New Smart Meter are dangerous - Budget Exceeded

Caramac

I have found this discussion interesting having moved into a new build house two years ago and it’s only this year I have been aware of the budget feature on the IHD, though to be fair for the first winter the IHD wasn’t connecting. 

I had never thought about the budget until recently as we have always been careful but was surprised that we are consistently over despite only having the heating on for a couple of hours a day. I had mistakenly assumed the budget would increase in line with increased charges.

badmemory

How many of these comments has said that people should go on line & .......  Not everyone has internet access.  The main problem I believe is the dodgy advertising that has been used to persuade people to have a smart meter which lets face it is not really that smart at all.  At least only for the supplier & they don't seem to care if it isn't working properly, just so long as they can claim that they have fitted it.

Swipe

First thing I did when I got my smart meter installed was to explore every menu on the IHD and have a play around. Once I'd exhausted every setting I was then outside menu hopping on the actual smart meter. I can't help myself when it come to gadgets and tech.

jennifernil

Thanks, yes, I saw info yesterday on the BRIGHT app on here, so passed that on to OH, who is now avidly watching the £s clock up!

Magnitio

They have an in-built tutorial for those without internet.

noitsnotme

ariarnia said:

jennifernil said:

I would just be glad if our (very recently fitted) smart gas meter would supply data to our IHD.

It does supply readings to our provider.

The IHD only shows the electricity information.  Both meters are in outside boxes right next to each other.

 and there planing soon you can add your tarrif details so it will also tell you cost. 

I just signed up to Bright this week and it automatically showed my tariff and there is already an option to see cost as well as energy usage.

poppellerant

Calculate your annual usage and prices, then divide accordingly into days/weeks and input these figures into the IHD.  That's something I do every few months, if my usage fluctuates enough to warrant changing my IHD's budget.

The only thing is, during winter you will probably almost always be over budget, as entering the above figures is an average for the year.

oldagetraveller1

My IHD shows that the daily budget I set in the summer is being exceeded because of more gas usage due to colder temperatures.

All I need to do is reset the daily budget to an amount reflecting the present consumption and all is well, budget not exceeded.

This is "nanny state" and blame everyone else for personal shorcomings gone mad!

I blame my energy supplier for not telling me what daily budget to set!

"New Smart Meter are dangerous"

My SMART meter(s) is/are only dangerous if I tamper with any live leccy connections or gas connections.

dunstonh

How many of these comments has said that people should go on line & .......  Not everyone has internet access.

Clearly, the people reading posts here will have internet.   Those that do not have internet access wont see the comments and wont know what they are missing.

The main problem I believe is the dodgy advertising that has been used to persuade people to have a smart meter which lets face it is not really that smart at all.

They are smart if you use the functionality.    The ability to export to third party apps to monitor your use, for example.

EssexHebridean

Let's not forget that a fully functioning SM can be a godsend to someone who struggles to read their meter for whatever reason. Yes - absolutely the readings should still be checked on a periodic basis but I reckon the average fiercely independant person who hates asking for help but can't manage things themselves far prefers having to ask someone to read a meter once every 4 months, say, rather than monthly!  I do sometimes think that it's very easy to lose sight of the advantages of some of the technological advances  because it's not necessarily something that we benefit from - without remembering that not everyone had the advantages we do which make it so.