Bulb Energy

[Howard-]

nordboy said:

The wife has had that exact same smart meter email (well, with her name on, not Richard)

Is the general consensus to get one? I have a water meter which has cost me a bloody fortune, i didn't have it put in, don't know what the last owner was thinking.

Leccy meters different? i haven't researched them at all, so seeing this, i thought I'd ask the question.

Oh, and as we get our gas with bulb, they also said they'd replace that at the same time?

You need to use an absolute boat load of water for a meter to be more expensive than a flat rate! And smart meters make it way easier for the energy company to bill you accurately without you having to crawl around in cupboards or outside in the rain to get readings. What's not to like?

[Drumroll]

nordboy said:

The wife has had that exact same smart meter email (well, with her name on, not Richard)

Is the general consensus to get one? I have a water meter which has cost me a bloody fortune, i didn't have it put in, don't know what the last owner was thinking.

Leccy meters different? i haven't researched them at all, so seeing this, i thought I'd ask the question.

Oh, and as we get our gas with bulb, they also said they'd replace that at the same time?

As others have said how much water are you using? Had ours fitted a year ago water bill went down from £80 a month to £44 just had a letter and it is now going to be £28 a month. Plus a repayment of almost £200. (2 of us living in a 3 bedded house)

Regarding smart meters I really can't see a reason not to have one.

[98elise]

nordboy said:

The wife has had that exact same smart meter email (well, with her name on, not Richard)

Is the general consensus to get one? I have a water meter which has cost me a bloody fortune, i didn't have it put in, don't know what the last owner was thinking.

Leccy meters different? i haven't researched them at all, so seeing this, i thought I'd ask the question.

Oh, and as we get our gas with bulb, they also said they'd replace that at the same time?

Water went from fixed rates, to metered. It should cost you about the same (may be less) unless you're a high user.

Smart meters are are still just meters. They don't change the way you're charged for your utilities. It just means you can see what you're using in greater detail and the utility company get regular accurate readings.

[Ziplobb]

dickymint said:

Looks like I may well have to change my stance on not having 'smart' meters

I had one of these from SSE at the shop. I was not aware that they had a life. I called them to be told that they cannot book an appointment as we are on the Isle of Wight. i asked why the letter had been sen then & they could not answer !

[dickymint]

Ziplobb said:

dickymint said:

Looks like I may well have to change my stance on not having 'smart' meters

I had one of these from SSE at the shop. I was not aware that they had a life. I called them to be told that they cannot book an appointment as we are on the Isle of Wight. i asked why the letter had been sen then & they could not answer !

All suppliers have a legal obligation to meet certain targets by law. They are now trying the "end of life" thing under elf n safety.

[dickymint]

nordboy said:

The wife has had that exact same smart meter email (well, with her name on, not Richard)

Is the general consensus to get one? I have a water meter which has cost me a bloody fortune, i didn't have it put in, don't know what the last owner was thinking.

Leccy meters different? i haven't researched them at all, so seeing this, i thought I'd ask the question.

Oh, and as we get our gas with bulb, they also said they'd replace that at the same time?

Gives them ability to screw around with your payments/tariff remotely - here's an example it's been in the news recently................

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/smart-meter-cut-off-prep...

PS. I'm not an anti-vaxer

[98elise]

dickymint said:

nordboy said:

The wife has had that exact same smart meter email (well, with her name on, not Richard)

Is the general consensus to get one? I have a water meter which has cost me a bloody fortune, i didn't have it put in, don't know what the last owner was thinking.

Leccy meters different? i haven't researched them at all, so seeing this, i thought I'd ask the question.

Oh, and as we get our gas with bulb, they also said they'd replace that at the same time?

Gives them ability to screw around with your payments/tariff remotely - here's an example it's been in the news recently................

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/smart-meter-cut-off-prep...

PS. I'm not an anti-vaxer

That's an article about pre-pay meters, and has nothing to do with tariffs. You have always been metered by volume/energy, and billed according to the tariff you sign up to.

If you want to avoid a pre-pay meter pay your bills, same with getting cut off.

For me (and most people) the benefit of being able to see my daily consumption and historical data far outweighs the ability to be marginally more difficult if I stop paying my bills.

We all have different priorities though.

[dickymint]

98elise said:

dickymint said:

nordboy said:

The wife has had that exact same smart meter email (well, with her name on, not Richard)

Is the general consensus to get one? I have a water meter which has cost me a bloody fortune, i didn't have it put in, don't know what the last owner was thinking.

Leccy meters different? i haven't researched them at all, so seeing this, i thought I'd ask the question.

Oh, and as we get our gas with bulb, they also said they'd replace that at the same time?

Gives them ability to screw around with your payments/tariff remotely - here's an example it's been in the news recently................

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/smart-meter-cut-off-prep...

PS. I'm not an anti-vaxer

That's an article about pre-pay meters, and has nothing to do with tariffs. You have always been metered by volume/energy, and billed according to the tariff you sign up to.

If you want to avoid a pre-pay meter pay your bills, same with getting cut off.

For me (and most people) the benefit of being able to see my daily consumption and historical data far outweighs the ability to be marginally more difficult if I stop paying my bills.

We all have different priorities though.

Headline.............

Switch by stealth’: Alarming rise in homes with smart meters being cut off remotely

SNIP......


"According to data from Ofgem, more than 152,000 households with smart meters were remotely switched to more expensive prepayment plans for gas or electricity last year.

But Citizens Advice has predicted that 450,000 people could be forced onto a prepayment plan this winter - with 180,000 of them expected to be remote switches via a smart meter."

The article and others are talking about "smart meters"

For what it's worth I can well afford my energy bills and also take means to reduce it. From what i've seen the data from a "smart meter" is far from smart anyway - does yours tell you how much energy individual circuits/appliances use.....nope!!

