Smart Meter

EssexHebridean

MikeJXE said:

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The energy companies will have enough data to make sure they are profitable, why would they want to give you a low tariff when they know you can't do without the energy at a certain time ? 

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If this oft repeated argument held any real weight, why do E7 tariffs still exist? If Octopus trundled along and said "Sorry Mrs EH, we've got it all wrong, and from now on we're going to be charging you your off-peak rate during the day and your peak rate for the 7 hours overnight when all your heating charges, your hot water heats, and you use your appliances" then I'd pretty rapidly switch to a supplier who wasn't going to do that, or be altering the settings and the times I did things to ensure that I still benefited from the off peak rates! E7 is possibly the longest standing example of people who "can't do without energy at a certain time"! 

powerful_Rogue said:

MikeJXE said:

Have you actually looked at any smart TOU tariffs?

Yes I have and they look good, you could say a sprat to catch a mackerel

I don't have smart meter and my dumb one isn't broken 

I'm sure there were similar thoughts when those pesky Eco7 meters came out all them decades ago.

Entice people in with those generous low over night rates, then ramp the prices sky high when enough people had changed over............

Yes - undoubtedly. What exactly DID the conspiracy theorists do before there was internet to peddle their nonsense via?!  Chain letters?! 

Bigphil1474 said:

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May sound like a conspiracy theory...
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If it looks like a rat, smells like a rat, and sounds like a rat, it's probably.... 

wild666

MikeJXE said:

GingerTim said:

MikeJXE said:

GingerTim said:

MikeJXE said:

That's my opinion anyway for what it's worth so I will be sticking to a dumb meter as I will be sticking to an ICE car for as long as I am able 

Those on dumb meters will end up paying more than anyone on a smart meter, i.e. peak rates 24/7 with no opportunity to shift usage to less expensive times. 

I didn't say they wouldn't 

I'm saying the energy companies have more control over your bill with a smart meter 

But by that logic those on a dumb meter will have even less control, surely?

Very much so,

I did also state smart meters are the future and eventually we will all be on them, thus giving energy companies complete control over every individual whatever ducking and diving you do to get get your usage down. 

The only differences with smart meters are that you shouldn't have to give a supplier your meter readings, you can also see how much energy you're using and the drawback is that they can make the meters  prepayment meters at a flick of a switch if you get in debt too much and don't take measures to come out of debt! 
After that they are the same as any other meter only that the meters will give the electric usage in kWh's and the gas in M3, gas is the same as most old meters unless the home still has meters that give readings in ft.3 and even some suppliers make mistakes with them giving the usage of electric and gas in M3 instead of ft.3 when converted and this could lead to users underpaying for electric and gas.

wild666

MikeJXE said:

[Deleted User] said:

MikeJXE said:

Yes I have and they look good, you could say a sprat to catch a mackerel

This particular sprat (smart tariff) has been in existence for over 4 years. Look at the prices for tomorrow which for most of the day are much cheaper than the Ofgem Cap. It is even being recommended by the man than used to own this website:

The tariff - Octopus Agile.

I am not disputing tariffs can be very much cheaper if you have a smart meter

What I am say is who knows what will be when everyone has them 

That, IMHO, is why energy companies don't want to switch everyone who want's those prices over to them they make them wait hoping some might have moved to a different supplier, if the cheaper energy prices come back on the market, they are only moving a handful at a time over. They might say that a person used so little energy that any saving would be minimal if they moved, well even if they save £2 per month it's a saving that's better in their pocket than the energy company's bank account.

Qyburn

MikeJXE said:

When ICE stops being produced and sold, when we become a nation of only electric vehicles 

When almost everyone who work, which is the vast majority can only charge in the evening or overnight 

What's to stop the energy companies from increasing the rates for that period 
  

That's a very valid point, there are over 30 million cars in the UK and if just 10% of them went on charge at the same time it wouldn't be far off doubling the UK total load at that time. That would become the new design load that generators would need to be able deliver, and transmission and distribution networks would need to be upgraded to carry.

Don't you think it fair in that scenario to charge a high price to those contributing to that peak? And fair to reward those who arrange to draw their power during off peak times. 

Chrysalis

[Deleted User] said:

2010 said:

Elysa said:

Hi
Can anyone advise me please.
My Electric supplier (Scottish Power) keeps asking me to have a Smart meter fitted.  I don’t want one.  Now they have sent me a letter saying my Electric meter is over 15 years old and is dangerous.  My electric meter is only just 11 years old and is fine.
Does anyone please have any ideas what I can do.  (If I look at switching supplier, I believe most want you to have a smart meter, I could be wrong?).
Many thanks in advance..

This is happening all the time.
Just last week on these boards Octopus was the culprit that was sending out emails advising the meter has reached the end of it`s life.
I had the same thing from Octopus last year, which I ignored and I haven`t heard anything since.

The fact is, energy providers have to fit a certain number of smart meters each year and if they fail to meet their target, the government can fine them.

I would say if you don`t want a SM just ignore the "advice" from SP because it`s no more than a ploy to get their numbers up.

Suppliers get their meter end-of-life meter data from a National database. They have a legal obligation to replace meters before they reach the end of their certification period which starts at the point of meter manufacture not when the meter is installed. Ofgem would be down on suppliers like a 'ton of bricks' if there was evidence of falsehoods. 

I struggle to understand why people believe that smart meters are anything but meters that accurately record usage. Smart meters are certified in the same way as analogue meters. 

Over the next 12 months, we will see the mass rollout of time-of-use tariffs. Such tariffs have enabled me to pay no more than 6p/kWh for gas (and often less) and 8.5p/kWh for electricity over the past few Winter months.

Suppliers do not need 'to get their numbers up' as there are reports of consumers facing a delay in getting a smart meter fitted - partly, I accept, due to a semi-conductor shortage.

Finally, a consumer might think that their meter is working just fine but they have no idea whether it is measuring electricity and gas usage accurately: this is the whole point of having a meter certification scheme. It protects both consumers and suppliers from inaccurate billing.

As it was in my case my old dumb meter was measuring too high usage on electric.

Swipe

Chrysalis said:

[Deleted User] said:

2010 said:

Elysa said:

Hi
Can anyone advise me please.
My Electric supplier (Scottish Power) keeps asking me to have a Smart meter fitted.  I don’t want one.  Now they have sent me a letter saying my Electric meter is over 15 years old and is dangerous.  My electric meter is only just 11 years old and is fine.
Does anyone please have any ideas what I can do.  (If I look at switching supplier, I believe most want you to have a smart meter, I could be wrong?).
Many thanks in advance..

This is happening all the time.
Just last week on these boards Octopus was the culprit that was sending out emails advising the meter has reached the end of it`s life.
I had the same thing from Octopus last year, which I ignored and I haven`t heard anything since.

The fact is, energy providers have to fit a certain number of smart meters each year and if they fail to meet their target, the government can fine them.

I would say if you don`t want a SM just ignore the "advice" from SP because it`s no more than a ploy to get their numbers up.

Suppliers get their meter end-of-life meter data from a National database. They have a legal obligation to replace meters before they reach the end of their certification period which starts at the point of meter manufacture not when the meter is installed. Ofgem would be down on suppliers like a 'ton of bricks' if there was evidence of falsehoods. 

I struggle to understand why people believe that smart meters are anything but meters that accurately record usage. Smart meters are certified in the same way as analogue meters. 

Over the next 12 months, we will see the mass rollout of time-of-use tariffs. Such tariffs have enabled me to pay no more than 6p/kWh for gas (and often less) and 8.5p/kWh for electricity over the past few Winter months.

Suppliers do not need 'to get their numbers up' as there are reports of consumers facing a delay in getting a smart meter fitted - partly, I accept, due to a semi-conductor shortage.

Finally, a consumer might think that their meter is working just fine but they have no idea whether it is measuring electricity and gas usage accurately: this is the whole point of having a meter certification scheme. It protects both consumers and suppliers from inaccurate billing.

As it was in my case my old dumb meter was measuring too high usage on electric.

Mine was the opposite