Smart Meter - no thanks!

dunstonh

dosh37 said:

According to MSE:-

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2025/08/fixing-broken-smart-meters/

One in Five 'Smart Meters' don't work as they should.

That doesn't exactly fill consumers with confidence.

In my case I have a radio teleswitch.

The teleswitch signal simply tells my meter whether to record standard or off peak usage.

It controls no separate circuits such as hot water, storage heaters etc.

My tariff has identical unit rates for both standard and off peak so the cost is the same.

When the signal is switched off it will make no difference whatsoever.

Despite this I am constantly harassed by Octopus to tell me that the teleswitch signal is about to be switched off.

They seem to be using this as an excuse to install a smart meter.

A while ago I received an unsolicited email from Octopus informing me that an engineer would be visiting on a specific date to change the meter (unbooked and not agreed to by myself).The email said the engineer would phone on the day to give me a time.

Instead I received a message on my answer machine the day before telling me an engineer would be visiting. No time or date was given. They expected me cancel any appointments and wait in for up to two days with no indication if, an when, they might turn up.

My existing meter works perfectly well.

It is electronic (no rotating mechanical dial) so there should be no need to recalibrate.

I have no wish to monitor my electricity usage on an hourly basis. I don't want or need a smart meter.

The gas meter won't change so I will still need to read and submit usage figures every month. I have no problem with that.

That one in five includes people with no IHD or SMETS1 who have gone dumb or SMETS2 who are not able to communicate.   None of those things would concern the op as a) they don't currently have an IHD and therefore wouldn't miss it if it stopped working b) they wont get SMETS1, c) SMETS2 not communicating means it reverts to manual readings just as before.

The fact is that non-smart meters have a higher failure rate than smart meters.   However, if people relied on facts, you wouldn't have the Daily Express or the Daily Mail.

slipthru

Davesquire said:

Hello forumites.
I am due to move into a new place, which was I believe was previously housing association.
Looks as though it has pre-pay gas/elec meters (or at least some sort of "not very" smart meter).
I have zero confidence in so called "smart" meters, which appear to have caused nothing but problems since day one.
Can I insist on my provider removing "un smart" meters and replacing them with a good old fashioned "it works" meter? 
Yes, I might end up paying a little more and having to submit readings, but until I have some reassurance in them, I don't want them.
Thank-you for your advice.

When I moved into my new place in 2021 the only company that would replace my dumb pre payment electricity meter with a non smart meter was British gas. So you can try them.

But if the meters you have are already smart meters they won't change them for dumb meters as far as i know.

hareng

dunstonh said:

The fact is that non-smart meters have a higher failure rate than smart meters.   However, if people relied on facts, you wouldn't have the Daily Express or the Daily Mail.

Aagh yes the mainstream media agenda pushers, their facts.
Probably why our meters are 41 1/2 years old, who would have thought.

mmmmikey

hareng said:

dunstonh said:

The fact is that non-smart meters have a higher failure rate than smart meters.   However, if people relied on facts, you wouldn't have the Daily Express or the Daily Mail.

Aagh yes the mainstream media agenda pushers, their facts.
Probably why our meters are 41 1/2 years old, who would have thought.

Are your 41 1/2 year old meters still accurately recording usage? When did you last have them calibrated?

Reed_Richards

QrizB said:

A smart meter *does* have an internal contactor that can shut off your supply remotely. It's part of the smart meter spec and is required for PAYG accounts (where running out of credit means you also run out of electricity).

Oh yes, in the context of PAYG that makes perfect sense.  But a normal mains fuse can be up to 100 A and a piece of electronics that can safely switch 100 A must add a lot to the manufacturing cost of a smart meter.

WiserMiser

Reed_Richards said:

... a piece of electronics that can safely switch 100 A must add a lot to the manufacturing cost of a smart meter.

Helps to explain why our energy is so expensive: the cost of smart meters is somewhere north of £400 per household.

Reed_Richards

I have a smart meter that has gone dumb so I have been looking at how they are installed.  They come in two parts, the actual meter and a communications hub that fits on top.  When the comms hub is fitted the installer waits a while to see if lights flash indicating a signal.  They then phone someone at the supplier (presumably) who "commissions" the comms hub.  If the process is successful then other lights flash so that the installer knows that it has worked.

If you really don't want a smart meter it might be possible to ask your supplier to decommission the comms hub so that it cannot communicate.  A solid green HAN light would seem to indicate an uncommissioned hub.  So you have the same part for metering your electricity but it will not be able to communicate and so you will have to supply readings.

The downside to this would be that as commissioning and decommissioning are done remotely then there is nothing to stop your supplier re-commissioning the meter at a later date.  But you would know it has happened because the HAN light would start flashing.  So if you want to insist on not having a smart meter this could be a way of achieving that - for the present.  And if you have chosen to have a smart meter that is dumb by choice rather than by accident maybe your supplier is let-off any obligation to do something about it?        

QrizB

If you really don't want a smart meter it might be possible to ask your supplier to decommission the comms hub so that it cannot communicate ...  And if you have chosen to have a smart meter that is dumb by choice rather than by accident maybe your supplier is let-off any obligation to do something about it?        

 There's a proposal that suppliers will be measured on how many of their smart meters are working in smart mode, and fined if they don't meet the grade .It's unlikely that Ofgem would accept "the customer doesn't want us to commission it" as a valid excuse.

Qyburn

Reed_Richards said:

QrizB said:

A smart meter *does* have an internal contactor that can shut off your supply remotely. 

Oh yes, in the context of PAYG that makes perfect sense.  But a normal mains fuse can be up to 100 A and a piece of electronics that can safely switch 100 A must add a lot to the manufacturing cost of a smart meter.

A 100A contactor isn't particularly expensive.