[Howard-]

dickymint said:

98elise said:

dickymint said:

nordboy said:

The wife has had that exact same smart meter email (well, with her name on, not Richard)

Is the general consensus to get one? I have a water meter which has cost me a bloody fortune, i didn't have it put in, don't know what the last owner was thinking.

Leccy meters different? i haven't researched them at all, so seeing this, i thought I'd ask the question.

Oh, and as we get our gas with bulb, they also said they'd replace that at the same time?

Gives them ability to screw around with your payments/tariff remotely - here's an example it's been in the news recently................

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/smart-meter-cut-off-prep...

PS. I'm not an anti-vaxer

That's an article about pre-pay meters, and has nothing to do with tariffs. You have always been metered by volume/energy, and billed according to the tariff you sign up to.

If you want to avoid a pre-pay meter pay your bills, same with getting cut off.

For me (and most people) the benefit of being able to see my daily consumption and historical data far outweighs the ability to be marginally more difficult if I stop paying my bills.

We all have different priorities though.

Headline.............

Switch by stealth’: Alarming rise in homes with smart meters being cut off remotely

SNIP......


"According to data from Ofgem, more than 152,000 households with smart meters were remotely switched to more expensive prepayment plans for gas or electricity last year.

But Citizens Advice has predicted that 450,000 people could be forced onto a prepayment plan this winter - with 180,000 of them expected to be remote switches via a smart meter."

The article and others are talking about "smart meters"

For what it's worth I can well afford my energy bills and also take means to reduce it. From what i've seen the data from a "smart meter" is far from smart anyway - does yours tell you how much energy individual circuits/appliances use.....nope!!

Ignoring the fact that this is sensationalist journalism leaving out probably way more useful details into each case, if you pay your bills, this isn't going to happen.

[thetapeworm]

Is anyone else seeing this when using the "scan" option.to submit a reading in the app?



I presume bulb haven't renewed something with anyline.com but it still seems to work like it always has.

On the plus side they seem to think I can reduce my monthly payment by £20 but I think I'll keep piling up credit for now.

[ajprice]

The app for me doesn't go further than this page



I updated, reopened the app and it's on the same update page, I press update and it goes to the Google store page where it's already updated. I tried downloading the Octopus app and using my Bulb email and password, and it's not recognised. So I did my meter readings on the Bulb website .

[98elise]

dickymint said:

98elise said:

dickymint said:

nordboy said:

The wife has had that exact same smart meter email (well, with her name on, not Richard)

Is the general consensus to get one? I have a water meter which has cost me a bloody fortune, i didn't have it put in, don't know what the last owner was thinking.

Leccy meters different? i haven't researched them at all, so seeing this, i thought I'd ask the question.

Oh, and as we get our gas with bulb, they also said they'd replace that at the same time?

Gives them ability to screw around with your payments/tariff remotely - here's an example it's been in the news recently................

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/smart-meter-cut-off-prep...

PS. I'm not an anti-vaxer

That's an article about pre-pay meters, and has nothing to do with tariffs. You have always been metered by volume/energy, and billed according to the tariff you sign up to.

If you want to avoid a pre-pay meter pay your bills, same with getting cut off.

For me (and most people) the benefit of being able to see my daily consumption and historical data far outweighs the ability to be marginally more difficult if I stop paying my bills.

We all have different priorities though.

Headline.............

Switch by stealth’: Alarming rise in homes with smart meters being cut off remotely

SNIP......


"According to data from Ofgem, more than 152,000 households with smart meters were remotely switched to more expensive prepayment plans for gas or electricity last year.

But Citizens Advice has predicted that 450,000 people could be forced onto a prepayment plan this winter - with 180,000 of them expected to be remote switches via a smart meter."

The article and others are talking about "smart meters"

For what it's worth I can well afford my energy bills and also take means to reduce it. From what i've seen the data from a "smart meter" is far from smart anyway - does yours tell you how much energy individual circuits/appliances use.....nope!!

Changing your meter to prepay is not cutting you off. Its stopping you buying on unlimited credit when you've stopped paying.

You can still have as much energy as you want, you just have to pay for it now.

[rigga]

ajprice said:

The app for me doesn't go further than this page



I updated, reopened the app and it's on the same update page, I press update and it goes to the Google store page where it's already updated. I tried downloading the Octopus app and using my Bulb email and password, and it's not recognised. So I did my meter readings on the Bulb website .

Exact same issue here . No man's land between bulb and octopus.

[mikey_b]

The Bulb app is working fine on my phone. Maybe those having issues are about to be moved to Octopus or something? I assume they aren’t moving all customers at the same time, that would be one hell of a migration to manage.

[Dog Star]

Drumroll said:

As others have said how much water are you using? Had ours fitted a year ago water bill went down from £80 a month to £44 just had a letter and it is now going to be £28 a month. Plus a repayment of almost £200. (2 of us living in a 3 bedded house)

Regarding smart meters I really can't see a reason not to have one.

We have a big Victorian place and our water rates are £135 a year.

I’ll be sticking to that, thanks!

[98elise]

mikey_b said:

The Bulb app is working fine on my phone. Maybe those having issues are about to be moved to Octopus or something? I assume they aren’t moving all customers at the same time, that would be one hell of a migration to manage.

Works fine for me too.

[blueg33]

App not working for me. It was fine at 6.00am now it says "please update" I have updated but it still says "please Update"

[duffy78]

deleting the app in its entirety and reinstalling worked for me

[ajprice]

duffy78 said:

deleting the app in its entirety and reinstalling worked for me

That worked for me.

[MitchT]

Got my email today - been moved to Octopus. Followed the link in the email to set a username and password and I'm straight into Octopus with my billing history and credit all showing correctly. Totally painless.