My energy provider is pushing me to have a smart meter

2010

Whoever comes to fit it, would they set it to single if I asked or would I have to contact my energy provider to ask them?

[Deleted User]

Your energy supplier will configure your meter. There is no such thing as E7 on a smart meter or day and night. Each meter has 4 registers. The supplier will normally configure R1 for peak and R2 for offpeak but this isn’t mandatory. The important thing to remember is if you switch from a 2 rate to single rate tariff, the index readings don’t disappear. The IHD shows a single meter reading which is the TOTAL of all the meter indexes used since the meter was first installed.

Scot_39

2010 said:

I don`t want to start a seperate thread so can someone answer this.
Are SM just one standard unit and can be set to different modes for whatever the consumer decides they want.
What I`m getting at is if you have an econ 7 meter at the moment, but no longer need it and you then get a SM fitted, can you ask for it to be set in single tariff mode. 
Are SM just standard units or are there different SM for econ 7?

It depends if you are talking tariff - or old style legacy style meter based load control switching - for seperate circuits in the home - traditionally for NSH and HW immersion heaters - that are only live part of the time.

There are homes that have E7 meters, and no dedicacted off-peak circuits - so rely on timers on devices - set carefully - summer and winter - on likes of HW immersion - to only use cheap rate.

But in simple terms.

Any smart meter has a capability to handle the 2 tariff rates (more in fact) - and can be switched by re-configuration - or as conventional meters - the supplier can just opt to use the two registers or total of them all as one (or even in theory bill off of half hourly registers - as at least Octopus already do for some of their smart tariffs and agile - but not yet E7 iirc).

The E7 meter based load switching though - as an elegant one box solution needs something called a 5 port meter with an onboard auxiliary load control switch (ALCS) - or alternatively a two box solution - using a 4 port meter with auxiliary contactor control "output" and a seperate contactor box - to do the switching for the off-peak only part time live circuits.

In reality the actual solution - for many with some legacy complex (E10, RTS, SP specials etc ) metering arrangements - depends on existing metering (one or two meters) - and home wiring (split dedicated circuits etc).

Rodders53

Note that some smart meters are capable of switching on/off night storage heaters on a separate circuit by time, others can switch whole house between multiple rates.

BBC Radio Teleswitching https://www.energynetworks.org/industry/engineering-and-technical-programmes/radio-teleswitch on R4 long wave was to go in March 2024 but BBC have stated it's more likely by December 2025 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66644709. 

RTS switches the night storage E7 rates based on more than just time of day... i.e. it will give longer/shorter heating based on weather forecasts by location (set by the Energy Network).

ArbitraryRandom

2010 said:

Whoever comes to fit it, would they set it to single if I asked or would I have to contact my energy provider to ask them?

You would need to switch to a single rate tariff (fixed or variable) via your supplier. 

Gerry1

@2010

Unfortunately there are some unfriendly energy suppliers who refuse to bill E7 meters at single rate.  Another Ofgem failure.

Miser1964

They know the grid will collapse sooner rather than later and are desperate to roll-out 'smart' meters to use dynamic pricing to try and reduce demand when consumers see the surge tariff is £1/kWh. 

[Deleted User]

Miser1964 said:

They know the grid will collapse sooner rather than later and are desperate to roll-out 'smart' meters to use dynamic pricing to try and reduce demand when consumers see the surge tariff is £1/kWh. 

A very narrow view if I might say so. Have a read of the link below. All industrialised countries have moved or are moving to Smart Grids. 

https://www.iea.org/energy-system/electricity/smart-grids

Emily_Joy

Netexporter said:

Emily_Joy said:

oldernonethewiser said: What are folk worried aboout?

I personally worry about the fact that the smart meter collects information about how much and when the electricity/gas is used in my house. My partner and I, we are away from home often and for a long time (e.g. I was working abroad all September). The gas & electricity usage obviously indicate whether the house is occupied/lived in or not. I don't want this information to be collected and/or stored anywhere. 

Do you seriously think your friendly local burglar is going to be able to access the information?

No. But I do think that if I ever need to submit insurance claim for some damage caused to the house, the insurance provider could/will request the smart meter data and use it to establish whether the house was occupied in the way set in their usually very vague T&C.

MultiFuelBurner

Emily_Joy said:

Netexporter said:

Emily_Joy said:

oldernonethewiser said: What are folk worried aboout?

I personally worry about the fact that the smart meter collects information about how much and when the electricity/gas is used in my house. My partner and I, we are away from home often and for a long time (e.g. I was working abroad all September). The gas & electricity usage obviously indicate whether the house is occupied/lived in or not. I don't want this information to be collected and/or stored anywhere. 

Do you seriously think your friendly local burglar is going to be able to access the information?

No. But I do think that if I ever need to submit insurance claim for some damage caused to the house, the insurance provider could/will request the smart meter data and use it to establish whether the house was occupied in the way set in their usually very vague T&C.

Wow, I have heard of some leaps but this is.....wow

Still back to your phone location being tracked with the SIM card and cell towers as well as your broadband provider knowing exactly when you are home.

Broadband/internet has been around for some decades and not once have I heard of an insurance company requesting access information to prove someone was or was not at home.