Would you recommend a smart meter from Octopus energy?

MeteredOut

theid said:

I have just been told by Octopus that my electricity meter is out of registration time and will be replaced and that they could do the gas meter at the same time.     Having read the horror stories about smart meters I am very nervous about this so this particular link has helped reassure me.    I have been very happy with Octopus over the years and I guess I'll just have to trust that all will go well.

Most of the horror stories are either mis-informed or echo-chamber repeats ("I heard of this instance...").

Do you have any specific concerns? If so, what are they, and I can guarantee they'll have been heard here before and dispelled.

theid

MeteredOut said:

theid said:

I have just been told by Octopus that my electricity meter is out of registration time and will be replaced and that they could do the gas meter at the same time.     Having read the horror stories about smart meters I am very nervous about this so this particular link has helped reassure me.    I have been very happy with Octopus over the years and I guess I'll just have to trust that all will go well.

Most of the horror stories are either mis-informed or echo-chamber repeats ("I heard of this instance...").

Do you have any specific concerns? If so, what are they, and I can guarantee they'll have been heard here before and dispelled.

I don't do "apps".  I don't have an i-phone and I only switch on my laptop a couple of times a day (i.e. I am not permanently wi-fied.)     Understandably reading about wi-fi connections and apps in reference to smart meters makes me nervous - in addition to some of the problems covered in this sequence of posts.   I honestly don't see any benefit for someone like me who doesn't pay by DD, happily reads the meters every month, knows how to reduce costs (use less stuff) etc.  but I can see lots of benefits to the smart meter industry who even managed to get the government to penalise utility companies who don't meet their targets for installing them.     Call me paranois, but ...

Gerry1

theid said:

MeteredOut said:

theid said:

I have just been told by Octopus that my electricity meter is out of registration time and will be replaced and that they could do the gas meter at the same time.     Having read the horror stories about smart meters I am very nervous about this so this particular link has helped reassure me.    I have been very happy with Octopus over the years and I guess I'll just have to trust that all will go well.

Most of the horror stories are either mis-informed or echo-chamber repeats ("I heard of this instance...").

Do you have any specific concerns? If so, what are they, and I can guarantee they'll have been heard here before and dispelled.

I honestly don't see any benefit for someone like me who doesn't pay by DD, happily reads the meters every month, knows how to reduce costs (use less stuff) etc.

Metinks they're mutually exclusive...

Alnat1

You can definitely reduce costs, simply paying by DD, probably by around 8%

Qyburn

theid said:

I don't do "apps".  I don't have an i-phone and I only switch on my laptop a couple of times a day (i.e. I am not permanently wi-fied.)     Understandably reading about wi-fi connections and apps in reference to smart meters makes me nervous 

Passing over the "understandably" I really don't think these are grounds for concern.

Smart meters are autonomous and don't rely on any app.  You may choose to use an app to look at your consumption in more detail than you get by taking and recording meter reading. But you don't have to and it doesn't affect operation of the meter or communication with the supplier. 

It's true they use a wireless protocol to talk between gas meter and comms hub, the same protocol also used by the optional In Home Display. However this is much lower powered than normal wireless LAN "WiFi".

Chrysalis

Anyone who gets a smart meter fitted via Octopus, I recommend ordering an Octopus Mini after its live.  Much better than the included IHD.

MattMattMattUK

Chrysalis said:

Anyone who gets a smart meter fitted via Octopus, I recommend ordering an Octopus Mini after its live.  Much better than the included IHD.

I am due to receive one today after requesting a few times since last year, they were out of stock but now appear to have a limited stock again, though they may have already gone. Whilst officially in Beta at the moment everyone I know who has managed to get one thinks they are great, effectively just what the IHD system should have been in the first place, rather than the almost pointless system that was actually implemented. 

alanwsg

MattMattMattUK said:

everyone I know who has managed to get one thinks they are great

Have to say, I'm less than impressed.
It's quite interesting seeing your live usage clock up in real time.
But I'm bored with that now.
And I really wanted to use it to read my meters. And I can't.