Smart Meters

keitht1949

Ameh said:

Hi Keith
I had the same problem when I switched back to BG last year. Unsurprisingly, you get put on a waiting list and eventually given a date for them to come and fit new meters!  Takes a few months but, once it's done, everything's OK and your fuel consumption is still being monitored at source so it's not a big issue - especially as I presume you will have been paying by monthly Direct Debit anyway.  Guy who did the re-fitting was helpful and - touch wood - no probs since.  Good  luck!

I was told today by them that my meters will be reactivated remotely within 14 days of my changeover, so I will wait and see! Particularly as I have previously been told 1) Your meters won’t work, 2) After 28 days you can request a man visits to get them going again and 3) They will be reactivated remotely within 28 days.

sparrowhawk123

Would be a great idea for my garden compost bin, but the parking maybe an issue.

aurion22

My Bulb account recently showed that I was £375 in credit! When I asked for a refund, they discovered that no bills had been calculated for several months. It now appears that I've used £319 worth of electricity. That seems a lot more than usual. I don't trust their "smart" meter ... and the display has never worked properly. 
Very disappointed in Bulb as other comments here indicate that I'm not the only person having these problems. Why install unreliable meters in the first place?
:-(

carl.waring

A smart meter only measures usage in exactly the same way as any other meter. So unless it's faulty (again, just like any other meter might be) then the usage will be correct.Smart meters aren't any kind of "mystical" thing. They're exactly like normal meters but can simply be remotely accessed for readings purposes.

Gerry1

carl.waring said:

A smart meter only measures usage in exactly the same way as any other meter.

Not so.  It stores your usage figures with 30-minute granularity for a year.  An ordinary meter only shows the total usage since it was installed.

carl.waring said:

Smart meters aren't any kind of "mystical" thing. They're exactly like normal meters but can simply be remotely accessed for readings purposes.

Not so.  It has a lot more functionality built in: Time of Use tariffs, Load Limiting, Load Shedding.  OK, they may not be implemented initially, but once you have a smart meter installed it's a hostage to fortune.

badmemory

They are also VERY cheap meters & I remember being told buy cheap buy twice.  Not a good plan when talking about gas & electric meters.  I have several very cheap thermometers (they probably cost not much less than the rubbish currently being fitted as smart meters) not one reads the same temp as the others when sitting right next to one another.  This is not a problem for me as they serve my purpose.  But a smart meter being this "accurate", I don't think so.

carl.waring

My point being that if more energy has been used this is not an issue with the smart meter. Unless it is faulty; just like any other standard meter. Nothing you have said changes that basic point.

carl.waring

badmemory said:

They are also VERY cheap meters & I remember being told buy cheap buy twice.  Not a good plan when talking about gas & electric meters.  I have several very cheap thermometers (they probably cost not much less than the rubbish currently being fitted as smart meters) not one reads the same temp as the others when sitting right next to one another.  This is not a problem for me as they serve my purpose.  But a smart meter being this "accurate", I don't think so.

Prove it. And your "thoughts" aren't fact.

victor2

badmemory said:

They are also VERY cheap meters & I remember being told buy cheap buy twice.  Not a good plan when talking about gas & electric meters.  I have several very cheap thermometers (they probably cost not much less than the rubbish currently being fitted as smart meters) not one reads the same temp as the others when sitting right next to one another.  This is not a problem for me as they serve my purpose.  But a smart meter being this "accurate", I don't think so.

One would expect there to be stringent standards to which gas and electricity meters are manufactured, and a quick google suggests there are:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/gas-and-electricity-meter-regulations

Of course such devices are geting cheaper to produce as technology improves and doubtless "cheaper" manufacturers are the first choice, but equally, producing totally unreliable ones would result in lost business for the manufacturer. Maybe you could give more detail on what leads you to say "VERY cheap meters"?

Delboytoo

I worked in an industry that requires measuring equipment be calibrated every year or two based on manufacturer's requirements.

This means that they will give an accurate readings. So what is the period for the smart meter?