Refusing a smart meter installation

Ultrasonic

PennyForThem_2 said:

[Deleted User] said:

PennyForThem_2 said:

Chrysalis said:

[Deleted User] said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

All meters have the potential to fail. This is why there is an independent testing service. There are now millions of smart meters in homes across the Country that are being used to produce monthly statements. 

Well I have Smart Meter v2  installed June 2019 and had to move from Co-op energy to Octopus Oct 2019.  They were fine up to the move and now nearly 3 years later there is still a problem with reading remotely.  Octopus have acknowledged a problem.

I will be really really annoyed if I cannot take advantage of optimal rates because of this.  So I think Dolor said previously way back that SMET2 should be fine - not from my experienience.

I am guessing that you have a SMETS1 meter. Check to see if it has been adopted by the DCC:

https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/

FWiW, Octopus has a very good smart meter team.

No, it is SMETS 2.  It is read intermittantly by Octopus - so for last 3 months I have had SMETS data bills.  Since Oct 1st the SMETS 2 meters have not been read except for 1 or 2 days.  The electricity one seems to have downloaded data on 9th Oct, the gas on 2nd Oct.

I live in Cardiff so not out in rural area.

What frequency of meter readings have you agreed with Octopus? It's possible for this to only be monthly for example.

[Deleted User]

PennyForThem_2 said:

[Deleted User] said:

PennyForThem_2 said:

Chrysalis said:

[Deleted User] said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

All meters have the potential to fail. This is why there is an independent testing service. There are now millions of smart meters in homes across the Country that are being used to produce monthly statements. 

Well I have Smart Meter v2  installed June 2019 and had to move from Co-op energy to Octopus Oct 2019.  They were fine up to the move and now nearly 3 years later there is still a problem with reading remotely.  Octopus have acknowledged a problem.

I will be really really annoyed if I cannot take advantage of optimal rates because of this.  So I think Dolor said previously way back that SMET2 should be fine - not from my experienience.

I am guessing that you have a SMETS1 meter. Check to see if it has been adopted by the DCC:

https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/

FWiW, Octopus has a very good smart meter team.

No, it is SMETS 2.  It is read intermittantly by Octopus - so for last 3 months I have had SMETS data bills.  Since Oct 1st the SMETS 2 meters have not been read except for 1 or 2 days.  The electricity one seems to have downloaded data on 9th Oct, the gas on 2nd Oct.

I live in Cardiff so not out in rural area.

Fair enough. What meter models do you have? There was an issue last year when Kaifa electricity meters were returning empty XML files (these files contain the 30 minute usage data). It took Kaifa 7 months to deploy a fix. Only the meter manufacturer can resolve these issues.

PennyForThem_2

This can be done via Octopus website logged into my account - I have choosen daily and the graph does show me (retrospectively) what reading they have or have not - I can tell because the bar is flat against the axis and I get the 'Ohh Poppycocks...' msg

brewerdave

TheBanker said:

I was originally put off having smart meters because you only ever hear bad things about them. But having had them fitted last Summer, I wish I'd done it sooner.

I don't know why they get so much bad press.

Maybe because the early rollout of smart meters without the ability to operate after a change of supplier , caused a loss of confidence in the technology at a time when switching supplier was becoming the norm ?  Or because the much derided IHDs as advertised by Einstein looky likey on TV, broke or never worked after smart installs ?
There is no doubt that now the technology is (almost) fit for purpose altho' the suppliers are still driven to install but NOT to ensure operation !!!

[Deleted User]

PennyForThem_2 said:

This can be done via Octopus website logged into my account - I have choosen daily and the graph does show me (retrospectively) what reading they have or have not - I can tell because the bar is flat against the axis and I get the 'Ohh Poppycocks...' msg

Try the BRIGHT App and my advice would be to ask Octopus to profile 30 minute usage. I get very detailed bar charts from BRIGHT. The Octopus graphs are a poor alternative imho.

Cottage_Economy

I'm 95% sure that Ecotricity will offfer Economy 7. Their deep-green rival Green Energy UK definitely offer E7, plus they have (or had, I don't know if they are offering it now) a 4-rate tariff called Tide.

Once you get a smart meter you can see how much electricity you use at what time of day and work out whether E7 or other TPOU tariffs will be cheaper.

I didn’t know about getting paid for what I export rather than just an estimate, so thanks for that. That would probably be the biggest pull for doing it.

Bigger arrays are likely to see more benefit, but until you have the data you won't know.

I did have a night tariff when I first moved here but that was pulled by Ecotricity. I still have to provide night readings but the cost per unit at night is the same as during the day. I don't pay by direct debit, I pay for what I use, so that might have something to do with it. I won't have a direct debit because I am unhappy with energy companies keeping my cash in their accounts for months. I budget it myself.

I have a 6Kw array 

Keep_pedalling

Cottage_Economy said:

I'm 95% sure that Ecotricity will offfer Economy 7. Their deep-green rival Green Energy UK definitely offer E7, plus they have (or had, I don't know if they are offering it now) a 4-rate tariff called Tide.

Once you get a smart meter you can see how much electricity you use at what time of day and work out whether E7 or other TPOU tariffs will be cheaper.

I didn’t know about getting paid for what I export rather than just an estimate, so thanks for that. That would probably be the biggest pull for doing it.

Bigger arrays are likely to see more benefit, but until you have the data you won't know.

I did have a night tariff when I first moved here but that was pulled by Ecotricity. I still have to provide night readings but the cost per unit at night is the same as during the day. I don't pay by direct debit, I pay for what I use, so that might have something to do with it. I won't have a direct debit because I am unhappy with energy companies keeping my cash in their accounts for months. I budget it myself.

I have a 6Kw array 

Ecotricity offer a variable DD option, so no reason not to use DD especially if it offers you a cheaper rate. 

EssexHebridean

If you are already budgeting yourself then you could get the cost saving from using DD as a payment method without risking your energy company "keeping your cash" by using whole amount/variable DD - it's essentially an automated version of what you do now with paying on receipt of bills, The advantages being that you don't have to remember to make a payment, aren't going to get red bills if anything happens to get in the way of you being able to make a payment, and as mentioned get the DD rates rather than paying the higher costs you are likely to be currently. It should be said that not all suppliers offer this as a method but I believe we've established that the vast majority do. 

Ecotricity's website does suggest that they support E7 by the way - and if you're using electricity to power NSH's for heating and (in some cases or) an immersion heater for water then it begs the question of why your supplier unilaterally decided to switch you to a single rate tariff. 

QrizB

PennyForThem would be better off with a separate thread, their problem is unrelated to the OP's question.

I see from a previous thread that the problem has been ongoing for a year or more:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6294846/octopus-email-address-for-smart-smets2-problem

That thread contains more details and it might be worth continuing the discussion there?

Plasticman

My elderly neighbour's electricity meter stopped working so I contacted her supplier and they said that the meter would have to be replaced. I asked them if it would be a smart meter and they apologised that it would be. It was almost like they expected us to kick off about having one. They even said something about being able to switch off the "smart" metering?? You'd think they'd be busy promoting the benefits but I suspect they've had a lot of people giving them a hard time.