electricity meter at the end of its certification period? NOT INTERESTED IN SMART METERS

ggloria007

Peter999_2 said:

No, unfortunately there is no escape and if your meter is end of life it will be replaced with a smart meter. See here - Can I refuse a smart meter? (moneysavingexpert.com)

There really is no difference between the meter you have and a smart meter apart from the communications making life easier.   If you look the meter you have even says on it that it's a smart meter (just without the network connection).

If you want, just carry on manually reading the smart meter at the end of the month and octopus will generate a bill the next day using your reading.     I personally have a variable direct debit with Octopus so they generate a bill every month and I pay that exact amount.  You never get in credit or debit which is useful.

Peter999_2 said:

No, unfortunately there is no escape and if your meter is end of life it will be replaced with a smart meter. See here - Can I refuse a smart meter? (moneysavingexpert.com)

There really is no difference between the meter you have and a smart meter apart from the communications making life easier.   If you look the meter you have even says on it that it's a smart meter (just without the network connection).

If you want, just carry on manually reading the smart meter at the end of the month and octopus will generate a bill the next day using your reading.     I personally have a variable direct debit with Octopus so they generate a bill every month and I pay that exact amount.  You never get in credit or debit which is useful.

Thank you Peter999, yes it was very confusing when I saw that our meter is smart but not connected to the network... We have direct debit set with Octopus (every month £210) we produce readings and Octopus generate the bill... if we are (rarely) in debit I pay promptly the difference... I will continue to read manually and see what happens... thank you for your constructive advice    

ggloria007

MikeJXE said:

t0rt0ise said:

MikeJXE said:

Strangely, I have never bothered to look before, just took their word for it. 

I have now done an extensive search on multiple sites and find you can refuse a smart meter contrary to what MSE and many many posters on the energy forum say. 

Why would they say that if it’s not true ? 

I don’t have a smart meter but if it became necessary to have one it wouldn’t bother me. 

If the meter is end of life you can't refuse to have it changed, and it's up to the supplier, who owns the meter, to choose which meter to install.

I didn’t say you can refuse to have it changed I said you can refuse a smart meter, that was the Op question.

MikeJXE said:

t0rt0ise said:

MikeJXE said:

Strangely, I have never bothered to look before, just took their word for it. 

I have now done an extensive search on multiple sites and find you can refuse a smart meter contrary to what MSE and many many posters on the energy forum say. 

Why would they say that if it’s not true ? 

I don’t have a smart meter but if it became necessary to have one it wouldn’t bother me. 

If the meter is end of life you can't refuse to have it changed, and it's up to the supplier, who owns the meter, to choose which meter to install.

I didn’t say you can refuse to have it changed I said you can refuse a smart meter, that was the Op question.

So, I can ask for the new meter to be "not smart"

MikeJXE

A new meter that is not smart can still be a smart meter with the smart turned off 

In the last 5 years I have been on both the old and the smart meter, on both occasions I still read them every month, giving the supplier the none smart meter readings and checking the smart readings bill 

TBH I don’t care what meter I have

I read if you are being pushed towards a smart meter talk to us 

Us being citizens advice 

HillStreetBlues

ggloria007 said:

That is( was) a Smart prepayment meter. It will have a sim installed.

Spoonie_Turtle

ggloria007 said:

how do I check the certification of this particular meter?

I think - though those more knowledgeable will correct me if I'm wrong - that it's the M09, i.e. 2009.  (Though our old one helpfully explicitly said 'September 2015 certified'.)  Maybe M for manufactured but it's not explicitly been certified at a later date anyway.

However, I can't find it in the usual list of certification periods (Schedule 4: UK nationally approved electricity meters) because it turns out it is in fact already a smart meter, which come under a different … thingy.  [I don't know the right term.] 
The certificate for this model is on this page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-meter-type-approval-certificates-annex-mi-003

The document "UK/0120/SGS0004_R1: Landis + Gyr, 5236* & 5236*-Y, Issue 1"

I don't know what that document means, nor what the implications are for a 15-year old model being approved.  Maybe others will know.


It could simply be that they want to replace it with a SMETS2 meter - which is entirely their right as the supplier - and have sent out the standard 'we need to change your meter' e-mail instead of a niche custom one.

t0rt0ise

MikeJXE said:

t0rt0ise said:

MikeJXE said:

Strangely, I have never bothered to look before, just took their word for it. 

I have now done an extensive search on multiple sites and find you can refuse a smart meter contrary to what MSE and many many posters on the energy forum say. 

Why would they say that if it’s not true ? 

I don’t have a smart meter but if it became necessary to have one it wouldn’t bother me. 

If the meter is end of life you can't refuse to have it changed, and it's up to the supplier, who owns the meter, to choose which meter to install.

I didn’t say you can refuse to have it changed I said you can refuse a smart meter, that was the Op question.

And I said that it's up to the supplier to choose which type of meter to install. And assumed, maybe wrongly, that everyone would know that as the supplier has to install so many smart meters, that that's what they'd choose.

MartinGreenwood

The Mercury 5236-Y is in fact a re-badged L+G meter. This is a ceritfied MID meter, which means it does not have a fixed life in years, but will be replaced when in service testing shows that this type of meter is starting to reach the end of its life. Under those circumstances your supplier would be right to insist on its replacement and you cannot refuse a Smart Meter.

MP1995

As above 10 years for a smets1, probably the same for smets2

booneruk

ggloria007 said:

You cannot, you are required to have a smart meter fitted or be disconnected from the grid, take you pick.

Thank you Matt, can you please back up your view with some evidence. ta 

The issue is with certification. When it expires a replacement meter is selected by the provider. 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/can-i-be-forced-to-have-a-smart-meter/#replaced

The wording there is rather loose ("may not be" etc), but it feels to be you're on a hiding to nothing if you try making a stand. Freeman of the land style

Chrysalis

Why dont you want a smart meter?

It is good Octopus contacted you, my old meter expired, and was producing inflated readings.