Changing from business electricity supply meter to domestic without changing to a smart meter

beachseashell1

Hello

Firstly Thank you to anyone who takes their time to read this post and offer advice.

We are out of contract with our engergy supplier which is EDF. We live in a farmhouse which has not been part of a farm business for well over 20 years. Its come to light that because the houses electricity supply was registered as a business we've always been given business rates tariffs. Our bills have now increased  a lot and due to becoming  out of contract we are looking to change our provider for a better deal ! 

We do not like the idea of smart meters and would prefer to keep the old meter which works fine & give readings when needed but we are being told to change over to a domestic tariff we have to have a smart meter. Are there any suppliers out there that will change us from a business to a domestic tariff without having to change meters ?? I believe we are in our rights to say NO to having a smart meter but from phone conversations with EDF & British Gas we are being told that we have no choice !

Any advice on this & what we can look into would be very much appreciated. Thank you

Keep_pedalling

I could be wrong, but I think the main problem is going to be able to carry out the switch before getting off the business tariff with your existing supplier first.

Worrying about having a smart meter fitted is pointless don’t believe all the crap you read on line about them spying on you or eating your brains that is the job of social media 🧟‍♂️

EssexHebridean

A good starting point is probably to explain what it is about smart meters that you are unhappy with, and it is more than likely that it will be possible to set your mind at rest. There has been so much utter bunkum said about them and honestly, most of it is either from people deliberately going out of their way to try to fearmonger or from their victims who sadly don't know any better than to just repeat what they were told. 

Whether you are able to refuse a meter change is dependent on the age of your existing meter - if it is at end of life then the supplier can indeed insist that it is changed, and at that stage they will fit the current version of the meter which is at this stage SMETS2. It's no different to upgrading your mobile phone (you don't carry around one of those 1980's suitcase models, I'm assuming?) or indeed getting a new computer or similar - just think of it as updated tech - albeit in this case it's updated tech that might give you the ability to save even more money! 

QrizB

You'll probably be able to change to a domestic tariff without changing your meter, if your meter is still certified.

If your meter isn't certified (or is approaching the end of its certified life) you'll need a replacement even if you stay on a business tariff.