Octopus claim my Electricity meter is at the end of it's life.

eschaton

Ignore it and it might go away. 

I had EDF trying that a few years ago and I just ignored them and have heard no more. 

I’d be happy enough changing to a smart meter but I’m waiting to see if they’ll offer cash bribes again to do so. 

matt_drummer

MantlePiece said:

As everyone is entitled to do as they see fit I choose not to have a Smart Electric meter. I am quite capable of reading the meter every month and have done for years. I do not have a Smartphone, SmartTV or anything else 'Smart'.

Not everybody it seems.

Your energy supplier can't do as they see fit with their equipment as you won't let them!

Scot_39

There is the risk of confusion and disappointment - of thinking because you have a smart meter - or can get one from your supplier - for those not yet switched but constantly nagged by suppliers - you can have a smart tariff - and then it doesn't work - because its one of the 1 in 10 in the UK that doesn't communicate.

Thats nearly 6m meters - one or both in some homes - failing to report home to suppliers - and so provide smart functionality.

And MSE articles like this on proposed Ofgem comp - actually suggest that govt statistic might be an underestimate - 

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

Even 10% a shameful failure rate for any product - and one that is supposed to be key to Ofgems next great white hope - half hourly settlement (and we all now why the industry is driving that so hard).  Which finally sees them addressing smart failures - with a penalty - after nearly a decade - albeit with a puny compensation amount.

How many posts do we see from people who say get an EV and then cannot get a good tariff for it on their smart meter or even get a smart meter installed for instance. 

Yes they should have perhaps checked - but should they really have to - nearly 15 years into the smart rollout - when there has been plenty of time - if their was the political will and regulatory enforcement behind it - to design around most of the easily foreseen technical problems. 

And then their are the posts we see who had an operating smart meter - and then it goes dumb. So then lose their smart tariff when their once smart goes dumb in service - and are put back onto basic SVT etc. 

And the £40 proposal in above MSE - wont compensate many for 1 month let alone 90 day+ on the wrong tariff.

The roll out should have been stopped in its tracks years ago - and put back to the drawing board.  Both technically and logistically.

Here we are in UK having missed 2019 - 8 years not 3 years iirc as proposed by Germany (not that its progressing well against even initial large user targets - 6000 kWh and above - from last summers Q2 data) - and now again 2025 - 14 years not 3 years - did we even hit the softened target last year c70-75% iirc one article.

Jemma01

MantlePiece said:

As everyone is entitled to do as they see fit I choose not to have a Smart Electric meter. I am quite capable of reading the meter every month and have done for years. I do not have a Smartphone, SmartTV or anything else 'Smart'.

If you're able to "reason" we might be able to help you further. Things being "smart" is not a negative feature. Would they know more about your household? Yes, they'd be able to infer your usage period e.g. that you work night shifts and your usage of electricity is the opposite to other ppl. But all that information helps them tailor to your needs, e.g. your tariff options will be different. It will give you insight into your usage. I had a non-smart smets1 (i.e. broken) that I replaced with smets2 last November and it helped me a lot understand my usage and make informed decisions. 

The security around the data hub is intense, the controls on the meters to communicate back to the data hub is intense. Someone can infer your usage right now because your data is not secured with old meters. The new meters are swimming in cryptographic protection to secure your data. 

Netexporter

MantlePiece said:

As everyone is entitled to do as they see fit I choose not to have a Smart Electric meter. I am quite capable of reading the meter every month and have done for years. I do not have a Smartphone, SmartTV or anything else 'Smart'.

But you can't choose to have an uncertified meter. You could have the supply disconnected, of course. That would save you loads of money.

And how are you posting here if you don't have anything "smart"?

matt_drummer

Maybe if the installation of smart meters had been compulsory, as it should have been in mine and others opinions, and installed on a street by street basis it may have been more successful with a lower failure to communicate rate.

It would have been more efficient and cheaper with a better chance of success.

But no, they gave people a choice!

They are just meters, the same as all other modern energy meters with an extra bit added on.

People that maintain they don't want one, even though they are not their meters and they agree to have the suppliers equipment installed at their property as part of their supply contract, just frustrate the process, make it more complicated and more expensive than it needs to be.

This is not a fault of the suppliers, it is a fault of the regulator and ultimately the government in giving consumers a choice about something that is none of their concern.

EssexHebridean

Netexporter said:

MantlePiece said:

As everyone is entitled to do as they see fit I choose not to have a Smart Electric meter. I am quite capable of reading the meter every month and have done for years. I do not have a Smartphone, SmartTV or anything else 'Smart'.

But you can't choose to have an uncertified meter. You could have the supply disconnected, of course. That would save you loads of money.

And how are you posting here if you don't have anything "smart"?

In fairness the OP could be posting in the same way I am right now - via the website and a PC.

OP - logic says that the reason you are here, posting on a Money Saving forum is because you are interested in saving money, or at very least ensuring that you get the best value for your money. With that in mind, it does seem a bit counterintuitive that you are apparently closing your mind against something that can very definitely help you in that regard?  We see a lot of folk turn up here with a fear of smart meters - and in almost every case, that fear is based on misinformation - unfortunately these days there are people who get their entertainment by circulating information that scares vulnerable people, so we tend to be quite quick to try to ensure that sort of "fake news" gets debunked. 

If you simply don't see the need for the meter to be changed, unfortunately the regulations see things differently - your supplier has a duty to replace out of date equipment. with that in mind, the best advise is to accept that a change is necessary, and then start looking at the ways that the new meter might indeed be able to help you make best use of your funds. You can continue to take your readings monthly as you do now, for your own records and to ensure that you check your billing on a quarterly basis or more often - any meter can after all go wrong, so it always pays to ensure you keep your own notes of readings regardless of whether you need to supply them to the supplier, or not! 

For information, my smart tariff saved me best part of £20 last month over what I would have paid for my electricity on the SVR. Sure, not  fortune, but better in my pocket than in someone elses! 

The_Green_Hornet

MantlePiece said:

Hoping this request is in the correct Forum/place. Basically they want to put a Smart meter in. I do not want one. They are saying it is a legal requirement to replace the meter because it has reached the end of it's 'certification' period. How do I find what the certification period and end date is? Incidentally they tried a month ago as well and when I said NO they responded by saying I don't need one and they have added a note to my account to this effect. 

You can look up the certification period of your meter here.

Octopus explain the meter certification process here.

Netexporter

In fairness the OP could be posting in the same way I am right now - via the website and a PC.

I'm pretty sure my relatively aged PC has more "brains" than a smart meter.

EssexHebridean

Possibly so, but regardless, most people wouldn't consider a PC to be a smart device.