Smart Meters - what they do and don't do...

TheHeatingEngineer

There appears to be much misunderstanding about Smart Meters (SM), and this is encouraged by misleading advertising.

I am Gas Safe engineer and have been worried by the disinformation appearing in SM adverts and forums like this. I hope this helps.

Adverts imply that if you fit gas and electric SMs you will save money immediately without doing anything else. That is incorrect.

What a SM does-:
A SM is an electronic device that records consumption of gas or electric energy and communicates the information to the supplier for monitoring and billing. Smart meters typically record energy hourly or more frequently, and report at least daily. (From Wikipedia)

1) SMs will not save you money on their own. To save money it is necessary to do one or more of the following -

A) Use less energy.
Join a cheaper tariff.

Allowing your supplier to fit SMs can give you access to cheaper tariffs but you still have to use a more economical tariff to reduce your bills.

2) Gas SM
For those who know how to read a gas meter, how to control energy use, to budget and control spending, the SM is of little help. Indeed it can hinder the process because it's more difficult to obtain a gas reading (in cubic metres) compared with older-style meters.

I have yet to see a gas SM display that shows the current gas meter reading in units of Cubic Metres. The IHD and the user need these readings to calculate the gas energy usage. The gas energy calculation also needs the calorific value of gas. It may be that suppliers can send the the calorific value to the IHD but it would be nice to show the data for the user to check if they wish.

3) Electric SM
The electric SM calculates the electric energy use in one step so it should be able to show the energy calculation without user input.

4) The IHD is placed where the user can see the current rate of energy use and could be considered a useful aid for energy usage monitoring, except that in my opinion most will watch it periodically for a few days and then realise they have better things to be doing with their lives than watching an energy-use-display.

The IHD will probably become redundant by virtue of the demands of life, and especially if it fails for any reason. The users inclined to take manual readings and make manual energy calculations will do so without a SM, and for those who are not, the SM will fall out of use.

5) It's conceivable that the IHD will identify when heavy-use appliances have been left switched on eg the immersion heater, but IMHO it would be better for households to fit illuminated switches in visible locations; and in the case of the immersion heater, to ensure the thermostat is working and adjusted to 55C-60C. Why illuminated switches are fitted invisibly, inside cupboards is beyond me..!

I always recommend that controls are fitted in visible locations where they can be used to 'control energy use'.

Mister_G

TheHeatingEngineer wrote: »

I have yet to see a SM display that shows the current meter reading.

I have a Secure Liberty 100 meter with the Pipit 500 IHD. I can see my current meter reading on the IHD. I have checked it against the actual meter on several occasions and it always agrees.

The meter was fitted by Ovo a few years ago now, but because I have changed supplier at least three times, it is no longer smart. This does mean that there is no pricing information anymore on the IHD.

wild666

What they don't do is stop reading a duel reading when you change supplier to a new one that has only one tariff such as Bulb and many other suppliers. That's the clusterf**k that's British Gas

TheHeatingEngineer

Are you thinking about Dual Rate? And maybe moving back to a single rate tariff?

Dual rate is where, typically with electricity, there are different prices (rates) for different times of the day.

An example is the 'Economy-x' eg '7'. There used to be 10 & 18 I believe for use with electric central heating. But they are rare now according to my investigations.

What actually happens with your readings / charges?

phillw

TheHeatingEngineer wrote: »

1) A SM will not save you money on its own. To save money it is necessary to do one or more of the following -

A) use less energy.
join a cheaper tariff.

The SM does neither of these, and therefore cannot save money. Allowing your supplier to fit them can give you access to cheaper tariffs.

Isn't that the same thing?

It's like saying "they tell you that buying a railcard will save you money, but they are lying and it doesn't. To save money you have to use it when you purchase train tickets".

I would probably keep an eye on the display. Even better if it could be linked to my phone.

PennineAcute

Speak for yourself. The IHD, of my now dumb SM, shows my meter readings, so it is invaluable.

So easy to update my spreadsheet.

TheHeatingEngineer wrote: »

There appears to be much misunderstanding about Smart Meters (SM), and this is encouraged by misleading advertising.

I am Gas Safe engineer and have been worried by the disinformation appearing in SM adverts and forums like this. I hope this helps.

SM adverts imply that if you fit one you can forget it and it will save you money. This is incorrect.

