Smart Meters mandatory on new fixed term deals

mac.d

Gerry1 wrote: »

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.

It can be viewed both ways can't it? Def an advantage as you've said above, but a disadvantage if you are asked to provide a meter reading and for whatever reason can't get it easily from the gas meter itself, then you try the IHD.... plus think of all those people out there that don't even know there is a difference between what the reading is on your meter and what's on the bill

Gerry1

mac.d wrote: »

It can be viewed both ways can't it?

I think we're basically in agreement; the smart meter project has been an expensive fiasco. If they worked properly there would no longer be any need for customers to give meter readings to their supplier.

And if the IHDs were any good they'd be able to show the m3 and kWh figures, both for for the last billing date and at the present moment.

matelodave

Gerry1 wrote: »

I think we're basically in agreement; the smart meter project has been an expensive fiasco. If they worked properly there would no longer be any need for customers to give meter readings to their supplier.

And if the IHDs were any good they'd be able to show the m3 and kWh figures, both for for the last billing date and at the present moment.

I think some do, it's really down to the Energy company/IHD supplier to decide what info people might want to see but some people want different things from it.

Personally I couldn't care less about the cost data or the co2 consumption. KWH is what I want to know together with the actual meter reading. If I had gas then I'd want the meter reading in volume, rather than KWH unless I was convince that the volume/kwh conversion was 100% accurate (which I doubt it is)

TBH I want the info displayed on a graph with easy access to previous and real time consumption and with the option to download it all if I want to but I wont easily get that from a smart meter IHD, it needs to be sending the info to a database that I can query myself

SeeMe

An online advisor chat on E ON website a message said "we would prefer you to have a smart meter but you don't have to"

Takmon

Swipe wrote: »

Let's see who is silly when in the not so distant future you'll paying over 50p per unit for your electricity at peak times

Cardew wrote: »

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.

So you think that if you refuse to have a smart meter they will invoke expensive time of use tariffs for only the people with smart meters and then keep cheap tariffs for people without :rotfl:

If they are planning to do this then people without smart meters will not be let off and they will certainly have more expensive tariffs to encourage them to change.

I don't have a problem with time of use tariffs and if the big 6 start charging excessive amounts the smaller companies will come in with cheaper tariffs and scoop up all the customers. The smaller energy companies won't allow the big companies to charge excessive amounts for their energy. Which is exactly what happens with tariffs now.

mac.d wrote: »

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.

Yes they aren't very good but that's not a reason to chose a more expensive tariff not to have one. You will need to have one fitted eventually so no point in refusing. Also none of them stop working as meters after a year they can still be read manually.

mac.d wrote: »

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!).

Nobody needs to use the IHD it's just for information only so if a customer finds it confusing they can just throw it away if they wanted. My grandmother in her 90's thinks her smart meter is great and likes being able to see how much she is using on her IHD.

A._Badger

SeeMe wrote: »

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?

It does not say it's mandatory but, as I have commented on the other thread about Eon and 'smart meters' (sic) Eon goes to great lengths to con its users into believing that it is compulsory.

SeeMe

A._Badger wrote: »

It does not say it's mandatory but, as I have commented on the other thread about Eon and 'smart meters' (sic) Eon goes to great lengths to con its users into believing that it is compulsory.

So it would be a matter of standing your ground and refuse all offers?

A._Badger

SeeMe wrote: »

So it would be a matter of standing your ground and refuse all offers?

It would, were it me, but many people are easily intimidated.

wild666

matelodave wrote: »

Correction - Bulb are offering a variable TOU tariff which you can take up IF YOU CHOOSE, its not compulsory. It would be interesting to see how many people have taken "advantage" of this tariff and what they think of it. Octopus, have a similar tariff on offer, called Agile which allows you to optimise your consumption outside peak times. They suggest that it might work for those who charge electric cars overnight. Have a shufti here https://octopus.energy/blog/agile-pricing-explained/

All you are doing is scaremongering by keep bringing it up without actually explaining the context.

Other companies may decide to bring some TOU tariffs to test the market, some of which actually may suit some people who are capable of shifting their consumption profile to off-peak or lower rate periods, but I guess it will be up to the consumer to decide on whether to take it up.

I believe BG had one for a period where you got free energy for one day over the weekend. I dont know how popular it was, whether anyone gained any benefit out of it and I'm not sure if its still available

BG stopped the free leccy in mid 2018, I was on that tariff, they bumped the leccy price up by £5 a month on the DD near the end so I dumped them. The company I chose where useless and I dumped them after 11 months. No complaints with the new supplier

[Deleted User]

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.

I have a very logical reason for not having a smart meter, we don't have mains gas so they would only be 50% effective, and we only spend £25 a month on electricity and are well in credit with that, so I doubt we would be able to save anything.