Should I get a smart meter?

MattMattMattUK

LADYXXMACBETH said:

Do you have to fpay to have them fitted ? 

Not directly, we all pay for them indirectly via an element of the standing charge. 

Astria

The only time smart meters cost you more money is when you current meter is actually running slow and not reporting correctly.

Everyone will have them eventually - once your meter becomes end of line it'll be replaced by one. So you can either have it now or later.

peter_the_piper

1 further thing, if you are old, disabled etc and the normal meters are difficult to read ,a smart meter IHD is a great help in checking if your company is using your readings and not estimates.,

Chrysalis

LADYXXMACBETH said:

I've heard awful things about smartmeters going wrong, over charging etc. I can get one installed from BG but I'm worried it'll cause more hassle than it's worth. 

If it makes you feel better, my smart meter is giving readings 30-40% lower than my old (faulty?) meter.

I would expect something recently manufactured to be more likely to work properly than potentially a decades old meter.  Of course if the old meter had a fault which made it give lower readings, then a smart meter would give higher readings.

Free installation as well as I seen your later question.

The benefits are readings sent to supplier every 30 minutes, so accurate usage on bills, and also more granular usage data.  They also give a in home display to check your data and even show live usage.

brewerdave

peter_the_piper said:

1 further thing, if you are old, disabled etc and the normal meters are difficult to read ,a smart meter IHD is a great help in checking if your company is using your readings and not estimates.,

Except that the utility cos. won't replace if they fail -won't even supply a new one if you offer to pay AND the IHDs frequently don't survive a supplier change and the new supplier won't give a flying fig !!.