Another misleading article in the MSM about Smart Meters!

Phones4Chris

The author clearly either doesn't understand the different between a Smart Meter as implied in the title and an IHD!
It's so badly written it even confuses the issues of smart meters going dumb with the ability to monitor usage, clearly not helped by the "information" from Which! Argh 

NorfolkCanary

Well, it is afterall an article in the Torygraph, I mean there not exactly known for inspiring best practice for the public.

Given a majority of the public haven't a clue about many things these days unless they're spoon fed, many probably don't give two hoots whether it's an IHD or meter. Have to consider MSE a rather 'semi-niche' educated community.

EssexHebridean

I vaguely recall it was Which who did the survey asking people about non working smart meters which quite clearly included a lot of people who simply no longer had a working IHD being included in the figure of non functioning SMs. Unhelpful considering how many of the British public consider Which to be a trusted publication. 

SAC2334

20 years meter reading knocking on doors and asking to read their smart meters I d say about a third would just show me the IHD plugged in somewhere in the house as a "smart meter "  . BG had been installing their smart meters since around 2014 so I ve seen a lot of them. A dumb smart meter is mostly working fine as a meter which is not or never was capable of acting smart for many reasons .
The batteries are now very likely to be giving up on early smart meters and this is another big reason why they don t work . The same batteries on dumb gas meters are giving up within 10 years .

Gerry1

Phones4Chris said:

The author clearly either doesn't understand the different between a Smart Meter as implied in the title and an IHD!
It's so badly written it even confuses the issues of smart meters going dumb with the ability to monitor usage, clearly not helped by the "information" from Which! Argh 

Few newspapers have knowledgeable technical journalists, robotic copying and pasting without any understanding has sadly become the norm.

However, the misleading headline was probably bolted on later by others.

EssexHebridean

The problem is, the big publications SHOULD have people who can write knowledgeably on subjects like this. And if they don’t they should be employing freelancers who can - rather that essentially trying to write articles on the cheap! 

MattMattMattUK

EssexHebridean said:

The problem is, the big publications SHOULD have people who can write knowledgeably on subjects like this. And if they don’t they should be employing freelancers who can - rather that essentially trying to write articles on the cheap! 

I have got to the point now where I think that newspapers should be fined for publishing factually inaccurate articles, some of them are very obviously spreading disinformation and acting against the public interest and I think on that basis they should face escalating fines for each bit of misinformation they publish.

inspectorperez

Gerry1 said:

Phones4Chris said:

The author clearly either doesn't understand the different between a Smart Meter as implied in the title and an IHD!
It's so badly written it even confuses the issues of smart meters going dumb with the ability to monitor usage, clearly not helped by the "information" from Which! Argh 

Few newspapers have knowledgeable technical journalists, robotic copying and pasting without any understanding has sadly become the norm.

However, the misleading headline was probably bolted on later by others.

Totally agree, and they don't always give credit to their sources. Unfortunately the "reputable" newspapers are equally as guilty as the tabloids.

Grizzlebeard

MattMattMattUK said:

EssexHebridean said:

The problem is, the big publications SHOULD have people who can write knowledgeably on subjects like this. And if they don’t they should be employing freelancers who can - rather that essentially trying to write articles on the cheap! 

I have got to the point now where I think that newspapers should be fined for publishing factually inaccurate articles, some of them are very obviously spreading disinformation and acting against the public interest and I think on that basis they should face escalating fines for each bit of misinformation they publish.

I agree with you both, but big problem is they can write Gee Wizz Hogwash and defend it as being *honest* opinion.

Freedom of speach^^ and all that.

(^^ That's right! I honestly believe it ought to be spelled like that.)

Phones4Chris

EssexHebridean said:

I vaguely recall it was Which who did the survey asking people about non working smart meters which quite clearly included a lot of people who simply no longer had a working IHD being included in the figure of non functioning SMs. Unhelpful considering how many of the British public consider Which to be a trusted publication. 

Precisely. The standard in their technical articles/reviews has been going down the drain steadily for sometime. I'm now thinking of cancelling my subscription. Lots of good & proper technical reviews elsewhere.

EssexHebridean said:

The problem is, the big publications SHOULD have people who can write knowledgeably on subjects like this. And if they don’t they should be employing freelancers who can - rather that essentially trying to write articles on the cheap! 

Don't be silly, that would put up their costs  
I agree with you, they should be fined for publishing "misinformation" but which regulator would do that?  Oh, there isn't one 

powerful_Rogue

No just MSM - places like HotUKDeals get it wrong as well.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/discussions/octopus-energy-bills-will-fall-in-april-says-boss-energy-bills-help-discounts-grants-etc-and-more-4282754#comments

Smart Meters Displays to be fixed for free (TBH they should be anyway but here's the info)

Households are to be offered free replacements for broken smart meters after a rash of failures threatened to leave many consumers with no way of monitoring their energy consumption.

The new policy, which replaces a previous one-year-only warranty, was announced as energy regulator Ofgem unveiled a sharp cut in the price cap that will bring average bills down by £238 a year.

The wave of smart meter breakdowns is the latest problem to hit the rollout, which has been going for more than a decade and has repeatedly missed its targets.

The meters, which allow households and their energy suppliers to monitor usage in real time, are seen as essential for the switch to net zero and the rise of electric vehicles, whose owners need to know when tariffs are cheapest for charging their cars.

Eight suppliers covering 60pc of the energy market have signed up for Ofgem’s new free repair scheme so far. They are E, E.ON, Good Energy, Octopus, Ovo, Scottish Power, Utilita and Utility Warehouse. (So far)