Re Scottish power saying meters need changing?

wrf12345

Meters are allowed plus or minus 2.5% error so at the extreme it can be 5 percent cheaper or more expensive on the unit rates (my smart meter worked out cheaper, replacing an electronic rather than mechanical meter). The display that comes with them allows you to view the meter readings without sticking your head in a cupboard, etc, which is the major advantage as I still log into my account to check the readings at bill-time. The gas meter has a built-in battery so no new wiring needed (and limited life, I guess). Should be easier to change suppliers which may be pertinent once they start offering deals again. The display is useful if you want to see what is consuming all the power but I already did that with a power meter so no real use to me.

2010

joesoap1264 said:

Although I will have to give in and have one, I don’t want to.
no such thing as a free lunch, it will be the customer who pays via bills.
companies didn’t want them, it’s the Gov who devised it.
this subject is old and pros and cons debated on here for years.
variable pricing is one, already being used by one company, octopus I think?
disaster stories galore.
why do you think the companies are being fined, customers like me resisting having them.
every house should have been fitted if they were that good !
big brother yet again.
appreciate everyone’s input, that’s my little pennies worth.😂
will still hold off booking the appointment till last minute.
DLTBGYD. My motto.

You do not have to do anything whatsoever about out of date old meters.
It is entirely the responsibility of the energy provider to have an in date working meter, otherwise they can`t bill you.
If the meters really need replacing, they will do it.

You don`t have to request one, it`s entirely their responsibility.
Just ignore the emails and let them get on with it.

I had the same type of email from Octopus last year and have heard nothing since.

Keep_pedalling

joesoap1264 said:

variable pricing is one, already being used by one company, octopus I think?
disaster stories galore.

Why do you think that is a bad idea? 

CSI_Yorkshire

Keep_pedalling said:

joesoap1264 said:

variable pricing is one, already being used by one company, octopus I think?
disaster stories galore.

Why do you think that is a bad idea? 

A lot of people seem to assume that when/if variable pricing becomes widespread, the single rate price will be the cheapest of the possible range ("they'll put up the price when you want to use it, I'll have my nice fixed price").  I think it's probably going to be nearer the top end.

Bigphil1474

We had our meters changed in April this year by Eon. Wasn't fussed either way, but the previous electricity meter was in the house when we moved in, in 1995. They didn't actually tell us it was no longer certified. The gas meter was much younger, about 1998 if i remember rightly. I suspect the 'your meter is out of date' is more code for 'we need to meet our targets on installing smart meters', but tbh, I doubt that smart meters will cause more or less problems than the dumb meters have. Obviously, whatever the future holds, we'll probably foot the bill.

CSI_Yorkshire

Bigphil1474 said:

We had our meters changed in April this year by Eon. Wasn't fussed either way, but the previous electricity meter was in the house when we moved in, in 1995. They didn't actually tell us it was no longer certified. The gas meter was much younger, about 1998 if i remember rightly. I suspect the 'your meter is out of date' is more code for 'we need to meet our targets on installing smart meters', but tbh, I doubt that smart meters will cause more or less problems than the dumb meters have. Obviously, whatever the future holds, we'll probably foot the bill.

It's not impossible, of course, and there is certainly pressure that way so the companies will claim it's "early warning", but certification lengths can be as short as 10 years for some models.

[Deleted User]

joesoap1264 said:

Although I will have to give in and have one, I don’t want to.
no such thing as a free lunch, it will be the customer who pays via bills.
companies didn’t want them, it’s the Gov who devised it.
this subject is old and pros and cons debated on here for years.
variable pricing is one, already being used by one company, octopus I think?
disaster stories galore.
why do you think the companies are being fined, customers like me resisting having them.
every house should have been fitted if they were that good !
big brother yet again.
appreciate everyone’s input, that’s my little pennies worth.😂
will still hold off booking the appointment till last minute.
DLTBGYD. My motto.

Complete and utter rubbish. I have had smart meters for 4 years, and during that time I have saved £00s a year in my energy costs. My gas rate today is 3.4p/kWh and it was 6p/kWh or less for the whole of last winter, and it will, be the same for the coming winter. My electricity cost last winter was 7.5p/kWh. Explain to me how variable pricing could be described as a disaster? It is working well for me and millions of other consumers. Indeed, without a smart meter you are looking at paying for more expensive non-smart meter tariffs. Using electricity in the amount you want and when you want will come at a higher price.

