Smart meters - what's the current thinking?

[V8mate]

HTP99 said:

I'm quite liking the British Gas smart meter and app; at any time I can check on the display which sits in the lounge, exactly what gas or electric I have used up to that point and compare it with previous days and the app will tell me exactly what I've used daily and I can compare months and years to previous month and years too.

You need to get out more, mate.

[dickymint]

V8mate said:

HTP99 said:

I'm quite liking the British Gas smart meter and app; at any time I can check on the display which sits in the lounge, exactly what gas or electric I have used up to that point and compare it with previous days and the app will tell me exactly what I've used daily and I can compare months and years to previous month and years too.

You need to get out more, mate.

....and chop some more logs

[andy43]

dickymint said:

V8mate said:

HTP99 said:

I'm quite liking the British Gas smart meter and app; at any time I can check on the display which sits in the lounge, exactly what gas or electric I have used up to that point and compare it with previous days and the app will tell me exactly what I've used daily and I can compare months and years to previous month and years too.

You need to get out more, mate.

....and chop some more logs

We've fitted a bigger version of the display in our lounge - hooked up to the aerial on the roof it gives hours of entertainment.... even comes with a remote. You do need an annual licence for it though, which isn't cheap.

Seriously though, who thinks these smart meters are actually free?

[Riley Blue]

That (our smart meter installation) was a bit of a farce. Chap turns up at front door and says, "Our meters won't fit in there..." pointing to ground level gas meter box at front of house so we have a smart electricty meter and still our old 'dumb' gas meter. He'll report back to Scottish Power who will get in touch - ain't new technology wonderful...?

[2lefthands]

Riley Blue said:

That (our smart meter installation) was a bit of a farce. Chap turns up at front door and says, "Our meters won't fit in there..." pointing to ground level gas meter box at front of house so we have a smart electricty meter and still our old 'dumb' gas meter. He'll report back to Scottish Power who will get in touch - ain't new technology wonderful...?

On an E6 already? Same size. Any other, much smaller. More likely he didn't have any with him, or didn't want to touch your IP.

[HTP99]

Riley Blue said:

That (our smart meter installation) was a bit of a farce. Chap turns up at front door and says, "Our meters won't fit in there..." pointing to ground level gas meter box at front of house so we have a smart electricty meter and still our old 'dumb' gas meter. He'll report back to Scottish Power who will get in touch - ain't new technology wonderful...?

The girl who installed our smart meters said that there had been issues with gas meters that are installed on/in the ground; when they were designed, no one thought about them getting wet; they aren't waterproof, British gas put them in a plastic bag and then install them.

[Riley Blue]

Another fail - the indoor display has stopped showing any information and appears to have lost its connection to the meter which is all of 15' away through one wall. I hope someone brave is on the end of Scottish Power's phone, my O/H is about to phone and she takes no prisoners.

[skeggysteve]

I'm bumping this thread as is seems the most recent.

Got a letter today from our electric co/thier meter installers today asking us to book an appointment to have a smart meter fitted.

Has the thinking changed?

I like the idea for a couple of reasons:

We send monthly reading but if we don't they estimate and, unsurprisingly, they are a lot higher than we have used.

To read our meter I have to climb on the kitchen worktop and it's a pain to do it.

Apparently they use the mobile phone network, the only network that works here is Vodafone, will that be a problem?

Obviously I'll phone them and find out more but your thought in the meantime would be interesting to hear.

Edited by skeggysteve on Saturday 31st December 21:11

[Dr Doofenshmirtz]

I would avoid getting one at all costs. You can easily update your reading online. Smartmeters are being rolled out for a reason, and it's not for our benefit.

[skeggysteve]

DR,

I know you can submit meter reading but as I said it's a pain for me to do and sometimes I forget to do it on time.

Yes, I agree they are doing it for their benefit but if it has some benefits for me then I'm happy.

