Smart meter [poll]

[Horners]

Don't know about a smart meter but my god our leccy bill last week was 850 quid higher than last year. That'll be me heating the brew cave 24 7 to use as an office, all the extra cups of tea and 4 of us either schooling or working on video calls all day. Thankfully wife and kids gone back to school this week so I have returned from self-imposed garden exile to work at the fining table...

 

[Dads_Ale]

I put off having a smart meter for ages until the end of last year when I simply got fed up with the constant phone calls and letters telling me my meter was sitting in the warehouse just waiting to be fitted. So feeling sorry for that little meter sat there all alone in the warehouse I succumbed and gave it a new home.
I though it wouldn't make any difference but I did find out that the heaters I have in the shed pub and garage were costing me a lot more than I thought. I left them on a low setting thinking they would only kick in when it was really cold but found they were actually kicking in a lot more. So I now turn them off when the temp isn't too low and this is saving about a pound a day.
The smart meter also shows a saving in using the air fryer instead of heating up the main oven for smaller items.
Also a full brew day was only costing about a quid.

 

[JohnB]

I was more or less bullied by EDF into having one, and to be perfectly honest, it's leccy whatever way you look at it.
However what I would say is; that the "Savings" you are "Supposed" to make are nothing other than you cutting down on what you use, the blasted leccy costs the same!
The second point I'd make is linked to the one above: Would you get halfway through the Christmas turkey and suddenly throw your hands in the air and shout "Switch it off!" because although the turkey is only half done, you have used too much power on it?
Don't be daft
The reason for smart meters is so they (power companies) can get accurate minute by minute power usage figures across the country so THEY can save money by cutting back by predicting production, not YOU by eating half-cooked turkey.
My so-called smart meter has never connected to their server (lack of mobile signal in our area) so I still have to read the meter manually! The in-house monitor has never worked because the meter is too far from the house. But they paid me a refund of 6 months leccy, so a big thumbs-up to EDF.

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

Some guy on the radio is saying we should all have them as they would lower bills and help the environment.

We don't have one as i don't see the point, i know putting it simply if i put the kettle on four times a day its going to cost more than if i only put it on twice but i want to have four brews a day not two so what is the point?

.

The only way to reduce power usage is to turn stuff off. You don’t need a smart meter to tell you that. The only real beneficiaries of the smart meter rollout are the companies supplying & fitting them.

I have a dual-tariff meter so can’t be swapped anyway. I find the monthly meter reading submission to be quite handy for keeping tabs on usage.

 

[Ale House Rock]

Mine keeps telling me my electricity supply is disconnected which just about sums up its usefulness - if I had no electricity the display would be blank so what's the point of that. The meters don't send readings to the supplier who installed them so looks like an expensive waste of time and resources so far.

 

[MmmBeer]

I had one fitted about 9 years ago, played with the little display for about 5 minutes, then lost it. Every time I have changed supplier since, they say they can't read it and request to change it again. The last one got quite shirty about it and was bombarding me with calls and texts, so I reported them to Ofgen for fraudalent selling.

I'm now with an independent supplier, who are happy for me to submit monthly reads, which suits me fine.

 

[DavidHatton]

I think it was meant to be a joke along the lines of in London you call a flat an apartment outside London everyone calls it a flat, maybe a smilie at the end would have helped.

Thats very true, a joke normally has an obvious punchline

 

[LesTom]

I've had one ever since we got our new boiler fitted almost 18 months ago. The only thing is, it crashes more than Richard Hammond does when he films an episode of Top Gear

 

[Spratt]

We had one installed about 5 years ago when we were with Eon. I changed supplier not long after, and though we were told at installation time that it would enable our supplier to read the meter remotely that facility has never been used once. But we have half a dozen PV panels and I find it quite useful to see when our "usage" has dropped to zero, even if it doesn't alter our habits much.

 

[BeerCat]

At one point they called me every day. I complained and got compensation for it.

 

[Dutto]

No one seems to have mentioned the prime "Money Saver" in the installation of a Smart Meter. It's NOT the Consumer, it's the POWER COMPANY!

WE provide the Smart Meters to the Power Industry via Government FOR FREE!

The Power Companies install the Smart Meters FOR FREE by back-charging the Government.

With Smart Meters installed the Power Companies can then measure and bill the Consumer for any power used ...

... and can then make all of their Meter Readers redundant AND POCKET THEIR WAGES!

Who benefits? The Power Companies of course!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

No one seems to have mentioned the prime "Money Saver" in the installation of a Smart Meter. It's NOT the Consumer, it's the POWER COMPANY!

probably because that is not what the question in the OP below was about.

Some guy on the radio is saying we should all have them as they would lower bills and help the enviroment

 

[KDW]

Had one installed, it never worked despite the fitter coming back to fix it. It's in a desk drawer now I think.

 

[trummy]

Needed an extra choice - 'No I don't have one and I am sitting on the fence, convince me'

We have an Economy seven meter but it also gives a total electricity used - a' T' reading. It is impossible to persuade the various companies that that is usable. Odd times a company will allow us to have a standard tariff contract but we have to then send in the day and night reading which they then add together, which then equals the meters 'T' reading . (surprise surprise)

Re the smart meter - in the long term it will allow companies to control when you use electricity - e.g charge more at different times of the day - not sure that would be a good thing or bad

 

[Gerryjo]

Don't have one and my leccy is around £1100 a year allowing winter and summer with six in the house never mind cold feed washing machine twice a day 7 DaW,a kettle that never stops and lights that seem to never turn off.
One thing I done last year was to replace all the downlights inside and outside with 6w LEDs and there was 29 of them and there is a noticeable difference as I can let them run for the price of a few 100w lamps.
Installed a new burner and pump as they were nearly 20 years old and a bit of insulation.roughly saving around £30 a month but it's all paid for within 2 years of savings though I still have a meter man who needs a job.

 

[Redwulf]

I steadfastly refuse to have one, British gas kept insisting but other than the a vague suggestion that it was good for the environment and the government wants people to have them they didn't have a convincing argument for having one.

It seems like another gadget to clutter the house with.

 

[Hop_it]

I had them fitted a couple of years ago after having been badgered by our energy supplier to "upgrade" the meters. The system has not worked from day one. I contacted the energy supplier several times in the early days, but got no response. Both replacement meters are now modern types with digital displays, and are much easier to read, so I'm not really bothered that their system doesn't work. . . . . . With my cynical hat on, I believe that it was just a box ticking exercise in order to meet government targets.

 

[MmmBeer]

The thing that really irked me about the whole smart meter business, is that it is claimed to be free to consumers. It's not, we are all being charged a hidden levy for them in our tariffs.

I just hope the whole concept is scrapped anong with the equally pointless but far more deadly 'smart motorways'.

 

[moto748]

Haven'y got one; don't want one either. On the face of it, the idea of better energy efficiency is a good one, It's a precious resource. But it's giving the electric company (and who knows who else) access to personal data regarding my power usage."We want you you save money", they cry. No, they don't. This is not the State talking here, these are private companies. They are in business, like anyone else, to make a profit. You don't make a profit by giving away millions of meters, and fitting them for free.

Unless...

There are other reasons. We ought not to waste water, but on the other hand, I see a clean water supply as a basic human right. Charge for it per litre, and the poorest families WILL suffer.

 

[johnny108]

Every time I hear about a “smart” device for the home, I’m reminded of how the internet used to be. No ads. I could, say, watch a video without having to sit through a pitch.
Then smart homes started happening. Smart appliances, too. And all I can do is wonder, how long will it take before someone tries to flush the toilet and is greeted with “Raid: Shadow legends is an online portable game that lets you.....”

smart meter? Pass.