Smart Meters

Former_MSE_Karl
Former_MSE_Karl Posts: 175
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edited 5 May 2020 at 10:05AM in Energy
Hi!

This is the discussion thread for the
Smart Meters guide.

Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply.
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Comments

  • badmemory
    badmemory Posts: 7,633
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    Smart meters are emphatically NOT free. We all pay for them. We pay for them even when they go from smart to dumb. We will then pay for them to be replaced or MAYBE actually updated to become smart again. The suppposed savings from installing smart meters has now reduced to less than 20% of what they originally said & as the original savings were very small, once we pay for the rubbish meters they install (which will only last at most a third of the time the old ones did) we definitely are not saving anythiing.

    Time they went back to the drawing board, but I suspect whoever set this up has absolutely no idea what a drawing board is.
  • Carrot007
    Carrot007 Posts: 4,534
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    badmemory wrote: »
    (which will only last at most a third of the time the old ones did)

    That is nothing to do with smart meters. Non smart modern meters are the same. Old meters used to be certified for use for 30 years. modern meters you get 10.

    Just your usual short term thinking, go for the cheapest now and worry about replacing later. Old meters used to be refurbished and used again. This is why people still have dial meters. However is is cheaper to buy a modern meter than refub an old one. So much for begin "green".
  • thorganby
    thorganby Posts: 528
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    Whilst I agree that it would be a good idea to have a useful, informative guide on smart meters, it needs to be much better than this one and it will need to be regularly updated by someone who actually understands the current technology in use.

    This is simply yet another badly written article by a couple of MSE journos who obviously should have researched this subject much more thoroughly.

    Publishing incorrect info is unhelpful to MSE readers, who simply want accurate, up to date, factually correct information presented to them, rather than a very basic guide which is only suitable for those who currently know absolutely nothing about smart meters in the UK.

    For this guide to be useful, it needs to provide full details on exactly which smart meters are currently being fitted by the various suppliers i.e. SMETS1, SMETS2, make/model and links to the relevant manufacturers user manuals, so that customers can decide which one best suits their requirements and not their suppliers.

    Some customers will want to get what they consider to be the best smart meters available (they are not all equal) and these may not be available from their current supplier, so they will likely switch to get them and then switch again to save money like they already do now.

    It is often said that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and this article is a good example of this!
  • S0litaire
    S0litaire Posts: 3,535
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    thorganby wrote: »
    Whilst I agree that it would be a good idea to have a useful, informative guide on smart meters, it needs to be much better than this one and it will need to be regularly updated by someone who actually understands the current technology in use.
    ...
    ...
    ...
    It is often said that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and this article is a good example of this!

    Nothing stopping you writing something up that addresses those issues and posting it here.

    This is primarily a community forum, it becomes better if you add to the knowledge. ;)
    Laters

    Sol

    "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
  • We've had three attempts to install smart meters by two different companies. Only after the third attempt by British Gas was an explanation supplied as to why our gas smart meter didn't work.

    Apparently the gas meter sends its readings to the electricity meter which acts as a 'hub' to send the readings back to the meter reading process.

    Our house is is an old stone built property with thick walls. The gas meter is outside at the back of the property whereas the electricity meter is inside at the front of the house.

    The distance between the meters and the thick walls mean that the communication process almost always fails so gas readings are never provided.

    There must, surely, be a plan to offer a solution since there are many properties on our road in exactly the same situation and, likely as not, around the country.

    Does anyone know if the SMETS2 meters will be any better?
  • brewerdave
    brewerdave Posts: 8,500
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    agsteele wrote: »
    We've had three attempts to install smart meters by two different companies. Only after the third attempt by British Gas was an explanation supplied as to why our gas smart meter didn't work.

    Did the fitters actually carry the installation(s) out or abandon after testing?
  • In 2015, I had smart meters fitted by EON. I wasn't aware at the time that my smart meter would be redundant, if i switched suppliers, which I did to British Gas ( thanks to MSE Cheap Energy Club ) . Frankly, I couldn't be bothered with hassle & reverted to manually sending in my readings monthly. I've just switched to OVO in Sept'17 ( again through Cheap Energy Club ) and they can read my smart meter, plus their app is great for monitoring daily usage. So here's the Big Q. Why can't British Gas read my EON Smart Meter, where OVO can?
  • Nick_C
    Nick_C Posts: 7,442
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    badmemory wrote: »
    Smart meters are emphatically NOT free. We all pay for them.

    Well they are free to the extent that there is no additional cost to the consumer for having one installed or using one.
  • Nick_C
    Nick_C Posts: 7,442
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    CJM6 wrote: »
    In 2015, I had smart meters fitted by EON. I wasn't aware at the time that my smart meter would be redundant, if i switched suppliers, which I did to British Gas ( thanks to MSE Cheap Energy Club ) . Frankly, I couldn't be bothered with hassle & reverted to manually sending in my readings monthly. I've just switched to OVO in Sept'17 ( again through Cheap Energy Club ) and they can read my smart meter, plus their app is great for monitoring daily usage. So here's the Big Q. Why can't British Gas read my EON Smart Meter, where OVO can?

    https://www.ovoenergy.com/ovo-answers/topics/all-about-switching/the-switching-process/will-my-smart-products-still-work-if-i-switch-provider.html

    "At OVO we use Secure smart meters. The only other suppliers currently using the same kind of Secure smart meters are E.ON, First Utility and Utilita. So if you decide to move to one of those suppliers, they’ll be able to communicate with your OVO smart meter. And, of course, if you want to switch away from E.ON, First Utility or Utilita and join us at OVO, your smart meter should still work with us. However, it might not work if you’ve had a smart meter for a long time, and your supplier was using a different meter model or manufacturer at that stage. If you move between OVO and any provider that isn’t mentioned above, your meter will become a traditional meter – but this could be only temporary – see below."
  • Goinker
    Goinker Posts: 20 Forumite
    Around a year ago, I had my 'old' dial meters replaced for 'Smart' meters by British Gas. Not too long afterwards, I changed suppliers to 'Iresa', one of the 'smaller' companies, based in Nottingham. At the time, some 8 months ago, Iresa did not supply or auto read 'Smart' meters, so I received monthly reminder emails to supply meter readings, no big deal as it's easy enough. I have just received a letter from Iresa informing me that they now wish to fit me 'Smart' meters, to be done by a company by the name of 'SMS', which I assume will be Siemens Metering Services. I rang the number given and spoke to a lady, pointing out that I already had 'Smart' meters, fitted by British Gas, and was told that "They wanted to fit their meters rather than the BG ones". So,it would seem that if you change suppliers (and I've done this several times over the past few years, as I tend to go for the cheapest tariff whether big or small suppliers) then they will at some point be wanting to change your 'Smart' meters each time, to ones of their own choice. This just makes a mockery of the whole "Smart meters" campaign as it's not saving consumers money since we are paying for this as part of our tariff costs. The only ones who will be saving money when we all have these meters fitted will be the energy companies themselves, as they will then no longer need to employ meter reading staff, and we can rest assured that there will be no reduction in tariff costs to reflect this, just increased profits for the suppliers. I have no intention of going through a "change suppliers, change meters" scenario each time I move suppliers for the cheapest tariffs, so have declined the proposed meter swap, as this is nothing short of plain stupid.
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