Octopus Energy want to replace my meters with Smart Meters.

born_again

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

In comparison a smart meter doesn't necessarily bring either but instead people are sceptical that they will be used to charge us more for our energy. 

Not that they need smart meters for that 🤣

RobM99

It's a meter, not a KGB bugging device. I'm sure The Kremlin isn't really interested if I use more gas on a Tuesday or not.

p00hsticks

RobM99 said:

It's a meter, not a KGB bugging device. I'm sure The Kremlin isn't really interested if I use more gas on a Tuesday or not.

They might be interested in putting our nuclear early warning systems out of action though !

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/smart-energy-meter-yorkshire-nuclear-weapons-raf-fylingdales-b983058.html

NBLondon

redwhopper said:

Octopus Energy have emailed me to say that the certification period on my electricity meter is about to run out. They want to replace it with a smart meter because they say that traditional meters aren’t “readily” available anymore. I don’t want a smart meter and I understand that I am not legally required to have one. What are my rights.

You also have the right to change supplier... and Octopus have the right to invite you to do so....

I'd start with "Dear Octopus.  I don't particularly want a smart meter.  Will you give me a better deal if I agree to one?"

jon81uk

p00hsticks said:

jon81uk said:

Why don't you want more accurate bills?

Don't start me on that topic..... OK, you already have......

it took us seven separate visits to finally get our smart meter installed last year. And then a further one to check the meter afterwards to establish that it really was working, it was just that for whatever reason British Gas weren't using / displaying the readings. I can no longer enter meter readings of my own onto the suppliers system, which I used to do like  clockwork on a monthly basis, and it would immediately show whether our payments were on track for our usage.
Since the meter was fitted we've had to have a meter reader round  to read the meter for the first time ever before we got a bill. That was over seven months ago.  There is no sign of any further bill, or evidence that the supplier is actually receiving or processing the readings - they're certainly not displaying them on my online account for me to see. 
I'm not prepared to wrestle with the supplier over the issue any longer. I'm continuing to take my own meter readings on a monthly basis, and monitoring our usage but IMHO the whole process has been a complete nightmare and hasn't achieved anything in terms of making either our usage or the cost more accurate or transparent. 

Sounds more like a British Gas issue than a smart meter one.

My smart meter malfunctioned last year, but Octopus don't stop me providing manual readings, so I just entered my own readings. A few months later they got it working again and now the meter send the readings to Octopus. I can then check the Octopus app to see how much energy I used yesterday.
No idea why BG wouldn't accept manual readings from you like Octopus did from me.

I'm in a new build house so had smart meter from day one though.

jon81uk

NBLondon said:

redwhopper said:

Octopus Energy have emailed me to say that the certification period on my electricity meter is about to run out. They want to replace it with a smart meter because they say that traditional meters aren’t “readily” available anymore. I don’t want a smart meter and I understand that I am not legally required to have one. What are my rights.

You also have the right to change supplier... and Octopus have the right to invite you to do so....

I'd start with "Dear Octopus.  I don't particularly want a smart meter.  Will you give me a better deal if I agree to one?"

If the meter has reached end of life it doesn't matter which supplier you are with, it will need to be replaced at some point.

But you can still do manual readings from a smart meter.

p00hsticks

jon81uk said:

p00hsticks said:

jon81uk said:

Why don't you want more accurate bills?

Don't start me on that topic..... OK, you already have......

it took us seven separate visits to finally get our smart meter installed last year. And then a further one to check the meter afterwards to establish that it really was working, it was just that for whatever reason British Gas weren't using / displaying the readings. I can no longer enter meter readings of my own onto the suppliers system, which I used to do like  clockwork on a monthly basis, and it would immediately show whether our payments were on track for our usage.
Since the meter was fitted we've had to have a meter reader round  to read the meter for the first time ever before we got a bill. That was over seven months ago.  There is no sign of any further bill, or evidence that the supplier is actually receiving or processing the readings - they're certainly not displaying them on my online account for me to see. 
I'm not prepared to wrestle with the supplier over the issue any longer. I'm continuing to take my own meter readings on a monthly basis, and monitoring our usage but IMHO the whole process has been a complete nightmare and hasn't achieved anything in terms of making either our usage or the cost more accurate or transparent. 

Sounds more like a British Gas issue than a smart meter one.

I think it's partly down to British Gas, but also related to the link I posted above - we're in North Yorkshire and seem to have been fobbed off with second hand out of date kit so as not to disrupt Fylingdales   

TripleH

We have smart meters I assume? (New Build completed May 2021)

I thought smart meters were those naff tablet type devices you plugged into rhe mains that told you there was a drain on your electricity (caused by said device).

Alderbank

TripleH said:

We have smart meters I assume? (New Build completed May 2021)

I thought smart meters were those naff tablet type devices you plugged into rhe mains that told you there was a drain on your electricity (caused by said device).

Nope.
The smart meters are the meter-type boxes hidden in cupboards, one for gas and one for electric.
The 'naff tablet type device' (excellent description!) is the In Home Device or IHD. The smart meters send their readings direct to your energy supplier even if the IHD is turned off or thrown away.
If you have a working IHD you will have smart meters

Alfrescodave

redwhopper said:

Octopus Energy have emailed me to say that the certification period on my electricity meter is about to run out. They want to replace it with a smart meter because they say that traditional meters aren’t “readily” available anymore. I don’t want a smart meter and I understand that I am not legally required to have one. What are my rights.

Totally agree with your reluctance to change.
What, if any, evidence do they have to support the statement that the certification period is about to run out?  Number of years ? Number of digits (99999)? 

I've just looked at my meter and there is no indicator to show when certification period expires. Perhaps a case of kidology being applied to make you move to their preferred option. Interested to see what pressure they bring to bear to make you change.