Downsides to Smart Meters in 2021?

BedrockFred

""" Ofgem has already agreed that this is fair on all customers""
Ofgem are  toothless and useless they would say that wouldn't they
Cheaper prices unlikely more dividends in shareholders pockets more likely 
and Coronavirus well have put the already behind roll out a few more years and I may not need to refuse a smart meter in my life time

brewerdave

niktheguru said:

BedrockFred said:

As you said they can cut of your supply and saying they have not done it yet there is always a first
I agree with you a smart meter is better than a pre payment meter due to cost of supply, 
I am not a landlord I don't rent and this house will never be owned by a landlord so that is no advantage to me at all
What next will these smart meters be able to do in the future, I can see absolutely no advantage at all for me, no cost saving which what the smart meter people are trying to suggest
I can control my usage without a little gadget sitting in my room, and sure as hell if I told my wife to turn off the washing machine or cooker because the gadget says its costing xx amount I know what I would be told lol

But I suppose this is for another thread 
Big brother is watching smart meters are a step along the way

Haha, fair enough.
With everyone homes becoming smart its just a matter of time. :-)

I suspect a truly smart home will be a long time down the road for most people especially when the financial effects of covid unfold fully. I have, relatively recently, replaced white goods and my main TV - and only the TV could be described as in any way , smart. I think that generally people are going to hang on to their old appliances for longer than they would have before the pandemic.

Gerry1

Dolor said:

For example, my electricity smart meter continually monitors the voltage to my home. If the voltage to my home exceeds the upper and lower voltage limits, the DNO will be notified. The DNO can then identify the likely fault without having to send out an investigation team when damage has been done. This is where the savings are to be made which should result in lower tariff increases.

The vast majority of people do not have solar panels, so presumably they don't have special smart meters that have this facility?  Surely it wouldn't be necessary for them because the voltage must be monitored upstream of their property, e.g. at the sub-station.

Are you really saying that all smart meters can do this?  If so, where is it in the smart meter specification?

[Deleted User]

SMETS2 Technical Specification 5.4.11 - Voltage Quality Measurements including Average RMS Voltage; RMS Extreme over Voltage; RMS Extreme UnderVoltage; RMS Voltage Swell and RMS Voltage Drag.

[Deleted User]

BedrockFred said:

""" Ofgem has already agreed that this is fair on all customers""
Ofgem are  toothless and useless they would say that wouldn't they
Cheaper prices unlikely more dividends in shareholders pockets more likely 
and Coronavirus well have put the already behind roll out a few more years and I may not need to refuse a smart meter in my life time

Ofgem might argue that the Default Tariff Cap is their way of stopping suppliers from overcharging customers. Given that well over 20M smart meters have now been deployed, they could also argue that the revised roll out date of 2024 is achievable: time will tell. Two years ago, I thought like you but after a lot of research I concluded that time of use tariffs would save me £00s a year. My average kWh price for electricity last year (without the PV solar that I have today) was 8p.

BedrockFred

[Deleted User] said:

BedrockFred said:

""" Ofgem has already agreed that this is fair on all customers""
Ofgem are  toothless and useless they would say that wouldn't they
Cheaper prices unlikely more dividends in shareholders pockets more likely 
and Coronavirus well have put the already behind roll out a few more years and I may not need to refuse a smart meter in my life time

Ofgem might argue that the Default Tariff Cap is their way of stopping suppliers from overcharging customers. Given that well over 20M smart meters have now been deployed, they could also argue that the revised roll out date of 2024 is achievable: time will tell. Two years ago, I thought like you but after a lot of research I concluded that time of use tariffs would save me £00s a year. My average kWh price for electricity last year (without the PV solar that I have today) was 8p.

Again I fail to se how the default tariff cap helps at all, indeed you could argue it is a negative effect on prices default tariff cap seems to edge up everytime but you still have to pay for what you use beyond that default tariff and all houses are different and I dare bet even with a smart meter and a fancy gadget it wont control usage 
I always keep a regular check on usage and make sure I do everything I can to control usage we have excellent insolation in the loft, cavity wall insulation, solar panels and a multi fuel  burning stove that cost very little to run 

Phones4Chris

BedrockFred said:

As you said they can cut of your supply and saying they have not done it yet there is always a first
......................

They cannot do that to an individual supply at present IMHO without a change to legislation. The only way they can make cuts if load shedding is needed, is on an area by area basis.

Gerry1

Phones4Chris said:

BedrockFred said:

As you said they can cut of your supply and saying they have not done it yet there is always a first
......................

They cannot do that to an individual supply at present IMHO without a change to legislation. The only way they can make cuts if load shedding is needed, is on an area by area basis.

Yeah, right.

There will never, ever be a change in any legislation, it's all fixed in tablets of stone.  All those DSR facilties were dreamt up one wet Wednesday afternoon, just for the fun of it, absolutely nothing else.

Remember, you can always trust anything said by a government minister and the man from Whitehall.

Phones4Chris

Gerry1 said:

Phones4Chris said:

BedrockFred said:

As you said they can cut of your supply and saying they have not done it yet there is always a first
......................

They cannot do that to an individual supply at present IMHO without a change to legislation. The only way they can make cuts if load shedding is needed, is on an area by area basis.

Yeah, right.

There will never, ever be a change in any legislation, it's all fixed in tablets of stone.  All those DSR facilties were dreamt up one wet Wednesday afternoon, just for the fun of it, absolutely nothing else.

Remember, you can always trust anything said by a government minister and the man from Whitehall.

> There will never, ever be a change in any legislation, it's all fixed in tablets of stone.
I didn't say there wouldn't be any change in the future
> Remember, you can always trust anything said by a government minister and the man from Whitehall.
Just the same as I don't trust or believe every bit of carp I see in the press!

silverwhistle

Like Dolor have a smart meter and a half hourly time of day tariff, and like them have saved a lot (although not the last few weeks!).

All it takes for me to save is to be a bit canny as to when I use my main appliances and heavy cooking, although I've come across a number of people with the attitude 'I can't be doing with that'. They tend to moan about their fuel bills too, whereas in my budget it's one of the things I really don't have to worry about..