Smart Meters mandatory on new fixed term deals

[Deleted User]

Gerry1 wrote: »

Well, Bulb are already charging up to 41.94p/kWh so it's clearly only a matter of time.

Nope !
Bulb are trialing a multi rate tariff to compete with the few suppliers who currently offer these old legacy tariffs and Eco 10 s which are the most expensive in the UK.
Current rates from Bulb in my area for this multi rate tariff
overnight-8.65 p /kwh
off peak 12.68 p/kwh
peak 26.15 p/kwh .
Daily Standing Charge- 20 p
These rates are only for people who have a compatible three rate meter, which are rare.
Bulbs Eco 7 tariffs are up there with the cheapest in the UK and equal to the best single rate tariffs.

matelodave

Gerry1 wrote: »

Nope. Nothing was wrong. Nothing needed to be corrected.
Where did I say it was compulsory ? :huh:Wrong. Factual evidence isn't scaremongering. I'd assumed that any doubting Thomases would have been clever enough to find the source if they were really that bothered, but here's the evidence: Bulb's smart tariff already charges 41.94p/kWh in South East England at peak times. Therefore, it's entirely reasonable to expect that inflation will bring it up to 50p/kWh in the not too distant future.

Yup, I've checked - that's just for three hours a day, you also get eight hours overnight at 7.59p and the rest for 11.59p, so assuming that you dont cook your dinner with leccy between 4pm and 7pm you could really be onto a winner, especially if you had storage heaters and charged your leccy car overnight.

Boxman

matelodave wrote: »

assuming that you dont cook your dinner with leccy between 4pm and 7pm you could really be onto a winner

That rules out an awful lot of people!

Gerry1

matelodave wrote: »

assuming that you dont cook your dinner with leccy between 4pm and 7pm you could really be onto a winner, especially if you had storage heaters and charged your leccy car overnight.

Boxman wrote: »

That rules out an awful lot of people!

Obviously the ideal Bulb smart customer is a waiter who drives an EV to work at 4pm, dines in the restaurant, arrives back home at midnight, plugs in the EV and relaxes with warmth from the storage heaters and goes to bed at 7am just as the overnight tariff ends !

Cardew

Takmon wrote: »

That's because there is no logical reason to not have a smart meter.
.

When everyone has a smart meter fitted the companies will be allowed to make all their tariffs 'Time of use' i.e. pay more at certain times of the day.

SeeMe

I was looking at one of the E ON tarrifs, and it says you agree to be contacted about a smart meter,but does not say you have to have it installed?

mac.d

Takmon wrote: »

That's because there is no logical reason to not have a smart meter. So if people are silly enough to protest against having one they are probably silly enough to pay more to not have one so the energy companies want to take advantage of this.

There are logical reasons.

Smart meters haven't been fit for purpose so far (network not working properly in certain areas of the country, meters revert to dumb meters if you switch to another supplier & IHD failing to work and plenty of IHD that only show one reading from a 2-rate electric meter, or shows the gas as a kWh not the m3 reading from the meter), yet the suppliers have still installed thousands of them.

We are promised they will be 'fixed' in future, but given the facts of the smart meter roll-out so far, its no wonder many people are cynical. Besides, what's the point in me having a smart meter that is only guaranteed to work for a year, then after that, who knows?

Either way, its a huge waste of resources and money.

The time of use tariffs are another thorny issue, I don't personally think these are a reason to avoid smart meters, as they are going to be part of future pricing no matter what (and all that will happen is non-smart meter households will end up paying a higher rate, while those with smart meters will 'benefit' from cheaper prices outwith peak hours).

Also, a significant number of the older generation struggle with technology, so while in practice it may seem ideal that people won't need to read their meters and bills will be accurate, meters that look complicated, IHD with lots of different screen etc. they are a nightmare for some people to understand, and even worse when the smart meter isn't properly communicating with the supplier (tech is great when it works, but not when it fails!).

matelodave

Gerry1 wrote: »

Obviously the ideal Bulb smart customer is a waiter who drives an EV to work at 4pm, dines in the restaurant, arrives back home at midnight, plugs in the EV and relaxes with warmth from the storage heaters and goes to bed at 7am just as the overnight tariff ends !

I told you that it would suit some people

Gerry1

mac.d wrote: »

Smart meters haven't been fit for purpose so far...

... shows the gas as a kWh not the m3 reading from the meter)

That's surely an advantage because it makes it easier for people to shop around and to work out how much it would cost to use the other fuel for heating; AFAIK no comparison site asks for the volume of gas used.

If you really want to know the volume you can still see it on the wall mounted meter, admittedly a tad less convenient perhaps.

brewerdave

Gerry1 wrote: »

If you really want to know the volume you can still see it on the wall mounted meter, admittedly a tad less convenient perhaps.

Which you have to do if your IHD doesn't give volume and also when you switch and the meter becomes "dumb" as the Utility Cos. bill by volume converted to kwh.