Smart Meters

RandomQ

PennineAcute wrote: »

For some, it is not a fruitless exercise. For disabled people, for people who cannot be bothered to read their meters, they are the perfect thing.

They are (depending on which prepay company fits them) the perfect thing for being able to come off prepay meters.

Yes, it has been a bodge job - but anything that is (any percentage) the idea of the Government always is. I got another set of SM put in, just to get rid of my liberty meter.

I would rather give the 10+ BILLION to help disabled people.

Also I have a friend who is disabled and bought into this, but it seems the gas meter is too far from the electic meter so they do not get the gas readings.

The energy co have been of no help, so they are no better off.

RandomQ

PennineAcute wrote: »

I do quite agree. However, they offered me one, I asked which they were putting in, did my research and thought perfect.

When the installer was here, he said, no doubt I will see you again when you change supplier. Told him no chance, as most others were putting in the rubbish he was taking out.

Sorry if I missed in your previous posts, but which supplier has the best meter?

Does the meter have a name?

Is it the IHD or the meter that is so good?

RandomQ

Nick_C wrote: »

Well I consider myself sensible.

I wanted a smart meter in order to save myself the trouble of taking meter readings every quarter and submitting them on line.

I travel a lot, and I wasnt always available to take meter readings at the time the supplier asked me to.

And even if you submit quarterly readings, you will still get an estimated bill if the tariff changes mid quarter.

I am very happy with my smart meters. I am very happy to be getting accurate monthly statements of actual consumption and true costs.

I'm on a fixed contract with Ovo until October 2019. I'm hoping that by then my SMETS1 meter will be compatible with other suppliers if I want to change.

A secondary reason in my case was BG would not replace my E7 meter with a standard meter, and insisted on recording the readings the wrong way round on their system.

I agree though that the roll out has been badly planned, badly implemented, and is increasing costs for consumers.

So for you it was more a lazy meter, I read my meters very regularly, I just use phone to take a photo, then when I have a moment I update a note file on my phone and I copy that via email to my PC occasionally.

It is no hassle at all, all it confirmed was my usage is pretty static and not much more I can do now to get usage lower.

I get quarterly bills, they estimate alternate quarters, if I feel bill is too high I can always read meter and give them the readings to get a new bill, I can now do this online.

When I had last hike with my old supplier I gave a reading that was way over what I would use so I could get as many units at old rate as possible. I then changed supplier to get a better rate.

Try doing that with a so called smart meter!

If you took the time to read the previous meter you could have been given accurate readings, you could have put them in an app or a spreadsheet.

All without it costing us BILLIONS

Now when you come to the meter swap out, I am with you, this was a con that carried on for years, despite the fact that you paid your standing charge. However, this bad practice does not justify the BILLIONS wasted on this programme.

PennineAcute

But SM would stop you fiddling the system, giving false readings, the the OP above.

Nick_C

PennineAcute wrote: »

But SM would stop you fiddling the system, giving false readings, the the OP above.

Indeed. House Martin will love that post. It supports his theory that people who are against smart meters are cheating the system and stealing electricity.

In some cases they clearly are.

RandomQ

Not stealing at all

Just getting at a better price!!

How so many people can protect corporates who shaft them is beyond me

I guess some enjoy grabbing their ankles!

I did the maths and I think it saved about 50p

The energy company did an estimate on their final reading for some reason even though I gave them reading.

I let it slide as could not be arrrsseed

RandomQ

Also...

I would not mind a smart meter if it was fit for purpose, but the whole programme has been a debacle and I hear the most informed member on this thread now saying it will cost £12 BILLION

We will ALL be paying for that.

System

Cost;

This is what was said a year ago:

New research from consumer collective the Big Deal and ITV Tonight reveals that the smart meter rollout could cost £1 billion more than previously predicted taking the total cost of the programme to a staggering £12 billion.


New analysis using BEIS’s own figures reveals that the cost of installing the meters into every home may have been underestimated by £1.093 billion.

https://blog.thebigdeal.com/total-cost-smart-meter-rollout-massive-12-billion/

Other commentators suggest that the cost will be even higher:

The Government still cites the European mandate, (which isn’t a mandate, but a recommendation) as the reason for the rush to complete this by 2020. The irony is that in 2020, at the point when we may leave the EU, we will have become the only country which implemented that mandate, unnecessarily adding something between £15 billion and £20 billion to domestic energy bills.

http://www.nickhunn.com/the-uk-may-need-to-replace-20-million-smart-meters/

No doubt, a revised cost figure will emerge once The NAO has completed its latest cost review into the UK's smart meter project.

Nick_C

RandomQ wrote: »

Not stealing at all

Just getting at a better price!!

How so many people can protect corporates who shaft them is beyond me

I guess some enjoy grabbing their ankles!

I did the maths and I think it saved about 50p

The energy company did an estimate on their final reading for some reason even though I gave them reading.

I let it slide as could not be arrrsseed

My apologies. I suppose technically giving deliberately false information for personal gain is fraud rather than theft.

I think if you have morals they apply equally to individuals and corporations.

Michaelw

Customers can still be hounded by suppliers over smart meters despite GDPR

Customers can still be bombarded with letters advertising smart meters even if they have already rejected one despite the introduction of strict rules governing personal data.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/bills-and-utilities/gas-electric/customers-can-still-hounded-suppliers-smart-meters-despite-gdpr/