Smart meters..

[Murph7355]

furtive said:

But ultimately you will be paying the same. Ergo, you aren't actually saving any money.

I guess the argument is that if you can see turning on your understairs datacentre costs you 100 quid a week, you might be more inclined to turn it off. If the real bill only rocks up once a year, you just huff and puff and pay it

[XDA]

furtive said:

XDA said:

I'm only paying for what I actually use down to the exact number of units, opposed to paying an estimated bill?

But ultimately you will be paying the same. Ergo, you aren't actually saving any money.

So what's your actual point? Are you against smart meters?

When comparing my bills, my energy consumption is down by a quarter if that helps?

[furtive]

I'm not against them in principle. I am against the reasons for them being pushed so aggressively at the taxpayers expense using the unfounded claims that they will reduce energy use.

And my point is that you aren't saving anything by having bills that are not estimates just by getting a smart meter. A smart meter alone does not save you money. You need to change your energy usage to save money and there is no evidence to suggest that smart meters make people change their usage. In fact there is plenty of evidence that they make no difference to the energy people use

[elster]

I have had no end of trouble with mart meters.

At the end of last year I had a bill for £895.00 for a month.

At some point this year I had a bill for £1300.00 for a month.

I don't recall running an industrial unit out of my house, but maybe I forgot.

They are useless. We have gone back to traditional meter readings.

[RichyBoy]

They tried to fit one at mine, I told him my current meter is only 6 months old so what is the point. if theres unfounded EMR concerns then screw that, I know what people are like with house prices in this country. I had a house next to a substation and couldn't sell it for a year because people were going on about EMR.

[XDA]

furtive said:

I'm not against them in principle. I am against the reasons for them being pushed so aggressively at the taxpayers expense using the unfounded claims that they will reduce energy use.

And my point is that you aren't saving anything by having bills that are not estimates just by getting a smart meter. A smart meter alone does not save you money. You need to change your energy usage to save money and there is no evidence to suggest that smart meters make people change their usage. In fact there is plenty of evidence that they make no difference to the energy people use

Surely by removing estimated bills, people won't be overcharged as tends to happen at the moment?

I get your point that smart meter alone doesn't necessarily save you money.

[XDA]

RichyBoy said:

They tried to fit one at mine, I told him my current meter is only 6 months old so what is the point. if theres unfounded EMR concerns then screw that, I know what people are like with house prices in this country. I had a house next to a substation and couldn't sell it for a year because people were going on about EMR.

If anyone's worried about EMR then they'd best not use a mobile phone, microwave, AM/FM radio and wireless routers etc.

[Astacus]

Arn't smart meters really just a technical solution to having to pay a meter reader?

They are a cost saving execise on the part of the energy co.s Plus they allow the E co to have a finer grained understanding of what energy is being used by who and when.

All this woo woo nonsense about the dangers of EM makes me cross. No one has ever (no really, NEVER) demonstrated any statistically significant health risk attached to EM at the wavelengths and intensities that we experience as a result of using house hold type devices.

Hysterical people are disinclined to believe people who know what they are talking about, because a factual solution to their hysteria is quite obviously not what they want, is it.

The issue of whether this level of data gathering is intrusive is another matter

[Allanv]

elster said:

I have had no end of trouble with mart meters.

At the end of last year I had a bill for £895.00 for a month.

At some point this year I had a bill for £1300.00 for a month.

I don't recall running an industrial unit out of my house, but maybe I forgot.

They are useless. We have gone back to traditional meter readings.

I know this is a thread resurrection but here is my experience.

01/04/14 - 11/04/14

Gas = £1674.00 or 35000+ KWH
Elec = £534.00, except the next day it was £843.00 for the 12 days.

Only one issue is we were in Iceland from the 3rd to the 7th and the house was shutdown or in standby.

This is with smart meters newly installed.

Normal yet still excessive bills with the old meters were

Gas = £400 per quarter
Elc = £200 per quarter

House, 3 beds no kids me and the wife work all day.

