Smart Meters
Options
Comments
-
Really! What If!
Honestly, firstly I made it clear that I was not recommending that and I put exclamation marks, it is a bit bleeding obvious that I was not serious, but in case it makes you sleep better
WARNING: "frying" a gas meter, or applying any large voltage is not only silly but might result in an explosion or other unintended result. Please do not do it!!
0 -
I was asked and said No, the reason being that I cannot ger the calibration period of the meter or monitor.
It the system is designed to set the amount taken from my bank I want to know.
If it there are errors ocurring and errant reading (similar to that I read in Holland) being sent I want to know.
It is a secret.0 -
I was asked and said No, the reason being that I cannot ger the calibration period of the meter or monitor.
It the system is designed to set the amount taken from my bank I want to know.
If it there are errors ocurring and errant reading (similar to that I read in Holland) being sent I want to know.
It is a secret.0 -
I was asked and said No, the reason being that I cannot ger the calibration period of the meter or monitor.
It the system is designed to set the amount taken from my bank I want to know.
If it there are errors ocurring and errant reading (similar to that I read in Holland) being sent I want to know.
It is a secret.
Suppliers can only take money out of your Bank account if you have agreed to, and set up, a variable Direct Debit. Under Direct Debit rules, they also have to inform you of the amount being taken. Smart meters are nothing more than a meter that records your usage. It is smart because it communicates either directly with your supplier or The Data Communications Company.
I am not sure what you mean by calibration period? All meters - dumb or smart - are calibrated by the manufacturer before they are fitted.0 -
I'd like a bit of advice please.
Can I ask about how the Direct debits work should you choose to have a smart meter?
My Dad is a pensioner on a fixed income and likes to budget roughly how much goes from his account each month for essential bills like the heating, water, council tax, insurance etc & has direct debits for a set amount each month.
So what he wants to know is how (if they are constantly monitoring usage via Smart meter) they maintain taking the same amount out of his account each month?
He had an issue a couple of years ago when they returned money to him as he was in credit, then lower his DDs, but several months later said he owed them a few hundred quid. So his DDs were increased to almost double what they had been originally. I stepped in to tell them they would get their money and explain if they'd left things alone he would have been on track, but they were not increase payments cos of their policy (they explained when people were in credit they give it back).
I thought direct debits meant you paid £X each month not £Y, the £Z on differing months.0 -
I'd like a bit of advice please.
Can I ask about how the Direct debits work should you choose to have a smart meter?
My Dad is a pensioner on a fixed income and likes to budget roughly how much goes from his account each month for essential bills like the heating, water, council tax, insurance etc & has direct debits for a set amount each month.
So what he wants to know is how (if they are constantly monitoring usage via Smart meter) they maintain taking the same amount out of his account each month?
He had an issue a couple of years ago when they returned money to him as he was in credit, then lower his DDs, but several months later said he owed them a few hundred quid. So his DDs were increased to almost double what they had been originally. I stepped in to tell them they would get their money and explain if they'd left things alone he would have been on track, but they were not increase payments cos of their policy (they explained when people were in credit they give it back).
I thought direct debits meant you paid £X each month not £Y, the £Z on differing months.
Smart meters shouldn't affect the amount you pay. They should mean the DD can be set more accurately, but IME the energy companies systems for estimating annual costs are not intelligent enough.
Work out your dad's annual usage based on previous bills for a year or more and how much the annual bill should be.
Although energy companies will tell you how much they want to take, they will usually vary it within reasonable limits.
Some companies give you a credit if your account is in credit. I'm with Ovo, and they pay 3% on credit balances, which is better than most savings accounts, so I am quite happy to overpay them1 -
I'd like a bit of advice please.
Can I ask about how the Direct debits work should you choose to have a smart meter?
My Dad is a pensioner on a fixed income and likes to budget roughly how much goes from his account each month for essential bills like the heating, water, council tax, insurance etc & has direct debits for a set amount each month.
So what he wants to know is how (if they are constantly monitoring usage via Smart meter) they maintain taking the same amount out of his account each month?
He had an issue a couple of years ago when they returned money to him as he was in credit, then lower his DDs, but several months later said he owed them a few hundred quid. So his DDs were increased to almost double what they had been originally. I stepped in to tell them they would get their money and explain if they'd left things alone he would have been on track, but they were not increase payments cos of their policy (they explained when people were in credit they give it back).
I thought direct debits meant you paid £X each month not £Y, the £Z on differing months.
I had smart meters fitted last year they take reading every 1/2 hour but only do DD changes every 3 months, my last review I was only 50p out.0 -
I'd like a bit of advice please.
Can I ask about how the Direct debits work should you choose to have a smart meter?
My Dad is a pensioner on a fixed income and likes to budget roughly how much goes from his account each month for essential bills like the heating, water, council tax, insurance etc & has direct debits for a set amount each month.
So what he wants to know is how (if they are constantly monitoring usage via Smart meter) they maintain taking the same amount out of his account each month?
He had an issue a couple of years ago when they returned money to him as he was in credit, then lower his DDs, but several months later said he owed them a few hundred quid. So his DDs were increased to almost double what they had been originally. I stepped in to tell them they would get their money and explain if they'd left things alone he would have been on track, but they were not increase payments cos of their policy (they explained when people were in credit they give it back).
I thought direct debits meant you paid £X each month not £Y, the £Z on differing months.
I do not trust energy companies, they have billions of our money from over charging.
I pay in quarterly bills but I pay money into second account every month so once the bill arrives I can pay it.
The regulator is or has brought in new rule making credit more visible, some people have thousands and they can apparently take up to 28 days to pay you back your own money,
I think elderly particularly at risk.
One of the so called benefits of smart meters was that you would only be charged for what you used.
Their goal is to move us all to monthly billing.0 -
I find the usefulness of SM's varies considerably, not on the actual SM installed, but on the companies ability to use the information and present it in a useful way to the consumer.
I have been with E.On, then OVO, then First Utility and now Bristol Energy - for E & G and changing supplier as I have found cheaper. OVO installed our first SM, replaced when we moved to FU, then replaced again when we moved to BE.
OVO, then FU were able to accept and present the 30 minute derived data in a usable format, on our account page on their website. I was able to see what my recorded consumption was down to half an hour.
Bristol Energy are now using the meters, agreed to 30min data, but I have no means at all to look at the data. In fact (very annoying) they only read the meters weekly and only produce a rough bar graph for the months consumption, compared to one year ago.
Each time we have changed supplier, there has been an up to 6 month delay between the switch and them replacing the meters during which I have had to go out and manually read them.
SM's have a long way to go yet before they become a sensible option, they should never have been pushed onto the public in this state of development..
I use the variable DD method of paying monthly, which I much prefer. The DD amount is based on spreading the predicted energy cost over the full 12 months, no large bills in the winter, no small ones in the summer period. The prediction of course can never be entirely accurate, it was a long drawn out winter, so we used a little more energy than normal, so the DD amount had to be increased to compensate.0 -
sparrowhawk123 wrote: »Everyone has their own opinion, if the public get the chance to look into the evidence for and against the use of smart meters, they could then make their own informed decision on whether its right for them and the environment . At the moment I don't think people are getting the option.
There's been evidence that increased electronic pollution from mobile internet is detrimental to health, the smart meters are using mobile internet technology.
Its well known that companies and governments, cannot resist but take additional data from us without are full knowledge.
There's absolutely no good reason to have a smart meter. In fact, they already have been over charging customers and causing problems the old meters were not.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.2K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.7K Spending & Discounts
- 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 608.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173.1K Life & Family
- 248K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards