Getting caught out with smart meter T&Cs

Tigsteroonie

I switched to an EDF tariff which included a 'mandatory' smartmeter back in June. They haven't contacted me yet to fit one ... And if they do, it'll just replace the dumbmeter which BG fitted six years ago, that's proved useless for anything other than saving me crawling into a cupboard for the meter readings.

PixelPound

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

That’s what concerns me. But some, including in this thread, sell it as - but you make savings right?

I could make savings by switching to a 1.0litre put-put car. Would I be happy over what I’ve got?
Certainly not.

Saving money is nice but you have to take in to account what the trade off is.

smart meters don't save you money though, not really. Some suppliers may offer cheaper incentives to get one, and in this case I can see it saves money, but only if you feel you need to have that supplier. It tends to be the bigger suppliers who obviously need to show they are trying to meet the government targets. So far you are pre-agreeing to have one installed, are their tariffs where you can only join if your meter is already smart? IMHO incentive tariffs will phase out in a few years once there has been a certain number of installations, after then it won't matter what type of meter you have.

On the EDF smart meter tariff, you will be on the list, but who knows when you will be contacted, it depends if installers are in your area. You have agreed to get one installed which fulfils their obligation to try, doesn't matter if you get one installed or switch away at the end of the year before they get to you.

The main saving from smart meters is the idea people will obsess over the costs shown on the meters and turn off everything! Obviously there will be some who genuinely start turning off appliances and make savings, but you'd expect those who monitor tariffs and switch regularly already have reduced their surplus energy use.

I know some people are against smart meters, I'm not, just indifferent - if I'm required to have a new meter, that you are supposed to have anyway, then I will get one but it will be the same as a dumb meter, save not having to do reads.

brewerdave

I'm not quite as paranoid as some re the future use of smart meters (eg burglars,personalised power cuts)HOWEVER as I see it ,there are still a number of problems with them which need fully sorting before I'll have them:-
1) SMETS1 meters go dumb on moving suppliers in most cases -the project to adopt them onto the DCC network is only just (possibly) starting - and apparently many will need to be replaced. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some SMETS1 installations are still taking place ,altho they shouldn't be! due to a lack of SMETS2 meters.
2) SMETS2 meters -in theory - are interchangeable between suppliers - not sure whether this has been tested on any sort of scale in the general population -I suspect not. It certainly doesn't work on all occasions - a relation had SMETS2 meters fitted by one large supplier last year - SP - the gas side never worked -he had to supply manual readings - he has now switched and been told that he will have to supply manual readings for both utilities by the new supplier.:(
3) As I understand it (and confirmed by other posters on this forum) not all IHDs show the actual meter reads, so if you don't trust the Utility Cos. re accurate meter reads (as I don't!) you still have to read the actual meters anyway.

Smart_Energy_GB

Gerry1 wrote: »

Think of your portable home display as a CCTV monitor looking at your meters. The meters will still work and be phoning home even if the CCTV isn't watching them !
There are numerous disadvantages. Sooner or later you're likely to face expensive Time of Use tariffs (peak rate 41.94p/kWh), and you can be remotely disconnected whenever there's a shortfall in supply. The recent out(r)ages that stopped the trains show how just fragile the network is, and this will only worsen when existing power stations are decommissioned.

And who knows what will happen to all your lifestyle information that your energy company is now busily collecting? Who are they selling it to, what are they doing with it, and what if it leaks? It's not tinfoil hat stuff: several unique email addresses have been leaked by or hacked from BT, Adobe and Primus Telecom, and I receive 20 or so nuisance calls from scammers every month. I certainly don't want any of them to know when I'm in (more junk calls), when I'm out and when I'm on holiday (great for burglars).

Hi Gerry.

Time-of-use tariffs are not compulsory. Just like you don't have to choose a TOU tariff with a traditional meter (Economy 7 or 10 for example) you don't have to do so if you've got a smart meter.

Regards to your concern around data privacy. You own the data in your smart meter and it can't be shared with any third parties without your explicit consent. The only data in your smart meter is your energy usage data and which tariff you've chosen.

What's for remote disconnection, you’re protected by strict regulations against your energy supplier switching off or disconnecting your gas or electricity supply. This protection remains as strong with smart meters as it is with traditional meters. There are strict rules set by Ofgem relating to disconnection. You can find those here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/who-contact-if-its-difficult-paying-energy-bills/energy-supply-disconnection-and-prepayment-meter-rules