Can smart meters wind you up with paying MORE for your energy?

Spoonie_Turtle

70sbudgie said:

Another smart tariff from Octopus that hasn't yet been mentioned is Flux, 

I was going to mention that (and Cosy) but thought the OP probably doesn't have solar since they've not been interested in a smart meter before now.  I know it's not impossible to have solar without the SM, just, less likely.

Reed_Richards

I can't see that there will ever be a time when having a smart meter will exclude you from access to a tariff that is available to those who do not have a smart meter.  So on that basis, the answer is No.  

Qyburn

Reed_Richards said:

I can't see that there will ever be a time when having a smart meter will exclude you from access to a tariff that is available to those who do not have a smart meter.  So on that basis, the answer is No.  

With the very narrow and hopefully shrinking exception of those on complex meter tariffs like THTC. These technically could be supported on smart meters but in reality no supplier does so. It might apply to E10 as well.

deano2099

B0bbyEwing said:

Thanks. Very helpful.

I'm forever cautious about change anyway. Not just smart meters. I don't always insta-believe the masses either - "it's cheap". I prefer to try & see if there's any "ahhh but........." that nobody tells you about. If there's not & if it (not just smart meters) actually is a good move then I'll do it.

So far I'm struggling to find a reason to NOT get a smart meter so I think I'll book in.

There's two ways you can save money with a smart meter. The first is the tariffs that people have been talking about, the second is just that it allows you to engage with your energy usage by giving you a lot more information. You may discover that certain devices are using far more energy that you expected and so you could make long term savings by replacing them, or even doing without.
There's only two ways you'd end up worse off - the first is opting for one of the fancy smart meter tariffs when it's not right for you and your usage pattern. The second isn't about smart meters strictly, but a smart meter is a new meter and on the off chance your current meter is faulty and under-charging you, a new working meter could lead to you paying more. But this also works the other way (a faulty meter may also be over-charging you).
To be clear, that's a tiny risk, but it is one worth being aware of.

Spoonie_Turtle

Qyburn said:

Reed_Richards said:

I can't see that there will ever be a time when having a smart meter will exclude you from access to a tariff that is available to those who do not have a smart meter.  So on that basis, the answer is No.  

With the very narrow and hopefully shrinking exception of those on complex meter tariffs like THTC. These technically could be supported on smart meters but in reality no supplier does so. It might apply to E10 as well.

It certainly seems to.

So few suppliers support it because it was complex metering.  Now with smart meters and billing platforms that can be configured to support almost any tariff you could ever dream up, I wonder whether any supplier would consider offering something like Economy 10 again, or Economy X along similar lines with X-Y hrs overnight and then Yhrs in the daytime off-peak.

I fear with the more adaptive tariffs we see, that tariffs like E10 with a set daytime off-peak window are gone.  But it would have been a handy way for people coming late to TOU tariffs to ease in and feel some of the benefits.

I quite like the idea of Cosy (although we can't avoid the peak time) but the off-peak time is really quite early too and wouldn't be any use to us apart from maybe putting the washing machine or dishwasher on.  The heaviest guzzler is the electric shower, and we mostly shower at night.

*Not that I'm considering switching tariff, just musing.

MeteredOut

deano2099 said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Thanks. Very helpful.

I'm forever cautious about change anyway. Not just smart meters. I don't always insta-believe the masses either - "it's cheap". I prefer to try & see if there's any "ahhh but........." that nobody tells you about. If there's not & if it (not just smart meters) actually is a good move then I'll do it.

So far I'm struggling to find a reason to NOT get a smart meter so I think I'll book in.

<snip>

There's only two ways you'd end up worse off - the first is opting for one of the fancy smart meter tariffs when it's not right for you and your usage pattern. The second isn't about smart meters strictly, but a smart meter is a new meter and on the off chance your current meter is faulty and under-charging you, a new working meter could lead to you paying more. But this also works the other way (a faulty meter may also be over-charging you).
To be clear, that's a tiny risk, but it is one worth being aware of.

