Energy Price Cap announcement: Watch Martin Lewis explain what it means for your electricity and gas bills this winter

Remove smart meter

in Energy
23 replies 8.2K views
2

Replies

  • rp1974rp1974 Forumite
    628 Posts
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Why did you change to a smart meter to begin with?.Just what problem is the smart meter causing,exactly?.The meter belongs to the supply company,not the user.Were you given the choice to begin with?.No company are very likely to remove correctly functioning meters for no real reason.In the event the metering is changed it'll almost certainly be new smart ones anyway.
  • Andrea15Andrea15 Forumite
    228 Posts
    Sixth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    Forumite
    May I ask what is your objection?
    I was wondering that myself. What is the problem? A smart meter seems exceedingly convenient. If anything you don't have to bother anymore with readings.
  • macmanmacman Forumite
    52.8K Posts
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Forumite
    Wrap the smart meter in a double layer of tinfoil: job done.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • Bark01Bark01 Forumite
    872 Posts
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    You haven't given us the actual reasoning why you don't want a smart, it might be the actual thing that is bugging you has a fix.
    If your Itron meter was functioning as a smart meter with EDF it may have lost functionality when you swapped to Avro. However Itron meters were in the first group of meters to be enrolled in the DCC which means Avro should by now be able to operate your meter in smart mode. 

    The poster on the previous page wasn't correct in stating you need to keep a smart meter in smart. You can request at point of installation that a smart meter is installed in dumb mode without any coms turned and some suppliers  will let you opt out of smart meter communications, but once installed I don't think you can stop the meter communicating with the DCC.

    In terms of getting a legacy meter installed, you can't just buy one online, any meter even from a recognised manufacturer needs to be brought through specific supply chains to ensure the correct safety checks are in place.

    For legacy meters the meters are owned and operated by your local MOP. Your MOP is the same company regardless of supplier, Your MOP charges rental to your supplier but the MOP Is regarded as the owner.

    For Smart meters the meter is purchased by the MAP your supplier (at the point of install) chose to use and then leased to the supplier, with the supplier being regarded as the owner. If a supplier removes a non faulty smart meter before the lease period is up (generally 10-15 years) they have to pay the majority of the remaining rental to the MAP. This is the main reason why no supplier is going to remove a non faulty smart meter. Do you hate the smart meter enough to want to pay up the remaining rental on it which will probably be £100-£200 (I don't think any supplier has a process that would actually do this other than via a complaint), because that is what you are asking the supplier to do. 


  • MWTMWT Forumite
    8.5K Posts
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    Forumite

    Bark01 said:
    The poster on the previous page wasn't correct in stating you need to keep a smart meter in smart. You can request at point of installation that a smart meter is installed in dumb mode without any coms turned and some suppliers  will let you opt out of smart meter communications, but once installed I don't think you can stop the meter communicating with the DCC.
    In this case though the OP missed their chance to specify 'dumb mode' when they were installed.
    I am not aware of any right to insist on changing to 'dumb mode' once the meter has been installed, but you can refuse to allow access to the half-hour data.

  • matelodavematelodave Forumite
    8.3K Posts
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Forumite
    Just go to a supplier that doesn't support smart meters if it really upsets you.

    However bear in mind that at some point in the future they will probably have to start supporting them (they are already being fined if they don't because it's a condition of supply) although I guess that older SMETS1 meters will take a bit longer to be migrated but, have no fear, it will happen..

    I'd also suggest that a bit further down the line they'll probably become compulsory for those who haven't succumbed yet.

    Possibly through legislation or more likely because the extra costs of manual input will be passed on to the fewer and fewer customers who are holding out.
  • rp1974rp1974 Forumite
    628 Posts
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Still no explanation as to why?.Out of curiosity are energy companies legally obligated to supply energy to domestic customers,or can they tell you that,no they wont supply you?.
  • hozza94hozza94 Forumite
    65 Posts
    Third Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    Forumite
    rp1974 said:
    Still no explanation as to why?.Out of curiosity are energy companies legally obligated to supply energy to domestic customers,or can they tell you that,no they wont supply you?.
    They could refuse for a few reasons:
    Complex metering that they don't support
    Failing credit check with a non-smart credit meter 
  • rp1974rp1974 Forumite
    628 Posts
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    hozza94 said:
    rp1974 said:
    Still no explanation as to why?.Out of curiosity are energy companies legally obligated to supply energy to domestic customers,or can they tell you that,no they wont supply you?.
    They could refuse for a few reasons:
    Complex metering that they don't support
    Failing credit check with a non-smart credit meter 
    Thanks,I didnt put that very well.What I meant was can they refuse to supply your energy purely because they dont want to?.Not that its very likely,more just is it possible?.
  • The_Fat_ControllerThe_Fat_Controller Forumite
    2K Posts
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Forumite
    Keep you smart meter, aluminium foil hats are cheap !
Sign In or Register to comment.
Latest MSE News and Guides

Energy Price Cap change

Martin Lewis on what it means for you

MSE News

Best £1 you've ever spent?

Share your most impressive bargains

MSE Forum