My new smart meter.

Den249

I've had it for about a month now after having my arm twisted by the energy supplier who told me that they were switching off the existing signal soon.  Presumably (although never clearly stated) leaving me without any energy at all.
I haven't learned anything that allows me to save any money on my bills, unless I'm happy to cook less food, take fewer showers, or turn the heating off and get cold.  In fact the opposite has been the case.  What the little screen shows me is that most days the biggest cost to me is the standing charge of about 30p on both gas and electric.  

These iniquitous charges were done away with decades ago because it didn't matter that poorer customers froze, starved or stank, they still had to pay the biggest item on their bill to do so.  Now they're back with exactly the same result.

Please don't anyone tell me that the answer is to change supplier.  I've looked into that and the best they could come up with was a saving of a bit over £4 P.A on gas and electricity.
What I would like to see as it might encourage the regulator to do a bit more regulating (instead of waving through each years price hike) is when I get my bills with pretty pie-charts showing how my bill was arrived at, they should include the missing billions paid to shareholders.  If nothing else it would show how much of the pie they are getting.  I suspect it would show they are getting a very large slice.

jbuchanangb

A smart meter doesn't change anything about your energy consumption, and doesn't introduce a standing charge which you didn't have before. I assume you understand that the little gadget you have indoors isn't the smart meter. It is called the In Home Device (IHD). The smart meter(s) are still the meters in your meter cupboard or under the stairs or wherever they are. You should read them there, and when you are sure that you know how to get the same readings out of the IHD then perhaps you can use that thing.

Even with smart meters you should read them every month, and you have the option to submit the readings to your energy supplier if you want to. In theory, your supplier should be able to bill you accurately without you submitting readings, but this forum is full of people who didn't submit readings because they thought their smart meter was doing it, then found out that in fact the supplier had not been using smart readings but estimates, and then they got a shock when eventually they gave a reading!

[Deleted User]

I agree that a meter in itself will not save you any money; that said, many suppliers are now offering their cheapest tariffs to ‘encourage’ consumers to accept a smart meter. Some suppliers, such as Octopus, now offer time-of-use tariffs that make use of the 48 tariff blocks per day in each smart meter. Last year, on Octopus Agile, I was able to achieve an average unit price of c.8p/kWh. Increasingly, we will see time-of use tariffs becoming the norm. 

So why is the Government committed to a £13Bn smart meter programme? This is more to do with the future than the present. A Smart Grid that can better manage supply (which includes erratic wind and solar power generation)  against future consumer demand is needed to contain future price rises. 

As far as shareholders are concerned, I would argue that they are entitled to a return on their investment. That said, suppliers are not making vast profits. Octopus declared a loss of £36M; Bulb a loss of £121M, and a number of suppliers (some Council backed) have gone to the wall.

molerat

Standing charges were never really done away with, just smoke and mirrors to fool he gullible.  True NSC tariffs had a very high unit charge which, for all but those with an absolute minimal usage, cost more than a similar use with standing charge and the other option was a differential unit price where the difference added up to the same as the standing charge.  The thing that shocks me is how the smart meter advertising campaign has got past the ASA !

Gerry1

Den249 said:

I've had it for about a month now after having my arm twisted by the energy supplier who told me that they were switching off the existing signal soon.  Presumably (although never clearly stated) leaving me without any energy at all.

Surprise, surprise, they've conned you with their scaremongering.  The Radio Teleswitch signal on Radio 4 198kHz Long Wave is not about to be switched off.  The broadcast contract has already been extended several times and may well be extended again.

Even if the signal were switched off tomorrow, your lights wouldn't go out.  Your Radio Teleswitch would behave like a simple clock timer just like all the existing ones.

Dolor said:

So why is the Government committed to a £13Bn smart meter programme? This is more to do with the future than the present. A Smart Grid that can better manage supply (which includes erratic wind and solar power generation)  against future consumer demand is needed to contain future price rises.

