smart meters

[dad_of_jon]

Hi all, please note my sarcastic comments are in bold.

Your electricity meter has reached the end of its lifetime, so it’s time to replace it with a new one. You said that last year
The good news is, IS IT? we can upgrade your old meter to a smart meter, free of charge.
Smart meters come with an in-home display unit (IHD) that shows you how much energy you’re using in real time. So we encourage you to use less and we can then up our prices so you get less for more
This makes it easier to see where you’re using the most energy, which can help you use less. Doh! I know when I use more energy, my appliances have energy use ratings on them
Why get a smart meter? So you can control and monitor your customers as cheaply as possible and shaft us in more subtle ways?
Smart meters help you make more energy-conscious decisions, which can save you money and reduce your carbon emissions. This is why smart meters are key to helping the UK reach net-zero and shaping the future of energy. More green washing going on here. I know how much energy my appliances use do you mean I can decide whether to heat the house or cook food once you ramp up the prices?

Your smart meter will:

■ Tell you how much energy you’re using in real time you already tried to sell this earlier
■ Make sure you only pay for the energy you use you mean the existing meter is faulty or next door is nicking my gas and leccy?
■ Show you how much you’re spending see above
■ Help you make energy and cost-saving decisions see above - heat or eat

and then........

Installation appointment

Smart meter installation appointments are available in four hour windows from Monday to Friday. You, or another adult over the age of 18, will need to be at home for the duration of the appointment window plus the time it takes to complete your installation. Appointments can take up to 90 minutes, but due to technical reasons no **** sherlock, there may be instances where an installation takes longer. As part of the installation, your gas and electricity will need to be turned off for a short time, including unplugging any sensitive electrical equipment.

Half hourly meter readings

In order to get the most from your new smart meter(s) you will be asked to give your consent to us receiving your half hourly energy consumption. You'd love to detect when I plug my tesla plaid in eh. and then charge me more for the privilege

Things to note

We follow the Smart Metering Installation Code of Practice (SMICoP), which means that we give you all the right information and support throughout the smart meter installation process. For more information visit our website. (we can't be bothered to tell you here)
• You’ll need to be at home for your appointment, which should take up to an hour per meter you said 90 mins earlier, ah you expect to have some technical problems off the bat?
• Your electricity will need to be turned off for a short time, including unplugging any sensitive electrical equipment can't I use the main circuit breaker?
• If installing a gas meter - your gas supply will be interrupted for a short period, so all gas appliances will need to be turned off
• If installing a gas meter - our engineer will perform gas safety checks and if there are any issues, they will leave you with relevant safety notices and advise you on the next steps


So apologies if you love monitoring your usage. I don't leave stuff on if I don't need to use it. so this brings nothing to the table. Heck I even unplugged my laser printer which uses 1w in standby given we only print out once every week or two. I've done the math on every energy using thing I use, I'm CDO like that .

Of course when the free energy monitor fails, you pay for a replacement but they can still connect and check your usage every 30 mins.

 

[Leon103]

Got bored after half way through,.I just don't get your arguments. My meter is smart I.e. it tells my provider how much I am using at midnight each night. I don't have a monitor, I don't need one, I don't care what I use. It saves me providing readings or allowing people to access my land to get to the meter.

My bills are accurate and I can look at the usage on the app if I wish. I only ever do so when I am away, I am intrigued how much I save by going on holiday.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

My reason for not getting a meter is I know if I boil the kettle 5 times a day I wll pay more than if I only boil it 4 times but I want 5 brews a day so will continue to have 5 what is the meter going to tell me that I didn't already know?

 

[MashBag]

What a complete farce.

Swap you meter, sir? For a terrible one, that gives you features you don't what or NEED. Sir.
Doesn't work properly at the basic stuff sir. Waste your time sir participating in the pantomime. Suits you sir.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Only problem with the smart meter is that you can't put a magnet on the side of like you used to do on the old ones......

 

[Cwrw666]

I don't know about other people's experience with smart meters but my leccy bill dropped by about a third after we got ours . In fact even with all the price hikes we're still paying a bit less per quarter than we were over 12 years ago.

 

[Leon103]

My reason for not getting a meter is I know if I boil the kettle 5 times a day I wll pay more than if I only boil it 4 times but I want 5 brews a day so will continue to have 5 what is the meter going to tell me that I didn't already know?

Isnt that what a monitor does.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I don't know about other people's experience with smart meters but my leccy bill dropped by about a third after we got ours . In fact even with all the price hikes we're still paying a bit less per quarter than we were over 12 years ago.

So what did you stop doing after you got the meter that made all these savings?

 

[ChilledGecko]

You do need a smart meter to access some of the newer tariffs sadly.
And the tariffs are tilting in favour of the suppliers.
I used to be on economy 7 - 7 hours overnight at cheap rate, back from the days of storage heating I think.
The closest I can get is 4 hours cheap overnight. (for a given value of cheap)

I had a spinner and then had solar fitted - result!
Meter spun backwards during the day and went forward again after the sun went down.
In time they changed the meter out, the guy who fitted it asked if I'd noticed the meter spinning backwards however as I don't pull up a chair and watch the meter I said I hadn't noticed, shared glance ensured followed by an offered cuppa.