What a SM does-:
A SM is an electronic device that records consumption of electric energy and communicates the information to the electricity supplier for monitoring and billing. Smart meters typically record energy hourly or more frequently, and report at least daily. (From Wikipedia)

1) A SM will not save you money on its own. To save money it is necessary to do one or more of the following -

A) use less energy.
join a cheaper tariff.

The SM does neither of these, and therefore cannot save money. Allowing your supplier to fit them can give you access to cheaper tariffs.

2) For those who know how to read a meter, to control energy use, to budget and control spending, the SM is of little help. Indeed it can hinder the process because it's more difficult to obtain a reading compared with older-style meters.

I have yet to see a SM display that shows the current meter reading. Therefore the user will still have to read the SM as they did with the old-style meters. The user needs a record of readings and ideally the related energy calculations in order to monitor and plan energy use.

3) The display unit is placed where the user can see the current rate of energy use and could be considered a useful aid for energy usage monitoring, except that in my opinion most will watch it periodically for a few days and then realise they have better things to be doing with their lives than watching an energy-use-display.

The display will probably become redundant in most households because it does not replace the basic meter reading and energy use calculation process that is required to enable energy budgeting and planning.

4) It's conceivable that the display will identify when heavy-use appliances have been left switched on eg the immersion heater, but IMHO it would be better for households to fit illuminated switches in visible locations; and in the case of the immersion heater, to ensure the thermostat is working and adjusted to 55C-60C. Why illuminated switches are fitted invisibly, inside cupboards is beyond me..!

I always recommend that controls are fitted in visible locations where they can be used to 'control energy use'.

Smart_Energy_GB

Smart meters make it easier for us to identify the situations where we're using a lot of energy and might want to make changes to reduce it.
If you use the information shown on your in-home display to help reduce your energy use, you should be able to cut your energy costs. Smart meters also mean accurate bills, so you can be confident that you're only paying for what you've actually used, rather than overpaying, as you sometimes do with estimates. We know that 86% of people with a smart meter have said that they have changed how they do things around the house to use less energy.

I would probably keep an eye on the display. Even better if it could be linked to my phone.

@Phillw Some suppliers are offering smartphone apps so customers can access energy data this way, but it’s probably worth contacting your energy supplier to find out what they can offer you.

Speak for yourself. The IHD, of my now dumb SM, shows my meter readings, so it is invaluable.

So easy to update my spreadsheet.

We know this is frustrating! But, this is a temporary situation. The government’s plan is for all first generation smart meters to be enrolled into the national communications network, where they will become interoperable between suppliers.

TheHeatingEngineer

phillw wrote: »

Isn't that the same thing?

I can see your point but I would say it's not the same thing. If the SM is installed with the current tariff, then (A) & (B) apply. The advert "fit and save" is misleading.

Owning a SM only "potentially" gives the user access to more tariffs. The user may have to switch and the current SM may not work with a desired tariff / supplier.

TheHeatingEngineer

Smart_Energy_GB wrote: »

Smart meters make it easier for us to identify the situations where we're using a lot of energy and might want to make changes to reduce it.

True, but you are talking about enabling the user to identify situations - to take an intermediate step. The stated point of my post is to alert the unwary that the adverts are misleading ie "fit and save" is probably incorrect for most. It should be "fit and 'potentially' save - providing you do (A) and/or (B) - above".

During my rounds of boiler servicing I have not found one household where the user could tell me how to use their display, and after trying, I could not find the meter readings either - the point being that readings need to be available at the touch of a button otherwise the system value is questionable.

matelodave

IMO the IHD doesn't actually give me the info that I want without prodding the buttons a few times - they seem to have been produced especially for people who have problems tying their shoe laces.

However that said, although my meter hasn't communicated with a supplier for several years, I can use the IHD remotely read it (saves going outside in the cold, wet and snow) and I can get info on my daily, weekly and monthly consumption together with the history going back over a year.
TBH the last things I really need are the cost, closely followed by the CO2. I want to know what I'm using not how much CO2 I'm generating

PennineAcute

There is only so much info you can display before it becomes 'too much'.

Two key presses to get to the meter read section and a further press to toggle between elec and gas.

That is no major issue at all - and definately not because people cannot tie their shoelaces.