So why is the Government making us pay for the £13Bn smart meter fiasco that is officially estimated to save us just £11 per household annually?  It's because the Grid is becoming increasingly wonky as old power stations are retired and not replaced.  Rationing at peak times by expensive Time of Use tariffs (enforced by Load Limiting and Load Shedding if you don't comply) is the driver for the Smart Grid that will control your energy usage via your Smart Meters.  It's all set out in hard to find official documentation, but all their publicity has concentrated on the colourful shiny toy.

FTFY !

molerat said:

The thing that shocks me is how the smart meter advertising campaign has got past the ASA !

Doesn't shock me at all.  All the so-called regulators are just toothless watchdogs, either dozy fat cats paid at government expense or sweetheart organisations funded by those they are supposed to regulate.

niktheguru

let’s be let’s be honest a smart meter won’t save you money. (Unless you get a cheaper smart meter tariff) but if it does away with “estimated readings” then I’m all for it.
also, though I agree that you should check your meter every month even if it’s smart, I’d argue it’s actually more important to just check your bills every month and ensure they are not estimated. It only takes a minute and I’m so surprised how so many people don’t even look at their utility bills!

brewerdave

niktheguru said:

let’s be let’s be honest a smart meter won’t save you money. (Unless you get a cheaper smart meter tariff) but if it does away with “estimated readings” then I’m all for it.
also, though I agree that you should check your meter every month even if it’s smart, I’d argue it’s actually more important to just check your bills every month and ensure they are not estimated. It only takes a minute and I’m so surprised how so many people don’t even look at their utility bills!

Oh the irony !  

MikeE67

[Deleted User] said:

I agree that a meter in itself will not save you any money; that said, many suppliers are now offering their cheapest tariffs to ‘encourage’ consumers to accept a smart meter. Some suppliers, such as Octopus, now offer time-of-use tariffs that make use of the 48 tariff blocks per day in each smart meter. Last year, on Octopus Agile, I was able to achieve an average unit price of c.8p/kWh. Increasingly, we will see time-of use tariffs becoming the norm. 

So why is the Government committed to a £13Bn smart meter programme? This is more to do with the future than the present. A Smart Grid that can better manage supply (which includes erratic wind and solar power generation)  against future consumer demand is needed to contain future price rises. 

As far as shareholders are concerned, I would argue that they are entitled to a return on their investment. That said, suppliers are not making vast profits. Octopus declared a loss of £36M; Bulb a loss of £121M, and a number of suppliers (some Council backed) have gone to the wall.

Probably down to their advertising costs. 
Nearly every time I go on YouTube I see an Octopus advert !

Hasbeen

Smart meters are Great.

For the government!

They are closing Oil, Gas, Coal, power stations as not in fashion. Not green

They are not really committed to building any nuclear stations. Not green.

They are committed to forcing / banning  eventually installs of all Oil/LPG/Gas heating.  Green
They are committed to covering the country in windmills etc to provide power. Green

But when demand outstrips supply, perhaps bad winter and windmills frozen up, solar power down?

They can selectively cut power through the smart meter network to individual households to keep hospitals, essentials running.

But it has only cost to date circa £13 Billion  which has been added to every ones power bills.

But at least we save at the moment an average of the fantastic sum of  approx £11 per year?

I have an emergency back up generator in workshop not green. 

Gerry1

Hasbeen said:

But when demand outstrips supply, perhaps bad winter and windmills frozen up, solar power down?

They can selectively cut power through the smart meter network to individual households to keep hospitals, essentials running.
But it has only cost to date circa £13 Billion  which has been added to every ones power bills.
But at least we save at the moment an average of the fantastic sum of  approx £11 per year?

Whoops, you're not supposed to let the cat out of the bag !
Stand by for a load of abuse from the industry and government shills...

oldagetraveller1

"But when demand outstrips supply, perhaps bad winter and windmills frozen up, solar power down?

They can selectively cut power through the smart meter network to individual households to keep hospitals, essentials running."

And good luck when everyone is persuaded (or forced) to buy/use all electric vehicles.

Yes, cut supply to households so that essential services keep going. Good luck, again, charging your "planet saver" when that happens!