Smart Meters

Eck2019

I have never understood the rational for smart meters but did read all the for/against stuff way back. I concluded that yes some bills may be difficult to read/understand by some but this is not solved by smart meters in any way.
If you cannot accept the integrity of the energy supplier to produce honest invoices or understand the very simple maths involved then a smart meter will not help in anyway.
This is simply because these meters do not tell you the start/end of when numbers are produced whether it is £/day, kWh/day etc. The home display units which most monitor for usage further confuse this
This seems to me because if you want to check/verify any data you need to physically read the meter - this can still be done though to get it to coincide exactly when supplier does is tricky to say the least.
The fundamental flaw is that smart meters home display units do not give basic meter readings - the user has to go read them and is very awkward in some cases. My 'smart meter' is in a casing in the ground and contortions for an arthritic knee to read is only achieved by using a mobile phone to take a photograph.
So please, can we have a change through MSE to have home display units actually display the meter units, then I can do my own calculations to verify usage.
I do this to keep my monthly usage on record to get accurate estimates for when I change supplier - just swapped to a supplier who only does 6 monthly readings/invoices. I still want to do monthly breakdown, in the end I am responsible for getting best deal based on knowledge of data gathered over years on spreadsheets analysing different periods/years.

SamGrundy

Haarlem wrote: »

I should have added that fridge freezer fires are the most common fire caused by an electrical appliance.

Source?

I would have thought electrical appliances specifically designed to create heat would cause many fires, such as hair straighteners (esp. the cheaper ones) and cookers/hotplates. Or portable electrical heaters.
Or recently, tumble driers from a certain manufacturer.

Old appliances with worn/deteriorated supply cords are also an issue.

As is the overloading of sockets from various/numerous appliances.

And don't forget cheap, foreign, battery chargers (esp for a well known mobile phone company)

There's probably others I would have thought were well ahead of fridge/freezers too.

Haarlem

SamGrundy wrote: »

Source?

I would have thought electrical appliances specifically designed to create heat would cause many fires, such as hair straighteners (esp. the cheaper ones) and cookers/hotplates. Or portable electrical heaters.
Or recently, tumble driers from a certain manufacturer.

Old appliances with worn/deteriorated supply cords are also an issue.

As is the overloading of sockets from various/numerous appliances.

And don't forget cheap, foreign, battery chargers (esp for a well known mobile phone company)

There's probably others I would have thought were well ahead of fridge/freezers too.

"Fridges, when ignited, can cause fires to develop quickly, giving off toxic gases. According to the London Fire Brigade (LFB) there is an average of at least one fridge fire a week."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/equipment/fridge-fire-hazard/

SamGrundy

Haarlem wrote: »

"Fridges, when ignited, can cause fires to develop quickly, giving off toxic gases. According to the London Fire Brigade (LFB) there is an average of at least one fridge fire a week."

But where is the evidence "that fridge freezer fires are the most common fire caused by an electrical appliance."?

Actually, if you look at the London Fire Brigade website, what they actually say is

Total Recalls. Nearly one fire a day in London involves white goods – that's tumble dryers, dishwashers, washing machines, fridges and freezers. Most are caused by faults beyond your control. Our Total Recalls campaign is here to make it easier for people to protect themselves from potentially lethal faulty appliances.

Hence they are encouraging owners to register their appliance so that if they are subject to a recall, owners can be alerted and the product not used again until it is made safe.

Also they say

In 2016, we visited at least one fire in London caused by faulty white goods every single day. Most weren't preventable by consumers.

So if your quote is accurate, then there were 6 fires a week on average caused by white goods other than fridges

antispam246

Hi, so I've been reading through the thread and elsehwere on smart meters, seen various arguments on both sides and still non the wiser.


I'm leaning towards opting for one, it's free and our household most likely consumes elec in the higher end of the spectrum so visibly seeing this on a daily basis should/could help us make some small scale changes to better savings. This would be the v2 meter if it makes a difference beyond being "transferable". Although I dod have another query on that to follow.


So, correct me if I'm wrong, I most likely will have not of read everything but it seems to me many of the cons are based on assumptions of what "could" happen with having smart meter installed. As it stands right now, there is nothing actually happening, right now, that is negative.



If any of the cons mentioned did eventually come into play what is there stopping people from having their smart meters removed or disabled? It's your home, so I can't imagine anything lawful is going to stop this happening beyond a potential charge.



Is it safe to say that I can run with, get a smart meter, possibly make small savings, if not doesn't matter, if anything as per content on this post occurs later on, have it removed/disabled?


As for other thing, if i book a smart meter installation with existing provider and then opt to change provider during it's scheduled installation, will it be cancelled and then ultimately re-do with new supplier, or can it go ahead regardless?

SnowTiger

Eck2019 wrote: »

The fundamental flaw is that smart meters home display units do not give basic meter readings - the user has to go read them and is very awkward in some cases. My 'smart meter' is in a casing in the ground and contortions for an arthritic knee to read is only achieved by using a mobile phone to take a photograph.
So please, can we have a change through MSE to have home display units actually display the meter units, then I can do my own calculations to verify usage..

I've had three smart meters and two in-home units from different manufacturers. Both display in-home units display meter readings, albeit after a few button presses.

Are you sure yours doesn't?

Nick_C

SnowTiger wrote: »

I've had three smart meters and two in-home units from different manufacturers. Both display in-home units display meter readings, albeit after a few button presses.

Are you sure yours doesn't?

The IHD provided by Ovo does not show meter readings.

blanik

The Octopus IHD for their Smart! meter does not display a meter reading either - to get that you have to press button 6 on the physical meter 4 times.

edit - this is their "Secure" meter for SMETS1.

dazzh

My mothers 'Secure' make IHD (supplied by TOTO, SMETS1) does not have a facility to show gas/electricity meter readings.
The only way to get these is from the actual meter which is in a difficult position, low to the floor.
I dread when she switches supplier and the meter becomes dumb and she has to manually read it. She's 80 years old.

EnergyRookie

dazzh wrote: »

My mothers 'Secure' make IHD (supplied by TOTO, SMETS1) does not have a facility to show gas/electricity meter readings.
The only way to get these is from the actual meter which is in a difficult position, low to the floor.
I dread when she switches supplier and the meter becomes dumb and she has to manually read it. She's 80 years old.

That doesn't sound good. How does she ensure the bills/statements she gets today are correct??? :huh:

In regards switching suppier, is she planning on switching soon?
Are you aware that the 2nd cohort of SMETS1 will be upgraded next month?. That will mean 4million SMETS1 meters will be able to be read remotely by other suppliers. That represents almost 1/3rd of all SMETS1 meters.
There are plans for a future, final cohort if your mother is not included in either of the first 2.
https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/news-and-insights/news/update-on-smets1-enrolment-and-adoption/

But none of this will change the fact that your mother doesn't seem able to check the accuracy of her bills/statements. :eek: