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Smart Meter shove from Scottish Power

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Comments

  • NRGMAN
    NRGMAN Posts: 12 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post
    NRGMAN said:
    Mstty said:
    Oh come on then what exactly did this SP customer services representative say to put you off getting a smart meter.....

    @nrgcon2

    He said it kept tripping certain appliances in his home.
    Sorry - can you confirm that I'm reading this right - the CS operative reckoned that his electricity meter was tripping out "some" appliances? I quite literally can't even begin to think how that could be the case, allowing for the way household electrics work. 

    Yes, so he said anyway. I had no reason to doubt him as my knowledge of them.was, and still is, nil.
  • New meter installed and times have indeed changed, as I expected.  They do now come on and off at the “correct times. Off by 8.30 rather than 10.15. It was handy during the colder months after the time change, to know I could put the storage heaters on for a couple of hours when I got up at the E7 night rate. It was a good run in my favour.  Still confused, how my solar panels impact my usage, when I put my kettle on during the day (very sunny recently) the meter still zooms to red, no idea if the solar is heating the kettle or not!
    Paddle No 21:wave:
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 28 May 2023 at 10:56AM
    Still confused, how my solar panels impact my usage, when I put my kettle on during the day (very sunny recently) the meter still zooms to red, no idea if the solar is heating the kettle or not!
    A red LED indicates that there is no import of energy from the Grid. 

    (Edit: for completeness, a steady RED LED a on a generation meter means that there is no solar generation. )

    If your solar panels are outputting 3.5kW of power, and you put on a kettle with a 2.3kW rating then all the power needed to boil your kettle will come from the roof. The excess solar power 3.5 - 2.3kW will be exported to the Grid.

    If your solar was generating 1.5kW and you put the same 2.3kW kettle on then the kettle would get 1.5kW of its power from solar and the other 0.8 kW from the Grid.

    This graphic shows how solar is powering my home at the moment. The house load is presently 300W, so the bulk of solar is being exported to the Grid. If I put the kettle on then the house load would increase and the export to the Grid would fall. These figures constantly change throughout the day:


  • QrizB
    QrizB Posts: 18,491 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 28 May 2023 at 10:12AM
    New meter installed and times have indeed changed, as I expected.  They do now come on and off at the “correct times. Off by 8.30 rather than 10.15. It was handy during the colder months after the time change, to know I could put the storage heaters on for a couple of hours when I got up at the E7 night rate. It was a good run in my favour.  Still confused, how my solar panels impact my usage, when I put my kettle on during the day (very sunny recently) the meter still zooms to red, no idea if the solar is heating the kettle or not!
    Congratulations @GibbsRule_No3 on the new smart meter and in-home display.
    From your previous posts I think you've got six solar panels, fitted at the same time as your replacement roof? That could be a 2kW solar array, which might never generate enough electricity to allow you to run a normal kettle for free.
    I bought a lower-wattage kettle (not this one but similar) so that my solar would have a better chance of keeping up with it. You might want to think about doing something similar.
    The economics are a bit marginal, saving maybe a penny each time it's boiled, but I drink enough tea that it will pay for itself in a couple of years!
    Edit to add: you've had your solar panels for almost a year now, I think, and your generation meter (pictured) is reading 1377 kWh. This would suggest to me that your array is either (a) more like 1.5-1.6 kWp, or (b) points somewhat east or west, rather than south.
    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Ripple Kirk Hill member.
    2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 34 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.
    Not exactly back from my break, but dipping in and out of the forum.
    Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!
  • Keep_pedalling
    Keep_pedalling Posts: 21,015 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    NRGMAN said:

    Part of my reluctance to change too is that I have an older style electricity box (it's an old house) and I honestly don't think the supply would know what hit it if a smart meter was installed into it!
    Good grief, I thought I had come across all the silly reasons why someone would not want a smart meter but you have come up with a whole new one. Why do you think your wiring could not cope with a SM? Do you think it has a higher voltage output or a higher maximum current draw?

    If you have a 60+ year old wiring with a fuse box, then you should seriously look at getting a safety check carried out on the wiring and a new consumer unit fitted.
  • Swipe
    Swipe Posts: 5,653 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    50 year old wiring and consumer units with cartridge fuses here and I've no intention of changing them. Strangely enough, my smart meter copes just fine.
  • joesoap1264
    joesoap1264 Posts: 231 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    NRGMAN said:
    I've  made it abundantly clear to SP that I am not interested in a smart meter. I was even put off getting one by a SP customer service staff member on the phone one day a few years back. Wonder if he still works for them? :p

    Anyway, SP recently seem to be turning the heat up, so to speak, and "forcing" the issue, throwing in the ol "your current meter is old and needs replacing" trick. Is just over 12 years old now considerd ancient? Crikey, they've got a lower life expectancy than me!

    So what to do? I'm actually happy with the way things are at the moment with no desire to change. Unless it is to another supplier if SP start sending letters out as well as txting and emailing me. I would like to think that if I just ignore them, they'll go away. But I doubt that, somehow.

    Part of my reluctance to change too is that I have an older style electricity box (it's an old house) and I honestly don't think the supply would know what hit it if a smart meter was installed into it!
    Seems I am not the only one with SP et Al are sending e mails out to change meters, end of certification.
    you may have read my thread, or not, your reason for not wanting one is the only difference.
    In my opinion it is it is a ploy to scare you into having a smart meter, to fulfill their quota, or be fined. 
    I am ignoring my E mail  until such times as SP take it a step further.

    “your choice,”  something most on this site seem to want you “ not “ to have.
    best of luck .

  • Swipe
    Swipe Posts: 5,653 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 28 May 2023 at 11:24AM
    NRGMAN said:
    I've  made it abundantly clear to SP that I am not interested in a smart meter. I was even put off getting one by a SP customer service staff member on the phone one day a few years back. Wonder if he still works for them? :p

    Anyway, SP recently seem to be turning the heat up, so to speak, and "forcing" the issue, throwing in the ol "your current meter is old and needs replacing" trick. Is just over 12 years old now considerd ancient? Crikey, they've got a lower life expectancy than me!

    So what to do? I'm actually happy with the way things are at the moment with no desire to change. Unless it is to another supplier if SP start sending letters out as well as txting and emailing me. I would like to think that if I just ignore them, they'll go away. But I doubt that, somehow.

    Part of my reluctance to change too is that I have an older style electricity box (it's an old house) and I honestly don't think the supply would know what hit it if a smart meter was installed into it!

    I am ignoring my E mail  until such times as SP take it a step further.


    Yes, that's all people need to do if they don't want one. They'll get written warnings via snail mail before a court warrant is applied for.
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