There is a third way you can end up spending more with a smart meter.

Move from a legacy meter to a smart meter, plug in your IHD, and don't change any usage patterns.

You now have a couple of quid extra electricity charges each year

victor2

MeteredOut said:

deano2099 said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Thanks. Very helpful.

I'm forever cautious about change anyway. Not just smart meters. I don't always insta-believe the masses either - "it's cheap". I prefer to try & see if there's any "ahhh but........." that nobody tells you about. If there's not & if it (not just smart meters) actually is a good move then I'll do it.

So far I'm struggling to find a reason to NOT get a smart meter so I think I'll book in.

<snip>

There's only two ways you'd end up worse off - the first is opting for one of the fancy smart meter tariffs when it's not right for you and your usage pattern. The second isn't about smart meters strictly, but a smart meter is a new meter and on the off chance your current meter is faulty and under-charging you, a new working meter could lead to you paying more. But this also works the other way (a faulty meter may also be over-charging you).
To be clear, that's a tiny risk, but it is one worth being aware of.

There is a third way you can end up spending more with a smart meter.

Move from a legacy meter to a smart meter, plug in your IHD, and don't change any usage patterns.

You now have a couple of quid extra electricity charges each year

But you don't have to plug it in. They usually end up chucked in a drawer after the novelty wears off.

MeteredOut

victor2 said:

MeteredOut said:

deano2099 said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Thanks. Very helpful.

I'm forever cautious about change anyway. Not just smart meters. I don't always insta-believe the masses either - "it's cheap". I prefer to try & see if there's any "ahhh but........." that nobody tells you about. If there's not & if it (not just smart meters) actually is a good move then I'll do it.

So far I'm struggling to find a reason to NOT get a smart meter so I think I'll book in.

<snip>

There's only two ways you'd end up worse off - the first is opting for one of the fancy smart meter tariffs when it's not right for you and your usage pattern. The second isn't about smart meters strictly, but a smart meter is a new meter and on the off chance your current meter is faulty and under-charging you, a new working meter could lead to you paying more. But this also works the other way (a faulty meter may also be over-charging you).
To be clear, that's a tiny risk, but it is one worth being aware of.

There is a third way you can end up spending more with a smart meter.

Move from a legacy meter to a smart meter, plug in your IHD, and don't change any usage patterns.

You now have a couple of quid extra electricity charges each year

But you don't have to plug it in. They usually end up chucked in a drawer after the novelty wears off.

But if you do that, how are you going to know how much it's costing you!

Schrodinger's IHD

victor2

MeteredOut said:

victor2 said:

MeteredOut said:

deano2099 said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Thanks. Very helpful.

I'm forever cautious about change anyway. Not just smart meters. I don't always insta-believe the masses either - "it's cheap". I prefer to try & see if there's any "ahhh but........." that nobody tells you about. If there's not & if it (not just smart meters) actually is a good move then I'll do it.

So far I'm struggling to find a reason to NOT get a smart meter so I think I'll book in.

<snip>

There's only two ways you'd end up worse off - the first is opting for one of the fancy smart meter tariffs when it's not right for you and your usage pattern. The second isn't about smart meters strictly, but a smart meter is a new meter and on the off chance your current meter is faulty and under-charging you, a new working meter could lead to you paying more. But this also works the other way (a faulty meter may also be over-charging you).
To be clear, that's a tiny risk, but it is one worth being aware of.

There is a third way you can end up spending more with a smart meter.

Move from a legacy meter to a smart meter, plug in your IHD, and don't change any usage patterns.

You now have a couple of quid extra electricity charges each year

But you don't have to plug it in. They usually end up chucked in a drawer after the novelty wears off.

But if you do that, how are you going to know how much it's costing you!

Schrodinger's IHD

Mine's never right financially anyway! 

Chris_b2z

Another money-saving benefit of smart meters is that you can sell your IHD on ebay. There seems to be an active market for them. I'm assuming it's perfectly legal to do so if the IHD is regarded as a consumable item rather than an integral part of the meter.