Smart Meter - any reason not to?

MallyGirl

Apologies if this has been answered - I wasn't sure what to search for that didn't bring back lots of posts.
I have been on a 2 year fix with Sainsbury's Energy (EOn with a wrapper) for a year. In theory it has always been a smart meter tariff. They are now offering me the option to book an appointment to get smart meters fitted. I know there were issues with early rollouts - is there a reason to not do it these days?
I track usage by reading the meters monthly and I have an Owl monitor which gives electricity usage in the house but this doesn't show gas or outbuildings and my home office is down the garden.

FreeBear

No reason not to have a smart meter for both gas and electricity. You will be able to monitor your consumption for both much more closely, and have the option to download usage graphs (via the Bright app ?).

Granularity of the data won't be as good as your Owl monitor (gas readings are only updated every 30 mins). But it should be good enough to get a reasonable picture of peak consumption.

RobM99

Oh no! Bill Gates can tell I used 2.38KwH yesterday!  That's my life in ruins.

kuratowski

I had smart meters installed in March, and I do recommend it.  I find I actually don't use the IHD much at all, being able to download the meter data to my PC is more useful to me, or the Bright app for a casual look.  Not having to manually read the meters for billing is nice.

diystarter7

I asked a few months back about SM's. The overwhelming consensus was 'avoid at all costs.'

I was worried about being penalised for using fuel during peak periods via higher rates between certain hours EG, 6am and 10 am and then 4 to 7pm etc. I can see it happening so a no thanks from me.

GingerTim

diystarter7 said:

I asked a few months back about SM's. The overwhelming consensus was 'avoid at all costs.'

I was worried about being penalised for using fuel during peak periods via higher rates between certain hours EG, 6am and 10 am and then 4 to 7pm etc. I can see it happening so a no thanks from me.

The other way of looking at it is that smart-metered users will be able to access cheaper rates not available to non-smart metered users. As the proposed trial for paying users to shift their use outside of peak hours indicates is coming very soon.

DE_612183

Smart meters with IHDs are good - monthly billing is accurate as well so all good.

Not sure what @Deleted_User means by "giving control" - the smart meter only collects and sends data - I'm not sure how it would give any control to anyone.

If you are software engineer and you don't trust any software, I think you're in the wrong job.

lisyloo

I've worked in software for several decades and whilst there can be vulnerabilities in software, a smart meter doesn't give access to anything except your meter reading.
The only reason not to have one is it you cannot stand the disruption of being without power for a short period during the working day (I worked from a mobile hotspot for a short period).

Raxiel

@Deleted_User I assume you don't have a bank account for the same reason?

diystarter7 said:

I asked a few months back about SM's. The overwhelming consensus was 'avoid at all costs.'

I was worried about being penalised for using fuel during peak periods via higher rates between certain hours EG, 6am and 10 am and then 4 to 7pm etc. I can see it happening so a no thanks from me.

You don't need a smart meter or a ToU tariff to be penalised for using peak rate electricity, you'll just get eye watering rates all day long. ToU will be a way for those who can shift their usage outside the peaks to make a saving.

[Deleted User]

But if you're happy to hand over control to others (with Nest/Hive, Alexa, cloud based software etc) then probably no good reason not to accept a smart meter.

There is a slight flaw in the above analogy. Unlike the UK smart meter system, Nest; Hive; Alexa et al do not have GCHQ- approved layer security.

Only an idiot would go so far as to suggest that smart meters cannot be hacked; however, one has to ask 'what would hackers gain by doing so'? The simultaneous mass disconnection of a large number of smart meters in a given location which could disrupt/damage the Grid is the main concern that GCHQ has addressed by adopting a system of layered security. If it comes to someone wanting to know my energy usage, it would probably be easier to hack a supplier's billing computer than a smart meter.

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/the-smart-security-behind-the-gb-smart-metering-system

@Deleted_User is of course entitled to his opinion. 

Alnat1

Smart meters are great if you are interested in TOU tariffs. Even if not, they save the hassle of having to read the meter each month.

I have solar/batteries and access to these tariffs allows me to fill up my batteries on cheaper overnight electricity, to use during the following day when there's not much sun around. I also exported my excess generation via a TOU tariff over summertime and was paid a better rate for the energy I sent back during the 4-7pm peak.

On another post here @Deleted_User says they won't pay by DD as they don't like giving energy companies access to their bank account and they also mention they only have a landline and no mobile phone. I'll let you make your own call on whether to take advice from them.