Not had a moments issue with the smart meters and it's allowed me to use some of these newer 'better' tariffs.
I've since purchased a battery storage system so I fill them up on the cheap rates / solar and come off grid for the most part of the day.

I have the option of using an intelligent tariff, draw power when it's cheap / free / paid to draw (overnight, windy days etc.) and sell it back at high demand times winter tea times etc.
I've not got the stomach to be that geeky yet, but I guess if the prices increase it may pay me. I'm sure it could be automated with a Raspberry Pi, cable and tape

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Not had a moments issue with the smart meters and it's allowed me to use some of these newer 'better' tariffs.

I thought the government had told the suppliers they had to be offered customers the lowest tariff non of this hiding stuff from them.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I quite fancy one of these new Russian-built smart meters.

 

[LeeH]

You do need a smart meter to access some of the newer tariffs sadly.
And the tariffs are tilting in favour of the suppliers.
I used to be on economy 7 - 7 hours overnight at cheap rate, back from the days of storage heating I think.
The closest I can get is 4 hours cheap overnight. (for a given value of cheap)

I had a spinner and then had solar fitted - result!
Meter spun backwards during the day and went forward again after the sun went down.
In time they changed the meter out, the guy who fitted it asked if I'd noticed the meter spinning backwards however as I don't pull up a chair and watch the meter I said I hadn't noticed, shared glance ensured followed by an offered cuppa.

Not had a moments issue with the smart meters and it's allowed me to use some of these newer 'better' tariffs.
I've since purchased a battery storage system so I fill them up on the cheap rates / solar and come off grid for the most part of the day.

I have the option of using an intelligent tariff, draw power when it's cheap / free / paid to draw (overnight, windy days etc.) and sell it back at high demand times winter tea times etc.
I've not got the stomach to be that geeky yet, but I guess if the prices increase it may pay me. I'm sure it could be automated with a Raspberry Pi, cable and tape

What’s your FIT rate? Octopus are offering rates far over my government FIT but insist on a smart meter (which doesn’t suit me at the moment…)

 

[ChilledGecko]

I thought the government had told the suppliers they had to be offered customers the lowest tariff non of this hiding stuff from them.

I guess it is down to the customer to hunt through the public offerings to find the best for them?
As long as they are listed it a user problem....

 

[dad_of_jon]

I guess it is down to the customer to hunt through the public offerings to find the best for them?
As long as they are listed it a user problem....

yup - tldr - a bit like the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy where they told Arthur dent his house was going to be demolished.

 

[Ross1974]

What’s your FIT rate? Octopus are offering rates far over my government FIT but insist on a smart meter (which doesn’t suit me at the moment…)

I'm on Octopus Flux. I get 3 hours of cheap rate from 0200-0500 and the rest of the time the rate are at fixed scheduled througout the day. I get paid to export too, so depending on the time it is good or great. Basically theres a 10p offset between import and export prices.

I've got 5.7kw Solar and 10kW battery. Most of the time my battery is still full when the sun goes down and powers the house all night. if I know its going to be sunny, i dont charge the battery from the grid. If its going to be poor, I'll fill the battery, but if it does turn out to be sunny, I export all day and watch the pennies come in. I paid £0 for electricity in June/July and August. Export income offsets the import + daily charge most days.

https://mysmartenergy.uk/Flux/Southern-Scotland

 

[Chippy_Tea]

So apart from hidden tarrifs how do these smart meters save you money?

 

[ChilledGecko]

What’s your FIT rate? Octopus are offering rates far over my government FIT but insist on a smart meter (which doesn’t suit me at the moment…)

I have the original government fit rate, 60p+ generation plus 4p (ish) assumed export.
I got in early.
Though they are buggers for payment delays.

 

[ChilledGecko]

So apart from hidden tarrifs how do these smart meters save you money?

They are not hidden, there are just a lot of options to go through.
But they are only open to users that can do ToD (time of day) metering.

I feel that I'm becoming an power company apologist in this thread, I'm not - they are all money gouging b'stards.
I just spent time and jump through enough hoops to get to a 'decent' tariff where I don't bleed money.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I have the original government fit rate, 60p+ generation plus 4p (ish) assumed export.
I got in early.
Though they are buggers for payment delays.

Off topic, sorry, but I'm on a similar tariff to you. My array was installed in 2010. As a matter of interest, did your FiT company try to con you last quarter when the rate changed? I'm with British Gas for my FiT. The rate went up significantly on 1st April 2023 and I took a meter reading then. but my next payment "assumed" my reading was different on that date and they are trying to con me with too much on the old rate and not enough on the new one. Its not a lot (about £25) but they are clearly doing this with millions of customers and it all mounts up.

 

[ChilledGecko]

@Benfleet Brewery I was with SSE who were a decent operator. Ovo took my FiT over and are gits for holding on until the last legal week before paying.
I ensure I always supply a reading on April 1st irrespective of when they ask for the quarterly reading to ensure as close to correct rates as I can get.

I don't think any of the providers want to be dealing with us albatrosses around their necks but are obligated to do so. But they make it as hard as possible to work with them.
Still, it's a nice problem to have 'eh!