British Gas now requiring smart meters with new tariffs

[Deleted User]

sharky110 wrote: »

I am with British gas for my dual fuel prepayment meters already in house when I moved in I asked British gas to change to standing order payment they said I could but the only tariff they could change me to would be a dearer tariff so I did a comparison check on energy club it said bulb could save me £727 per year with bulb but then when I went to bulbs website to change they said because I have already got a smart meter they say I cant change to them anybody else had this problem

Probably that would be because Bulb cannot use BG s Landis Gyr/Siemens smart meters in prepayment mode
.All the smaller suppliers appear to be using Secure Liberty smart meters
I m sure you would have no problem doing a switch to Bulb if your prepays were moved to credit meter mode.Much cheaper They would nt be interested in which make of meter if you were a credit meter
Credit meters in yearly fixed deals are much cheaper than prepayment meter tariffs, why don t you switch ? But not to Bulbs variable tariff but they are good to use to get away from a suppliers exit fees. Once with Bulb switch again to the best fixed tariff.

AndyPK

sharky110 wrote: »

I am with British gas for my dual fuel prepayment meters already in house when I moved in I asked British gas to change to standing order payment they said I could but the only tariff they could change me to would be a dearer tariff so I did a comparison check on energy club it said bulb could save me £727 per year with bulb but then when I went to bulbs website to change they said because I have already got a smart meter they say I cant change to them anybody else had this problem

I think the trick is you "Use" a big supplier to change you from a topup meter to a standard meter and make sure you get on a tarriff with no exit fee's.
Then 1 month later you switch to a cheap tarriff with someone else.

I wouldn't want to be doing to in the middle of winter due to ££, so get on with it


Bulb have some excellent smart meter FAQ's on their website. A cleaver approach to this smart meter mess

chrisw99

Well I took the plunge.. I had to pay the exit fees of £80 to switch supplier anyway, and this new tariff has exit fees of £60 so whatever I decide to do long term, I'm paying cheaper energy from today with lower unit rates and cheaper exit fees to get out, so it was worth doing.

Within 2 minutes of clicking the confirm button (could have been as low as 30 seconds), an engineer rang me to arrange the smart meter installation! Told him to get lost, I've got 3 months to arrange it and I'll contact them when I'm ready.

Nick_C

chrisw99 wrote: »

well that's what I'm asking - I've just had a skim through some of the posts on here, and most people seem to be against them, the people for them are certainly in the minority.

The reason I've resisted so far is due to having to take valuable time off work to be in, and due to the amount of sorting out in the room under the stairs to provide them the access they'd need. It takes me at least 30 mins to plough through the pile of junk under the stairs just to physically see the meters to be able to read them!

"most people seem to be against them" - people who are unhappy with smart meters may be more likely to post than people who are content. I love my smart meter. Accurate bills every month. And although I don't use the IHD, the daily /weekly /monthly usage data on the website is very useful.

If your meter is tucked away in a cluttered cupboard, you would benefit from not having to read it.

Eventually, you will have have to have a smart meter of you want the cheapest tariffs, in the same way you have to go paperless and pay by DD. It's the future. Embrace it.

brewerdave

Nick_C wrote: »

Accurate bills every month. And although I don't use the IHD, the daily /weekly /monthly usage data on the website is very useful.


Eventually, you will have have to have a smart meter of you want the cheapest tariffs, in the same way you have to go paperless and pay by DD. It's the future. Embrace it.

Re point 1. -Fine - as long as you don't switch supplier
Re point 2 - We will all "embrace it" - WHEN the "smart" meters supplied are truly fit for purpose!!:)

[Deleted User]

brewerdave wrote: »

Re point 1. -Fine - as long as you don't switch supplier
Re point 2 - We will all "embrace it" - WHEN the "smart" meters supplied are truly fit for purpose!!:)

BG s latest smart meters they are now installing may well be "fit for purpose ".
https://www.smartme.co.uk/technical.html
If the current meters they are installing, and I think they are, then they will operate in SMETS2 when they will be adopted into the DCC when it go s live.
Landis and Gyr smart electric E470
Landis and Gyr smart gas G370 and G470. These meters are in both the SMETS2 list or the list of meters which will be SMETS2 compatible which will be adopted by the DCC and will magically start to work smart once again
I know that British Gas are fitting the E470, not sure about the gas G370/G470 meters

The very popular Secure Liberty 100 smart meters used by nearly all the small suppliers and Eon are also in the list of smart meters which will work as SMETS2 when the DCC go s live
Maybe its time for FM s to check the meters that are being installed to establish if they are fit for purpose

chrisw99

Nick_C wrote: »

"most people seem to be against them" - people who are unhappy with smart meters may be more likely to post than people who are content. I love my smart meter. Accurate bills every month. And although I don't use the IHD, the daily /weekly /monthly usage data on the website is very useful.

If your meter is tucked away in a cluttered cupboard, you would benefit from not having to read it.

Eventually, you will have have to have a smart meter of you want the cheapest tariffs, in the same way you have to go paperless and pay by DD. It's the future. Embrace it.

Thanks, like you say on forums about anything, people with negative views will always post but it's rare to see positive views.

Out of interest, why don't you use the IHD as that does seem to be one of the better things about them?