For those that say they will increase the price - I'm sure they will do that even if I didn't have a smart meter!

Happy New Year everyone!

[Jasandjules]

Dr Doofenshmirtz said:

I would avoid getting one at all costs. You can easily update your reading online. Smartmeters are being rolled out for a reason, and it's not for our benefit.

Indeed.

If they are given them away, there is a reason and they will recoup that cost somewhere down the line.

And that's if we ignore their ability to turn down your supply during times of high usage (and when the AGW s**t comes home to roost)

[Jakg]

skeggysteve said:

Apparently they use the mobile phone network, the only network that works here is Vodafone, will that be a problem?

I requested a smart meter - not because I wanted a smart meter, but because I wanted our existing economy 7 meter, that had a loud ticking clock which drove me mad all night, replaced.

They turned up - said there was no signal - said I couldn't have a smart meter - and then fitted a digital ordinary one instead.

[CoolHands]

its for when we all have electric cars.

[dingg]

CoolHands said:

its for when we all have electric cars.

No it isn't its for smart billing when the time comes . peak electricity at peak prices

[eliot]

dingg said:

CoolHands said:

its for when we all have electric cars.

No it isn't its for smart billing when the time comes . peak electricity at peak prices

You are both right. They dont want you arriving home in you electric car at 6pm, plugging it in to charge then walking in and turning the oven on.
Where they do want to get to is that you use the remaining power in you car to power your house (like a big computer UPS) at 6pm and reduce load on the grid for an hour.
I'd be up for that if the rates were competitive- but alas it will go the way of economy 7 where they charge you more during the day to recoup the cost of the cheap night units.

[CoolHands]

I think most of our electric usage is pretty static (possibly declining with change to LED bulbs nationwide). The main thing that is going to change is charging of electric cars, hence the need for smart meters to make sure people charge at night and not at tea-time and overload the grid. This can be achieved with smart meters by making cost prohibitive at that time period.

That's just my thoughts.

[MDMA .]

skeggysteve said:

I'm bumping this thread as is seems the most recent.

Got a letter today from our electric co/thier meter installers today asking us to book an appointment to have a smart meter fitted.

Has the thinking changed?

I like the idea for a couple of reasons:

We send monthly reading but if we don't they estimate and, unsurprisingly, they are a lot higher than we have used.

To read our meter I have to climb on the kitchen worktop and it's a pain to do it.

Apparently they use the mobile phone network, the only network that works here is Vodafone, will that be a problem?

Obviously I'll phone them and find out more but your thought in the meantime would be interesting to hear.

Edited by skeggysteve on Saturday 31st December 21:11

They are fitting a lot of data receiving equipment to bin lorries. When they come around every week, as they drive past your house, they will take the reading.

[A500leroy]

Has anyone thought that they are only free until 2020 and then they are going to charge to fit them ( probably by force if you need a new metre), this is where they will recover the costs of the free ones being fitted now....

[dickymint]

skeggysteve said:

I'm bumping this thread as is seems the most recent.

Got a letter today from our electric co/thier meter installers today asking us to book an appointment to have a smart meter fitted.

Has the thinking changed?

I like the idea for a couple of reasons:

We send monthly reading but if we don't they estimate and, unsurprisingly, they are a lot higher than we have used.

To read our meter I have to climb on the kitchen worktop and it's a pain to do it.

Apparently they use the mobile phone network, the only network that works here is Vodafone, will that be a problem?

Obviously I'll phone them and find out more but your thought in the meantime would be interesting to hear.

Edited by skeggysteve on Saturday 31st December 21:11

Unless things have changed you will have to pay a whopping charge for them to put it elsewhere!!

[PRTVR]

A500leroy said:

Has anyone thought that they are only free until 2020 and then they are going to charge to fit them ( probably by force if you need a new metre), this is where they will recover the costs of the free ones being fitted now....

The meter is not my property, they can't force me to pay to update something I do not own.
It would make an interesting court case.