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Smart Meter (from Octopus)?
Hi all - I have never had any desire for getting a smart meter and I send in my readings every month manually. I think years ago I had the fear that they could cut me off on a whim for no particular reason.
I don't have solar, or an EV and am average/mid user for both fuels.
Are there any really compelling reasons to get one?
Thanks in advance
Comments
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My average kWh price having a smart meter and smart meter tariff is under 14p kWh for the last 12 months.
That could be a good reason, what have you been paying per kwh
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20.13p per kw , standing charge of 43.63p per day
What tariff are you on with Octopus?
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Are you still selling your house or have you recently moved?
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Still selling? No, not selling, just want cheaper tariff ideally
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Smart meter gives the full range of smart time of use tariffs, where the energy price varies; as well as the tariff non-smart meter users can have. Dumb meters can't measure that time of use consumption so tariff choice is more limited.
Some can make significant savings with such smart tariffs - provided they can alter most of their use to cheap times, and use less at higher cost times (or store cheap energy in batteries, or charge EVs cheaply, etc.,.).
Your existing tariff is cheap… how long is it fixed for? It will be harder to make a TOU tariff work until a fix ends… Even so it shouldn't stop you fitting a smart meter now.
I was 'bribed' by EoN to fit one… Then got an EV. Since moving to Octopus, I can't make a current smart tariff work cf the fixed 22.09 p/kWh fixed tariff I am on for my use case; but it did work OK (around 10% saving per annum) for one year with EoN (averaging 17-18p/kWh then).
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My cheap fix is up this month. I realise that I won't find anything that good, and am keen to stay with Octopus as I find their customer service to be very good.
I now think somewhere at the back of my mind Octopus were offering something to get a meter fitted…, although could be wrong. I will go check
EDIT - just looked , it was a free coffee and cheap cinema tickets , both of which are really not for me
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"Are there any really compelling reasons to get one?"
The more relevant question here might be "Are there any really compelling reasons not to get one?" - and the answer there is no.
If you pay your bills as normal, you will not get cut off. If you don't pay your bills, then exactly the same rules about being cut off apply to you now as if you had a modern meter - it's just the modern meter involves a bit less unpleasantness and potential embarassment in front of the neighbours. 😉
I've paid an average of around 12p a unit for electricity this month thanks to our smart tariff - and we, like you, don't have solar, batteries or an EV.
🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
Interesting way of looking at it, not really sure what you mean by " it's just the modern meter involves a bit less unpleasantness and potential embarassment in front of the neighbours. 😉" means though? Ive never had unpleasantness or embarrassment about my old regular meter 😂
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Most people aren't wildly keen at their neighbours all knowing that they've been cut off for not paying their bills, and with the traditional style meters, that tends to happen as the act of cutting someone off involves an attendance at the property. Sometimes this can get quite noisy as oddly enough folk don't tend to enjoy having their supply cut off! A smart meter follows exactly the same process for any suspension of supply, but can be done remotely once permission to suspect is granted, meaning the neighbours don't need to know a thing.
Same applies where the suspension of supply is due to meter tampering as well, although frequently the neighbours in those cases already often seem to have a hunch about it…
As I said- if you intend to pay your bills (or indeed not tamper with your meter!) , that isn't going to be any sort of concern to you.
🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
Thanks for info. Yes, I pay my bills, and if I couldn't then being embarrassed when they arrived to cut me off would be way down my list of concerns.
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