Yes, suppliers face fines if they fail to meet their rollout target but at the moment the demand for smart meters is outstripping availability with long waiting lists in some areas. In my view, the Government should have made smart metering mandatory as is the case in most countries but it chose not to do so for some unfathomable reason.

Suppliers have a legal right to replace an end-of-life meter. The right of access to your property has not changed in decades.

This forum is littered with complaints about standing charges. The cost of energy distribution is included in these charges. With more renewable energy coming on line we have to find a better way of managing supply and demand. Network operators need a quicker way of identifying potential faults such as high or low voltage to your property. Smart meters provide this information as well as a consumption profile so that the Grid operator has a better way of knowing when energy is being used. Is it not better to give consumers cheap energy when supply is high rather than paying wind farm operators to stop their turbines? This is what the Smart Grid is all about.

Finally, do not believe what you read on this forum about smart meter problems. There are over 30M smart meters in  use. The vast majority are working just fine. Yes, there are some comms-related issues that the DCC in particular needs to get better at fixing but, that said, most meters do not not lose their ability to record usage: they just have to be read manually until the comms link is fixed.

Edit: How much are you paying per kWh for electricity today? These are the prices now for Octopus’ Agile tariff. Can you better them on a standard meter?

2010

Agile prices are based on the wholesale price of energy, which can change significantly day-to-day. In Winter '22-'23, a typical household on Agile paid around 35p/kWh for the majority of the time (over 1p/kWh more than the average variable tariff). See how the Energy Price Guarantee applies to Agile.

Short-term market spikes can send Agile prices up to 100p/kWh – that's three times higher than most customers are paying right now.

This tariff is best suited to customers who can shift large amounts of their energy use to avoid these expensive peaks, often by using smart home technologies like solar and batteries.

https://octopus.energy/agile/new/

[Deleted User]

2010 said:

Agile prices are based on the wholesale price of energy, which can change significantly day-to-day. In Winter '22-'23, a typical household on Agile paid around 35p/kWh for the majority of the time (over 1p/kWh more than the average variable tariff). See how the Energy Price Guarantee applies to Agile.

Short-term market spikes can send Agile prices up to 100p/kWh – that's three times higher than most customers are paying right now.

This tariff is best suited to customers who can shift large amounts of their energy use to avoid these expensive peaks, often by using smart home technologies like solar and batteries.

https://octopus.energy/agile/new/

Agreed: that said, I cannot find a recent example of when the Agile price was £1/kWh. Why are consumers in their 10s of thousands trying to switch to Tracker Electricity? These tariffs are not ‘switch and forget’ and consumers need to pro-actively monitor their usage pattern and prices but the bottomline is that overall they result in a lower annual cost than a year on the Ofgem Cap.

Source: Energy Stats UK

joesoap1264

Seem to have 're ignited the hornets nest, sorry.
It takes me back to when they were first discussed on here, I do not remember so many positive reviews then.
Have not really followed it since, until this e mail came yesterday.
I have nothing against smart meters of  people choose to have them.
I do not want one, my choice.
I do not need a meter to know how to save money, there are switches on all appliances. On/ off.
I can count, do maths, calculate , see what's on or off, reckon up What each item uses, has or electric, hope
Kwh . Been around long enough, did it at school 70+ years ago.
No calculators then !
Abacus was.

If one thinks variable pricing is for the benefit of the consumer, then I am sorry to disagree .energy companies only look after themselves and shareholders.
Numero uno.
No different to any other industry.
I do not  my believe my meters are out of commision, unsafe, etc.
I think it is a ploy to try to use scare tactics to install a smart meter.
Maybe I am wrong, we will see.
No doubt they will 're contact me, my meters have analogue readings, my son has the old clock dials still on his, he hasn't been contacted , and they are more difficult to read. 30 year old house.
I do not like being lied to , too old for that.
If it Ain t broke, do not fix it.
We are back to the cartel days, it seems, circumstances seem to have benefited the energy companies big style.
Good luck to them, they are not charities.
Less completion again.
I tried to switch from SO when tariffs were better elsewhere, they made things that difficult, I strayed put.
As it happened, probably would have ended back up with them anyway, due to  small boys going bust.
I can get to both meters ok, read them ok, send readings in every month ok, what good reason would I require a piece of hardware to do that for me ?I
This topic is endless, I did not envisage it would last so long If smart meters were so beneficial and good, there would be no companies bringing ,they would have fulfilled their quota, and the whole country would have been converted
Supply and demand, the markets dictate that.
Thanks for everyone's input, really appreciated, it has actually convinced more to 
DLTBGYD 😱😱
If God wanted us to go metric, he would have only ten disciples .

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