinsley Sheffield.There is at least 60 in that one street alone http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25718447
. Liverpool will have big numbers, its the UKs capital of the energy fiddler judging by how many prosecutions in 2015
I
.

House_Martin

Michaelw wrote: »

I am considering asking British Gas to remove the smart meters'.It does not save me money and as far as I can tell it serves the suppliers purposes more then the customers.

They may do that. So far I ve not heard of anyone pushing any supplier to get rid of a smart meter
.It will be interesting for you to have a go at it.I dont fancy your chances of success but its worth a punt
Scottish Power used to charge £230 per meter to change a prepayment meter to a credit meter until OFGEM banned suppliers from making a charge but that does nt apply to your circumstances and they re free to charge whatever they fancy.
I doubt any supplier will lose money because you say you don`t save money.You are not losing money though.
Smart meters are introduced mainly to save the supplier money , (or even make more with TOU tariffs) ,which is what we all want don`t we ? I will personally make a TOU tariff pay, others won t
.Why on earth do you want your supplier to have to pay more to run the business.What have you got against an energy supplier.They are not the enemy !
Hopefully the cheaper it costs to run a business the costs can be passed on in lower prices than the competition. The supplier can sack me for a start and most of the call centre staff, lots of managers etc etc