1 boiler just doing heating and hot water nothing else.
cooker used once a day as we are at work.

Something has to be interfering with the meters as nothing has changed apart from the weather.

Took it to the top for investigation, I knew the email address of the domestic CEO and passed to my MP as well.

There is no way I am going to pay that for 12 days or my annual bill just for gas will be £60,254.00
God knows what the electric will be as it keeps jumping hundreds per day!

I will keep you informed.

Edited by Allanv on Sunday 13th April 18:17

[Oakey]

My girlfriends parents electric bill was £2200 last year. I said that wasn't right at all and they should complain but they're the type who don't do complaining and simply asked for a card metre to be installed instead. Now they're paying about £50 a month.

fk knows where these energy companies come up with their prices.

[turbobloke]

As long as we remember in all the high prices and cost saving discussions that these fluffy bunny meters will be used for managing power blackouts and brown-outs when our energy security finally gives out on a calm dark and extremely cold day, fine. The smart meter spec is designed for this purpose, as shown either earlier in this thread or over in another one where people protested that the smart meter was innocent (not a chance).

[Allanv]

turbobloke said:

As long as we remember in all the high prices and cost saving discussions that these fluffy bunny meters will be used for managing power blackouts and brown-outs when our energy security finally gives out on a calm dark and extremely cold day, fine. The smart meter spec is designed for this purpose, as shown either earlier in this thread or over in another one where people protested that the smart meter was innocent (not a chance).

The meter change was sugested as we were having issues with the 25 year old ones, but you are right these smart meters are useless but how many folk complain?

The person I originally quoted didn't say if he paid or not but I certainly am not paying it.

[elster]

Allanv said:

elster said:

I have had no end of trouble with mart meters.

At the end of last year I had a bill for £895.00 for a month.

At some point this year I had a bill for £1300.00 for a month.

I don't recall running an industrial unit out of my house, but maybe I forgot.

They are useless. We have gone back to traditional meter readings.

I know this is a thread resurrection but here is my experience.

01/04/14 - 11/04/14

Gas = £1674.00 or 35000+ KWH
Elec = £534.00, except the next day it was £843.00 for the 12 days.

Only one issue is we were in Iceland from the 3rd to the 7th and the house was shutdown or in standby.

This is with smart meters newly installed.

Normal yet still excessive bills with the old meters were

Gas = £400 per quarter
Elc = £200 per quarter

House, 3 beds no kids me and the wife work all day.

1 boiler just doing heating and hot water nothing else.
cooker used once a day as we are at work.

Something has to be interfering with the meters as nothing has changed apart from the weather.

Took it to the top for investigation, I knew the email address of the domestic CEO and passed to my MP as well.

There is no way I am going to pay that for 12 days or my annual bill just for gas will be £60,254.00
God knows what the electric will be as it keeps jumping hundreds per day!

I will keep you informed.

Edited by Allanv on Sunday 13th April 18:17

I did have to pay it in the end to stop getting cut off. They refused to accept that it was wrong.

I did get a cheque and apology from them eventually it took a fair old amount of battling.

I was told several times that their smart meters can't make mistakes. It was ridiculous. I went through the CEOs office and even they were extremely reluctant to help. Absolutely gobsmacked.

[Blue Oval84]

Smart meters are unlikely to lead to an incorrect bill (i.e. billed to the wrong meter readings), but the meteorology inside them is no more complex or accurate than a dumb meter. Hence they can be wrong (although no more or less likely to be wrong than a dumb meter).

This is why the Supply Licence makes it an obligation on suppliers to offer a meter accuracy test to any customer who requests it, although they are within their rights to charge if no fault is found.

[Cliftonite]

Blue Oval84 said:

Smart meters are unlikely to lead to an incorrect bill (i.e. billed to the wrong meter readings), but the meteorology inside them is no more complex or accurate than a dumb meter. Hence they can be wrong (although no more or less likely to be wrong than a dumb meter).

