ScottishPower not so smart meters

VfM4meplse · 12 May 2018 at 1:19PM

Hengus wrote: »

Fair enough, I hadn't latched on to that particular point. As others have said, this is why pilot trials are needed.

Scottish Power are now rolling out the second generation meters en-masse in my area. I'm happy to go with this beccause there's safety in numbers....surely it must have been tested on a critical mass before they do this, and they wouldn't want to p off a huge number of customers?

Eta: am I being naive in thinking thst Scottish Power would have run updates on the existing models not yet installed having had feedback on current problems with already-installed models?

System · 12 May 2018 at 1:37PM

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Scottish Power are now rolling out the second generation meters en-masse in my area. I'm happy to go with this beccause there's safety in numbers....surely it must have been tested on a critical mass before they do this, and they wouldn't want to p off a huge number of customers?

Eta: am I being naive in thinking thst Scottish Power would have run updates on the existing models not yet installed having had feedback on current problems with already-installed models?

Before being taken in by the perceived benefits of smart meters, it is worth giving a thought to some of the inherent risks of having meters with built in remote disconnection:

https://www.politico.eu/article/smart-grids-and-meters-raise-hacking-risks/

I will stick with dumb meters for as long as possible. I provided Octopus Energy with a meter reading this morning and got a statement 20 minutes later. I am not sure what more a smart meter could do although I accept that it may have benefits for some people who cannot or do not wish to access their meters.

VfM4meplse · 12 May 2018 at 1:57PM

The plot thickens. From actively soliciting installations of smart meters, that option has changed (literally over the last 2 days!). I am now on the list for when it goes ahead.

I surmise there has been some poor feedback and that SP is holding off new installations whilst it is gets it sorted.

Hengus wrote: »

Before being taken in by the perceived benefits of smart meters, it is worth giving a thought to some of the inherent risks of having meters with built in remote disconnection:

https://www.politico.eu/article/smart-grids-and-meters-raise-hacking-risks/

I will stick with dumb meters for as long as possible. I provided Octopus Energy with a meter reading this morning and got a statement 20 minutes later. I am not sure what more a smart meter could do although I accept that it may have benefits for some people who cannot or do not wish to access their meters.

For me its a question of getting it installed before the next cold spell. My gas meter whilst easily accessible is outside, I just don't want to go out in the cold and dark when I could be monitoring energy usage tightly from the comfort of inside. A quick glance now and then will determine my energy consumption and I can then associate it with the appliances in use at the time. Whether it actually happens before the clocks go back is anyone's guess.

Last year winter was ridiculously cold but as my home is new to me, I have no reason to believe it won't be just as cold inside this year. The temperature difference between the north and south of the house becomes even more obvious in warm weather

System · 12 May 2018 at 2:45PM

VfM4meplse wrote: »

The plot thickens. From actively soliciting installations of smart meters, that option has changed (literally over the last 2 days!). I am now on the list for when it goes ahead.

I surmise there has been some poor feedback and that SP is holding off new installations whilst it is gets it sorted.For me its a question of getting it installed before the next cold spell. My gas meter whilst easily accessible is outside, I just don't want to go out in the cold and dark when I could be monitoring energy usage tightly from the comfort of inside. A quick glance now and then will determine my energy consumption and I can then associate it with the appliances in use at the time. Whether it actually happens before the clocks go back is anyone's guess.

Last year winter was ridiculously cold but as my home is new to me, I have no reason to believe it won't be just as cold inside this year. The temperature difference between the north and south of the house becomes even more obvious in warm weather

I have a £30 optical spot gas meter reader that provides me with usage information in cubic metres of gas every 15 minutes. Usage appears on my phone in tabular or graphical form. It gives me a meter reading whenever I need it. Monitoring usage in this way has provided me with definitive information that my heating system uses less gas by leaving the heating on a set temperature throughout the day. This is true monitoring at a fraction of the cost of a smart meter with none of the cyber risks.

MeterMan · 13 May 2018 at 12:40PM

Im not particularly fussed that my gas meter has stopped communicating, there are currently on an internal trial, these issues will be ironed out before mass rollout.

sevenhills · 13 May 2018 at 4:35PM

VfM4meplse wrote: »

The plot thickens. From actively soliciting installations of smart meters, that option has changed (literally over the last 2 days!). I am now on the list for when it goes ahead.
I surmise there has been some poor feedback and that SP is holding off new installations whilst it is gets it sorted.

I have had my Scottish Power smart meters for around a year. The smart electricity meter does not work, I believe this is in relation to my solar panels.
I did tell them at the time, I will have to chase them up, to see if their is a solution. I just submit monthly readings online.

I have had an update from SP today, they tell me my smart meter will now work, the timings of the readings was not set, SP will now get a reading from the electricity used daily.

Scottish_Power · 21 May 2018 at 5:05PM

rnem170 wrote: »

Just checked my bill and online account and discovered that my last two bills have been estimated. How is that possible if I have smart meters?

I manually submitted readings and I've gone from £100 in debit to over £300 in debit!.

Hi mem170

If you would like me to look further into the issue you have been having with the smart meter then you can email me your details to the email address below.

In regards to estimated reads from smart meters then this would come down to how often you have given us permission to be sent a read from your smart meter. For example - if your meter only sends us a read say once per month and that is sent on the 1st of every month but we have tried to bill your account to the 20th of the month when your bill may possibly be due then we would need to estimate that reading as we have not got one for that day. That said it should be as accurate as can possibly be if all is working with your meter and we are receiving reads regularly.

If you need any further advise you can email us at Social@scottishpower.com with the following information-
your MSE handle in the subject heading
your full address
your name and telephone number
and some details of the issues you have encountered

Kind Regards
Danielle

harrys66 · 22 May 2018 at 8:13AM

Hengus wrote: »

I have a £30 optical spot gas meter reader that provides me with usage information in cubic metres of gas every 15 minutes. Usage appears on my phone in tabular or graphical form. It gives me a meter reading whenever I need it. Monitoring usage in this way has provided me with definitive information that my heating system uses less gas by leaving the heating on a set temperature throughout the day. This is true monitoring at a fraction of the cost of a smart meter with none of the cyber risks.

Hi, any chance of a link to the optical reader please? Can the same be used for the electricity meter? thanks

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth · 22 May 2018 at 12:22PM

I have had no end of problems with SP since getting dumb meters fitted and changing to their April Super saver!

VfM4meplse · 25 September 2018 at 12:36PM

Just to update you, I organised an appointment to have a smart meter installed via the SP website (the option came up after I had innocently entered my meter readings). I made the incorrect leap of logic that the delay in roll-out meant the latest generation smart meter is now being installed. How wrong I was!! Its the SMETS1 so I cancelled the appointment.

Ultimately a waste of 20 mins and a phone call to cancel to get back to square one, no more - but I thought I would warn others because for me the link was effectively click-bait. If there's a positive, its that you an have a web chat with SP which is quite handy if you're a fast typist :cool:

ScottishPower not so smart meters

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