Smart Meters

MSWinner

National Grid Smart (which installs smart meters on behalf of energy suppliers) does not make it clear in any of its customer communications that smart meter installation is optional, despite MSE's recent success in persuading E.On to do so. Shame.

Delboytoo

Just to clarify I used to work in industries that require measuring equipment to be calibrated annually. (mostly). Hence the question how often is the meter calibrated. Present meters are , I believe 10 or twenty years but they are not linked to my bank account.
PS some electronic components degrade with usage and time.

RandomQ

Delboytoo wrote: »

Just to clarify I used to work in industries that require measuring equipment to be calibrated annually. (mostly). Hence the question how often is the meter calibrated. Present meters are , I believe 10 or twenty years but they are not linked to my bank account.
PS some electronic components degrade with usage and time.

First answer is do not connect to bank account, they already have over a billion of our money and have the right to take a month to give it back if we ask for it.

On the calibration issue; I recently heard a report on radio that said energy companies should calculate the conversion of gas for each property. They dismissed the suggestion out of hand, OFGEM did nothing.

Whenever there is anything that may affect them financially they will dismiss it or suggest it is not important.

The reality is all kit goes wrong, will they tell us if a chip on one of these devices causes it to fail after 2 years, of course they will not.

How would you know as a consumer?

zeupater

RandomQ wrote: »

... The reality is all kit goes wrong, will they tell us if a chip on one of these devices causes it to fail after 2 years, of course they will not.

How would you know as a consumer?

Hi

Pretty easy in our case .. if the gas meter shows usage over the summer then there's either a leak somewhere or the meter's gone wrong ... if there's a change in the average daily electricity consumption over the same period (which is remarkably consistent) that isn't attributable to changes in usage patterns or new kit then there's either a problem with the meter or the weather's been particularly rubbish ...

As an extremely low user of energy trust me, we'd know ... so, if it's a worry, why wouldn't anyone else?

HTH
Z

System

Meter manufacturers have, for years, been producing meters that are capable of accurate metering which, at the end of the day, is nothing more complicated than counting the number of times the last disc on the right goes round. The bits that are new are the communications hub and cyber security. If these go wrong, the meter will still measure usage.

Smart meters also have built in failure notifications to the supplier; eg, battery life etc.

Michaelw

Hengus wrote: »

Smart meters also have built in failure notifications to the supplier; eg, battery life etc.

Its the gas meter thats the problem and in my experience these fail suddenly with five stars and then going blank.This was a standard Landis&Gyr prepayment meter but british gases version of smart meter is based on that design.The installer informed me its just different software.With Ebico Southern Gas said the frost that causes the failure.

Michaelw

Ofgem, the government regulator for gas and electricity, says these issues will soon be a thing of the past, and that communication problems between smart meters and energy companies will no longer be a sticking point.
Ofgem explains: “This is because the Government has appointed a company – the Data Communications Company (DCC) – to establish a new national infrastructure that will enable communications between smart meters and all energy suppliers.”


Ofgem says that by next year, all smart meters – including ones installed early on in the rollout – will also be able to connect to the same networks.
First-generation smart meters are expected to be connected to the new national infrastructure in the first half of 2019

https://www.express.co.uk/featured/life-style/property/966890/Do-smart-meters-really-tie-us-to-energy-firms

Time will tell.

Smart meters may well save us money,

I personally didn't find this to be true at all.

RandomQ

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

Pretty easy in our case .. if the gas meter shows usage over the summer then there's either a leak somewhere or the meter's gone wrong ... if there's a change in the average daily electricity consumption over the same period (which is remarkably consistent) that isn't attributable to changes in usage patterns or new kit then there's either a problem with the meter or the weather's been particularly rubbish ...

As an extremely low user of energy trust me, we'd know ... so, if it's a worry, why wouldn't anyone else?

HTH
Z

It is certainly true that low energy users spot any variance quickly.

I know my average electricity usage in kWh, in the summer I turn the temp of water down for showers and never put heating on. So unless I am cooking a Turkey all day it is going to be pretty consistent.

Still if a meter had a small variance that was increasing over time you would not notice because your bill would be increasing anyway as the licenced bandits AKA energy companies will keep increasing prices to pay for this daft project. They are long term players, they know that each increment will have us paying at least that, probably forever.

RandomQ

Michaelw wrote: »

Ofgem, the government regulator for gas and electricity, says these issues will soon be a thing of the past, and that communication problems between smart meters and energy companies will no longer be a sticking point.

Ofgem explains: “This is because the Government has appointed a company – the Data Communications Company (DCC) – to establish a new national infrastructure that will enable communications between smart meters and all energy suppliers.”

Ofgem says that by next year, all smart meters – including ones installed early on in the rollout – will also be able to connect to the same networks.
First-generation smart meters are expected to be connected to the new national infrastructure in the first half of 2019

https://www.express.co.uk/featured/life-style/property/966890/Do-smart-meters-really-tie-us-to-energy-firms

Time will tell.

Smart meters may well save us money,

I personally didn't find this to be true at all.

OFGEM is nothing more than a paid mouthpiece for the Energy companies,

Look at Hengus another previous comments about DCC in this thread.

This is going to be one of the biggest balls up programmes not just in money terms but in design and implementation.

THE ONLY REASON THEY GET AWAY WITH IT IS BECAUSE THEY HAVE THEIR HAND IN OUR POCKETS WITH DIRECT DEBITS, CONTROLLING ENERGY PRICES, GAMBLING AND BECAUSE OUR GOVERNMENT IS WEAK.

God forbid, but it actually makes me consider Corbyn even though he would ruin our defence and turn us into a nothing state.

System

RandomQ wrote: »

OFGEM is nothing more than a paid mouthpiece for the Energy companies,

Look at Hengus another previous comments about DCC in this thread.

This is going to be one of the biggest balls up programmes not just in money terms but in design and implementation.

THE ONLY REASON THEY GET AWAY WITH IT IS BECAUSE THEY HAVE THEIR HAND IN OUR POCKETS WITH DIRECT DEBITS, CONTROLLING ENERGY PRICES, GAMBLING AND BECAUSE OUR GOVERNMENT IS WEAK.

God forbid, but it actually makes me consider Corbyn even though he would ruin our defence and turn us into a nothing state.

Ofgem is in fact a non-Ministerial Government Department. In my view, it is probably the weakest of the OF regulators, and it either lacks the will or the legal tools to be an effective energy consumer champion. Having lived during the era of Nationalised Industries, all I will say is that people need to be careful what they wish for.

The UK smart meter programme will be used by future MBA students as an example of how not to manage a £12Bn project. Governments various have a locker full of failed Government IT projects so it was hardly surprising that they tried to pass the risk on to industry. Sadly, industry has missed every timepoint in the programme: DCC Live was about 2 years late.

Various industry commentators are on record as saying that the 2020 target is no longer achievable: they are waiting to see who blinks first. Government cannot afford another failure, and the suppliers are under the cosh not to default as the fines for doing so are considerable. We live in interesting times.