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Smart Meter advertising lies
The recent TV adverts for Smart Meters states that massive electricity savings would be made if more people had Smart Meters fitted.
Note "would" and not "could" and it only requires them to be fitted.
I defy anyone to prove that just fitting Smart Meters saves any electricity - at all.
They do provide information, that a savvy consumer could use to fine tune their consumption management, but such a consumer already knows that leaving a 3kw heater running in the spare bedroom with the window open is not a good idea.
The average person, watching the TV ad, would be lead to believe that just fitting the meter is going to save them money - which is just a lie.
The government has been hoodwinked by this propaganda and we're all paying the cost of all this "investment".
Sure, some future generation (no pun intended) of Smart Meters, working with Smart devices and a Smart electricity grid, could offer real reductions in peak consumption. This would have the grid publish real-time tariffs, that heaters, freezers etc could use to determine whether to switch on now or "wait for a better deal" in 30 minutes time, all based on actual generation capacity and current consumption in your area.
However, this is all way out in the future and the current (again not pun intended) Smart Meters will have no role in that scenario.
Just as new cars that can park themselves in a space are a technology step towards self-driving cars, there's no way that a software upgrade would be sufficient to make one of these cars totally self-driving.
The Smart Meters that are being rolled-out today will all have to be replaced again before we see any real benefit.
In the meantime, the only people gaining from the roll-out are the companies that make and install the hardware.
Should this forum make an official complaint to Advertising Standards regarding the content of the current advertising campaign?
Note "would" and not "could" and it only requires them to be fitted.
I defy anyone to prove that just fitting Smart Meters saves any electricity - at all.
They do provide information, that a savvy consumer could use to fine tune their consumption management, but such a consumer already knows that leaving a 3kw heater running in the spare bedroom with the window open is not a good idea.
The average person, watching the TV ad, would be lead to believe that just fitting the meter is going to save them money - which is just a lie.
The government has been hoodwinked by this propaganda and we're all paying the cost of all this "investment".
Sure, some future generation (no pun intended) of Smart Meters, working with Smart devices and a Smart electricity grid, could offer real reductions in peak consumption. This would have the grid publish real-time tariffs, that heaters, freezers etc could use to determine whether to switch on now or "wait for a better deal" in 30 minutes time, all based on actual generation capacity and current consumption in your area.
However, this is all way out in the future and the current (again not pun intended) Smart Meters will have no role in that scenario.
Just as new cars that can park themselves in a space are a technology step towards self-driving cars, there's no way that a software upgrade would be sufficient to make one of these cars totally self-driving.
The Smart Meters that are being rolled-out today will all have to be replaced again before we see any real benefit.
In the meantime, the only people gaining from the roll-out are the companies that make and install the hardware.
Should this forum make an official complaint to Advertising Standards regarding the content of the current advertising campaign?
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Comments
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The recent TV adverts for Smart Meters states that massive electricity savings would be made if more people had Smart Meters fitted.
Note "would" and not "could" and it only requires them to be fitted.
I defy anyone to prove that just fitting Smart Meters saves any electricity - at all.
They do provide information, that a savvy consumer could use to fine tune their consumption management, but such a consumer already knows that leaving a 3kw heater running in the spare bedroom with the window open is not a good idea.
The average person, watching the TV ad, would be lead to believe that just fitting the meter is going to save them money - which is just a lie.
The government has been hoodwinked by this propaganda and we're all paying the cost of all this "investment".
Sure, some future generation (no pun intended) of Smart Meters, working with Smart devices and a Smart electricity grid, could offer real reductions in peak consumption. This would have the grid publish real-time tariffs, that heaters, freezers etc could use to determine whether to switch on now or "wait for a better deal" in 30 minutes time, all based on actual generation capacity and current consumption in your area.
However, this is all way out in the future and the current (again not pun intended) Smart Meters will have no role in that scenario.
Just as new cars that can park themselves in a space are a technology step towards self-driving cars, there's no way that a software upgrade would be sufficient to make one of these cars totally self-driving.
The Smart Meters that are being rolled-out today will all have to be replaced again before we see any real benefit.
In the meantime, the only people gaining from the roll-out are the companies that make and install the hardware.
Should this forum make an official complaint to Advertising Standards regarding the content of the current adversing campaign?
The Government is promoting this propaganda. The Energy Regulator,Ofgem, is a non Ministerial Government Department. The savings quoted are taken from the Government’s own smart meter cost/benefit analysis. The ASA will not be at all interested.
Just a few facts. Smart meters installed today should be capable of being updated for DCC adoption. They will offer the benefits sought by most consumers. We pay £Ms a year on our bills for standby power generation which is rarely used. ToU tariffs and better consumer energy usage profiling offer the real possibility of reducing these significant costs.
