Smart Meters

Gerry1

Gerry1 wrote: »

Assuming you can have it removed it'll cost you a fortune, and you won't be first in the queue given that the smart meter roll out is so far behind schedule. More likely to be a case of 'Gotcha !'

antispam246 wrote: »

You said "it will cost a fortune" is this just more conjecture? If there's something bullet proof that can substantiate that in the here and now, let me know. It just seems again everything is a case of "this could happen" which is applicable to literally anything. You may as well advocate zero tech.

Seems that Bulb charge £120 to remove a smart meter and Ovo charge £150. QED !

Nick_C

Gerry1 wrote: »

Seems that Bulb charge £120 to remove a smart meter and Ovo charge £150. QED !

If you don't want a smart meter, it should be easy enough to switch to a supplier that doesn't support them. I'm having the opposite problem!

Gerry1

Nick_C wrote: »

If you don't want a smart meter, it should be easy enough to switch to a supplier that doesn't support them. I'm having the opposite problem!

Thanks for being brave - please do get a smart meter. When there's not enough electricity for everyone, your smart meter will be remotely instructed to cut you off. That means there'll still be enough for me !

dqj999

When using the price comparison tool there is no indication whether the tariff requires that a smart meter be installed as a condition or not. I recently signed up to an SSE tariff using the MSE site and there was no indication that having a smart meter fitted was a condition for having the tariff. The MSE site should be changed to indicate whether the tariff requires this or not. In the case of the SSE tariff the condition could only be found AFTER you had switched over buried in the small print off the welcome pack. This is not good enough, either from MSE or from the supplier.

DawnCrush

dqj999 wrote: »

When using the price comparison tool there is no indication whether the tariff requires that a smart meter be installed as a condition or not. I recently signed up to an SSE tariff using the MSE site and there was no indication that having a smart meter fitted was a condition for having the tariff. The MSE site should be changed to indicate whether the tariff requires this or not. In the case of the SSE tariff the condition could only be found AFTER you had switched over buried in the small print off the welcome pack. This is not good enough, either from MSE or from the supplier.

Your thread here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6037942
where you have now received replies

MothballsWallet

Well, I've just started a switch to a fixed tariff with EON that includes agreeing to be contacted about smart meters: when they do contact me, I will be asking them what make of meter will be fitted - if they say "Secure Liberty", I'll be asking them if I could get a different make such as Landis & Gyr since, from what I've read, the Secure Liberty is relatively acceptable until you have to take a manual meter reading...

Robin9

Gerry1 wrote: »

Thanks for being brave - please do get a smart meter. When there's not enough electricity for everyone, your smart meter will be remotely instructed to cut you off. That means there'll still be enough for me !

This is Gerry1's hobbyhorse

Do you really this that say like when the Grid lost a couple of generating sets a couple of weeks that they are going to say to OVO please cut 1000 customers in Manchester, to nPower cut 2500 in Birmingham ................................... ???????????????

No, they will do like they did and auto shed as they did. For planned capacity problems, they will cut by two staged of voltage reductions and cut discrete big customers by prior notification.

There is nothing new in metering - the Distribution Companies could control the load of selective domestic customers in the 1960's and moved away from this to shed groups of customers and this has been getting more refined in the decades since.

ed110220

Gerry1 wrote: »

Thanks for being brave - please do get a smart meter. When there's not enough electricity for everyone, your smart meter will be remotely instructed to cut you off. That means there'll still be enough for me !

Ridiculous scaremongering.

If there is such a severe shortage of electricity (which there is no reason to believe there will be) that domestic use has to be rationed the usual method is by load shedding on a set timetable. Ie say Croydon might be cut off 1700-1900 Mon, Watford 1700-1900 Tues etc.

Eg see the load shedding timetable for Cape Town for the different levels of load shedding with level one being the least and eight being the most severe.

blanik

ed110220 wrote: »

Ridiculous scaremongering.

If there is such a severe shortage of electricity (which there is no reason to believe there will be) that domestic use has to be rationed the usual method is by load shedding on a set timetable. Ie say Croydon might be cut off 1700-1900 Mon, Watford 1700-1900 Tues etc.

Eg see the load shedding timetable for Cape Town for the different levels of load shedding with level one being the least and eight being the most severe.

Or as happened in the UK by the Central Electricity Generation Board when they ran the network.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/16/newsid_2757000/2757099.stm

Far easier to send a signal to a set of sub-stations than to try and remotely update tens of thousands of smart meters.

blanik

MothballsWallet wrote: »

Well, I've just started a switch to a fixed tariff with EON that includes agreeing to be contacted about smart meters: when they do contact me, I will be asking them what make of meter will be fitted - if they say "Secure Liberty", I'll be asking them if I could get a different make such as Landis & Gyr since, from what I've read, the Secure Liberty is relatively acceptable until you have to take a manual meter reading...

I have had both Landis & Gyr and Secure Liberty.

On L&G the IHD shows meter readings buried in the menu, and the meter shows it by pressing one button.
On Secure - the IHD does not, and you have to press button 6 on the meter 4 times to get a reading.
So although less user friendly to get a reading, it is not that difficult.