This is why the Supply Licence makes it an obligation on suppliers to offer a meter accuracy test to any customer who requests it, although they are within their rights to charge if no fault is found.

Unsure weather this is correct!



Did you see what I did there?

[richarda0109]

The best way to avoid being first on the list for a smart meter is to make sure that your gas and electricity are with different suppliers. The big 6 are targeting dual fuel customers first. There will be a long wait before they get round to the others since some of them have to install millions of meters just to cover all their dual fuel customers.

Rgds
Richard

[dickymint]

richarda0109 said:

The best way to avoid being first on the list for a smart meter is to make sure that your gas and electricity are with different suppliers. The big 6 are targeting dual fuel customers first. There will be a long wait before they get round to the others since some of them have to install millions of meters just to cover all their dual fuel customers.

Rgds
Richard

Easier just to say NO - they are not mandatory.................

http://stopsmartmeters.org.uk/a-reminder-your-righ...

[dickymint]

For my own peace of mind I just checked my suppliers website (SWALEC) and found this (albeit tucked away)...........

"**To enable you to enjoy the greatest potential electricity and money saving benefits of a Smart meter, we would like to collect meter readings about your electricity usage from your Smart meter by recording them up to every half hour and downloading this information once per day. We need your permission to collect and use this information in advance of your Smart meter installation and we will ask for this permission when you call to make your installation appointment."

Of course the rest of their blurb strongly implies that the Government are saying it's compulsory.

[oyster]

dickymint said:

richarda0109 said:

The best way to avoid being first on the list for a smart meter is to make sure that your gas and electricity are with different suppliers. The big 6 are targeting dual fuel customers first. There will be a long wait before they get round to the others since some of them have to install millions of meters just to cover all their dual fuel customers.

Rgds
Richard

Easier just to say NO - they are not mandatory.................

http://stopsmartmeters.org.uk/a-reminder-your-righ...

I cannot believe a website like that even exists?

There's billions suffering from famine and malnutrition, yet some people think better use of not-for-profit effort is on campaigning against an electricity meter?

Bloody hell.

[Allanv]

elster said:

Allanv said:

elster said:

I have had no end of trouble with mart meters.

At the end of last year I had a bill for £895.00 for a month.

At some point this year I had a bill for £1300.00 for a month.

I don't recall running an industrial unit out of my house, but maybe I forgot.

They are useless. We have gone back to traditional meter readings.

I know this is a thread resurrection but here is my experience.

01/04/14 - 11/04/14

Gas = £1674.00 or 35000+ KWH
Elec = £534.00, except the next day it was £843.00 for the 12 days.

Only one issue is we were in Iceland from the 3rd to the 7th and the house was shutdown or in standby.

This is with smart meters newly installed.

Normal yet still excessive bills with the old meters were

Gas = £400 per quarter
Elc = £200 per quarter

House, 3 beds no kids me and the wife work all day.

1 boiler just doing heating and hot water nothing else.
cooker used once a day as we are at work.

Something has to be interfering with the meters as nothing has changed apart from the weather.

Took it to the top for investigation, I knew the email address of the domestic CEO and passed to my MP as well.

There is no way I am going to pay that for 12 days or my annual bill just for gas will be £60,254.00
God knows what the electric will be as it keeps jumping hundreds per day!

I will keep you informed.

Edited by Allanv on Sunday 13th April 18:17

I did have to pay it in the end to stop getting cut off. They refused to accept that it was wrong.

I did get a cheque and apology from them eventually it took a fair old amount of battling.

I was told several times that their smart meters can't make mistakes. It was ridiculous. I went through the CEOs office and even they were extremely reluctant to help. Absolutely gobsmacked.

Well that didnt take long, they checked the meters and have advised that the current bills to date from the 11th March - 12th April are:

Gas - £116.00
Elec £68.37

A bit of a difference from before but a result I am happy with, it seems the online and app do not seem to work properly.