Switching suppliers: Smart meter installation mandatory?

mac.d

pinkladyvenus said:

I changed to a tariff where having a smart meter was hidden away in the small print I keep getting phone calls which go straight to voicemail mentioning  they are phoning to arrange an appointment to fit my smart meter for the past year and a half they have stopped for the moment  I am not refusing to have one fitted but am also not answering the calls.

There have previously been tariffs where the terms just state you need to agree to be contacted about smart meters, it's only more recently that these have been replaced with 'you must agree to have smart meters fitted and if not we can move you onto a different tariff' type wordings. They won't move you onto another (guaranteed to be more expensive) tariff, if for some reason they visit and can't fit smart meters, but not if you just try avoiding their calls.

Talldave

Yellow_mango said:

I’m curious why you wouldn’t want a smart meter. I love mine!

Wait until the battery's failing on your gas meter ;-)

inspectorperez

Talldave said:

Yellow_mango said:

I’m curious why you wouldn’t want a smart meter. I love mine!

Wait until the battery's failing on your gas meter ;-)

Are batteries on the latest SMET 2 meters not replaceable by customer, or are you suggesting that they are a bit like IPAD batteries for instance which need a professional to replace them when they are ready to fall over?

I am presuming that you would get some form of warning when the battery needed changing?

brewerdave

inspectorperez said:

Talldave said:

Yellow_mango said:

I’m curious why you wouldn’t want a smart meter. I love mine!

Wait until the battery's failing on your gas meter ;-)

Are batteries on the latest SMET 2 meters not replaceable by customer, or are you suggesting that they are a bit like IPAD batteries for instance which need a professional to replace them when they are ready to fall over?

I am presuming that you would get some form of warning when the battery needed changing?

No, they aren't customer replaceable - as far as I'm aware the only warning is on the meter itself -apparently some meters show a small b on the display, so unless you go out regularly to examine ………….

Highland76

The batteries on smets2 gas meters have a life of approx 10 years but your energy supplier should get in touch with you in advance to get the batteries replaced - I believe the customer can't replace them (not without the right tools anyway). I'm sure there have been cases of batteries failing after only a year or two on some gas meters but these appear to be rare cases. No doubt some will say the batteries on ALL smart gas meters will fail after 1-2 years but these are usually the same people who believe smart meters give cancer lol

brewerdave

Highland76 said:

No doubt some will say the batteries on ALL smart gas meters will fail after 1-2 years but these are usually the same people who believe smart meters give cancer lol

I don't believe the nonsense about SMETS meters causing cancer  - but I DO believe that there have been sufficient cases reported of batteries packing up within a couple of years - and further ,that the users have had major difficulties getting the suppliers to send someone out to replace the battery. Some of these failed batteries have actually caused a shut off of the gas supply - you wouldn't want that in a cold winter!!

notional

I have smart meters (SMETS2) but the gas meter doesn't connect to the electric one.  Am I still ok to shop around for tariffs that demand smart meters?

Gerry1

notional said:

I have smart meters (SMETS2) but the gas meter doesn't connect to the electric one.  Am I still ok to shop around for tariffs that demand smart meters?

Yes, it's their problem not yours.

click86

Landlord was ok with me getting a smart meter and I'm now on a tariff where a smart meter is required.

I was wondering, who's responsibility is it to make contact about getting these installed - I assume it is down to the supplier to contact me, rather than the other way round?

I ask, as I haven't heard anything yet, but this could be down to the current situation with covid-19 I assume.

MalMonroe

You can ask your supplier about it at any time. And if you don't want to have a mandatory smart meter, why not just switch to a supplier who doesn't require it?