All that said, a meter smart or not will not save any money without human interaction. This may change as new smart home devices are rolled out in years to come.This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0 -
OP I have never seen any supplier using the word "massive " in any mention about the savings in switching to smart meters. I d be very surprised if you can furnish a link to prove that statement of yours.
Having been involved in the utility industry for years I have listened to many BG customers telling me how surprised they were when they saw their British Gas in house display monitor turn to displaying "red " usage when the wife/hubby/son/daughter was in the shower for half an hour and putting a stop to wanton waste of expensive energy
. If the IHD educates a percentage of the population that an electric shower is the biggest guzzler of energy in the home then smart meters are making a useful contribution in using less energy.
At a guess I d say at least 50% of the population don t know what appliances cost to use in hard cash. The IHD show that and work far better than any energy meter0 -
That's a welcome change of view, my recollection is you normally talk about IHD's as being useless and best thrown in the back of a drawer or rubbish bin.If the IHD educates a percentage of the population that an electric shower is the biggest guzzler of energy in the home then smart meters are making a useful contribution in using less energy.
At a guess I d say at least 50% of the population don t know what appliances cost to use in hard cash. The IHD show that and work far better than any energy meter
Mind you, knowing what appliances are using is one thing, actually changing your use of them is another. There is not much you can do when your washing machine on a 30 degree cotton wash turns your IHD red... other than deciding that going around smelling is better than spending money on washing.
"In the future, everyone will be rich for 15 minutes"0 -
Persil washes whiter than white .0
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The recent TV adverts for Smart Meters states that massive electricity savings would be made if more people had Smart Meters fitted.
Should this forum make an official complaint to Advertising Standards regarding the content of the current adversing campaign?
If it bothers you that much do it yourself. Its an easy process. I have complained about 2 adverts in the past.
One was upheld and the other one was not.
Just go to ASA website and get complaining!3.795 kWp Solar PV System. Capital of the Wolds0 -
Didn't I read somewhere that a Government report, or some such, said that savings of only £11 per year were likely?
Hang on - just searched and found this:
https://inews.co.uk/news/consumer/smart-meters-only-save-11-on-energy-bills-per-year/0 -
OP I have never seen any supplier using the word "massive " in any mention about the savings in switching to smart meters. I d be very surprised if you can furnish a link to prove that statement of yours.
Having been involved in the utility industry for years I have listened to many BG customers telling me how surprised they were when they saw their British Gas in house display monitor turn to displaying "red " usage when the wife/hubby/son/daughter was in the shower for half an hour and putting a stop to wanton waste of expensive energy
. If the IHD educates a percentage of the population that an electric shower is the biggest guzzler of energy in the home then smart meters are making a useful contribution in using less energy.
At a guess I d say at least 50% of the population don t know what appliances cost to use in hard cash. The IHD show that and work far better than any energy meter
The latest TV advert ( on the U of tube DdcDBDedl4 )*states that "We could save enough energy to power every home in Cardiff, Aberdeen & Manchester for a year, if we all got a smart meter" I paraphrased that to "massive amount"
* Why do I get "Sorry as a new user you are not allowed to post with links. This is done to stop spammers clogging up the site. Please edit your message below to continue." when I've been a member of this forum for over ten years?0 -
Although a long time member you have a very low post count.* Why do I get "Sorry as a new user you are not allowed to post with links. This is done to stop spammers clogging up the site. Please edit your message below to continue." when I've been a member of this forum for over ten years?0 -
The latest TV advert ( on the U of tube DdcDBDedl4 )*states that "We could save enough energy to power every home in Cardiff, Aberdeen & Manchester for a year, if we all got a smart meter" I paraphrased that to "massive amount"
* Why do I get "Sorry as a new user you are not allowed to post with links. This is done to stop spammers clogging up the site. Please edit your message below to continue." when I've been a member of this forum for over ten years?
It is worth pointing out that SmartEnergyGB and energy suppliers are not attempting to ‘sell’ you anything. They are offering you a ‘free’ meter which even if it produces no savings will leave you no worse off than you are today.
Recently, I reported one supplier to the ASA for claiming that if consumers paid them for 12 months in advance, then an interest payment of 1% per month on a decreasing balance was equivalent to an interest rate of 12% per year. The ASA came back with ‘not us Guv’ and handed the matter over to the FCA. The FCA responded by telling me that they did not regulate claims made by energy suppliers.This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0 -
It is worth pointing out that SmartEnergyGB and energy suppliers are not attempting to ‘sell’ you anything. ..
They are "selling" both the miss-information and the product.
Just because we don't get billed individually for the Smart Meters, or the cost of installations, there's only one source of funds paying for all this, and that's our energy bills.
You could argue that you might as well get one regardless, as you're paying for it anyway...0
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