Smart Meters

ianb51

Hi All
For various reasons I refuse to have a smart meter installed.
We are on Economy 7 (no gas in the village) and have come to the end of our E.on contract.
It would seem that to get best tariff, I have to agree to a smart meter being installed and yet on the E.on FAQ it advises that we do not have to have one.
Anyone know the legal position on this and how to use comparison sites, cheap energy club etc if you don't want a smart meter?

Hasbeen

ianb51 said:

Hi All
For various reasons I refuse to have a smart meter installed.
We are on Economy 7 (no gas in the village) and have come to the end of our E.on contract.
It would seem that to get best tariff, I have to agree to a smart meter being installed and yet on the E.on FAQ it advises that we do not have to have one.
Anyone know the legal position on this and how to use comparison sites, cheap energy club etc if you don't want a smart meter?

I think the FAQ part you looked at is for business users. Please check.

If you choose an EON tariff it will have a condition that you have agreed to installation.

ianb51

Thanks for your reply.
Under the Home (not business) FAQ's it states:
"We’d like every eligible customer to have a smart meter in their home, but you don’t have to have them if you don’t want to"
And yet when I speak to them they tell me that most tariffs depend on having a smart meter installed
Is it me or is that a bit misleading?

[Deleted User]

It's not misleading, but it does mean exactly what it says. You don't have to have a smart meter, but they don't have to offer you the most favourable tariffs, either. They want people to use smart meters because they save money, so they will incentivise customers by passing on the savings.

Ectophile

Yes, they are saying you don't have to have a smart meter.  They are giving you a choice:

• Don't accept a smart meter and go onto an expensive tarriff.
• Accept a smart meter and switch to a cheaper tarriff.

A._Badger

jack_pott said:

It's not misleading, but it does mean exactly what it says. You don't have to have a smart meter, but they don't have to offer you the most favourable tariffs, either. They want people to use smart meters because they save money, so they will incentivise customers by passing on the savings.

Really? And how do you suppose smart meters 'save money'? They might enable someone who's a bit clueless to remember not to fully fill the kettle every time s/he makes a cup of tea but you don't need a 'smart meter' to do that. They want consumers to fit them because they allow more 'sophisticated' methods of charging which suit the energy companies and politicians. The promise of saving money is just bait.

Zellah

"A._Badger said:

Really? And how do you suppose smart meters 'save money'? They might enable someone who's a bit clueless to remember not to fully fill the kettle every time s/he makes a cup of tea but you don't need a 'smart meter' to do that. They want consumers to fit them because they allow more 'sophisticated' methods of charging which suit the energy companies and politicians. The promise of saving money is just bait.

You're judging others by your own standards. Plenty of people treat energy (especially electricity) as an unlimited cheap supply. Its not so much as boiling a kettle full of water for only 1 cup of tea, its about things leaving your electric heaters on 24/7, using your power hungry tumble dryer 3 times day, your 400w plasma TV on 24/7 etc. Its such people who will have their eyes opened to the costs of electric, not you or I.

As for "The promise of saving money is just bait" I think you'll find the cheapest tariff's with the big 6 providers are all smart meter only tariffs. 

matelodave

A._Badger said:

jack_pott said:

It's not misleading, but it does mean exactly what it says. You don't have to have a smart meter, but they don't have to offer you the most favourable tariffs, either. They want people to use smart meters because they save money, so they will incentivise customers by passing on the savings.

Really? And how do you suppose smart meters 'save money'? They might enable someone who's a bit clueless to remember not to fully fill the kettle every time s/he makes a cup of tea but you don't need a 'smart meter' to do that. They want consumers to fit them because they allow more 'sophisticated' methods of charging which suit the energy companies and politicians. The promise of saving money is just bait.

You could also argue that by having a smart meter you can get a cheaper tariff, which by definition should save you money. Likewise if it reduces the cost of meter reading and billing then this has the effect of keeping energy prices lower.
People who can't read their meters or are are just too bone idle and lazy to do so would then get accurate bills and possibly not ramp up either ginormous debts or credits.

Smart meters make it easier to detect fraud and meter tampering and hopefully if they eventually sort it all out will make it easier for people to change suppliers without some of the problems that are being encountered at the moment. They also give people the opportunity to take advantage of more innovative tariffs like the Octpus Agile for those who can be bothered to change their habits and save money. 

As others have said you have a choice to get a cheaper tariff with a smart meter or if it's your choice and you refuse to have one don't whine and whinge if you have to pay a premium for the privilege.

IMO they are an excellent idea that's been badly implemented and I'd be more than happy if my dumb smart meter was made smart again.

MWT

A._Badger said:

Really? And how do you suppose smart meters 'save money'? ....

...The promise of saving money is just bait.

The main saving is simply access to cheaper tariffs as demonstrated in this thread.

You can resist the change for now, but eventually, much like water meters, there will be no choice...

[Deleted User]

A._Badger said:

  The promise of saving money is just bait.

Hi,

there is no 'promise' of saving money, the smart meter records what you use and you pay for what you use.

Folks refer to the IHD as the smart meter, but it only gives you an indication of what you are using at a particular time, and to see the difference when you switch something off, thus the saving.

Talldave

A._Badger said:

jack_pott said:

It's not misleading, but it does mean exactly what it says. You don't have to have a smart meter, but they don't have to offer you the most favourable tariffs, either. They want people to use smart meters because they save money, so they will incentivise customers by passing on the savings.

Really? And how do you suppose smart meters 'save money'? They might enable someone who's a bit clueless to remember not to fully fill the kettle every time s/he makes a cup of tea but you don't need a 'smart meter' to do that. They want consumers to fit them because they allow more 'sophisticated' methods of charging which suit the energy companies and politicians. The promise of saving money is just bait.

I think you missed @jack_pott's point that the supplier saves money (DCC cheaper than meter readers?) and hence offers a slightly cheaper deal to the customer.