Smart meters

Mildred here's a link to information from Which regarding smart meters. Some energy companies are, apparently, trying to imply that they are compulsory, but they are not. Also, it is possible to have them in 'dumb' mode, which means that the data collected is limited. Some people are wary of exactly what information can be gathered - for example, it may be possible to work out when a house is unoccupied because of the lack of use of gas/electricity, and this information could be used by hackers.

www.which.co.uk/energy/creating-an-energy-saving-home/guides/smart-meters-explained/getting-a-smart-meter-installed/

Smart meters are a con. They are only effective if you stay with the company that installed it. Move to another company and they are no longer fully functional. This is because every energy company installs a smart meter compatible with their own software and no two smart meters are the same, nor are they mutually compatible.

British Gas installed a smart meter in our house. It worked fine while British Gas was our gas supplier, no problems at all, but 18 months later we changed fuel supplier and now our meter has to be read by a meter reader again. That may be why your son is having a problem Mildred, Did he change supplier?

I think that smart meters are over rated. Several years before we had a smart meter we installed an 'Owl', a device that measured our electricity consumption. We put it in a prominent place in the kitchen. All it told us was what we already knew - that we were careful fuel users. In six months we never once looked at the reading in horror and rushed round turning lights and devices off. When we got the smart meter we put the display monitor in a cupboard out of the way

Smart meter or no smart meter we still do what we have always done, get a quarterly bill, check the meter, send it back with the correct details for recalculation, if necessary, and pay by direct debit. No problem, no overpaying, no problems having to get overpayments repaid.

MiniMouse thank you for the link, they did imply it was compulsory to me.

M0nica thank you for your answer it is very helpful. Husband was correct as usual! We will not be getting a smart meter as we change our supplier for better rates.

The caller did admit that NPower could not read their meters. We will wait until later see if they get their act together and replace a universal manual meter with universal smart meter. We also had an Owl but I was able to tell husband he had left the rings on the cooker, or the kettle was boiling with the lid up, something he never believed he did when I found them and switched them off.

Son lives in a block of flats with a management company who negotiate the gas and electricity so you are more than likely correct that this is why the meter is not working.

Many thanks for replying husband really pleased to be correct.

We have had one for a couple of years and it is effective in that it relays the information and we get accurate charges.

I agree it is extremely stupid that the suppliers haven't agreed a standard meter to suit them all.

I expect most people who have them turn off the display after the first week like we did. Like MOnica we know what we are using and are still using it, I'm not going to freeze or have a cold shower just because the display says it is using power!

Smart meter will replace traditional gas and electricity meters which we have been using for decades. It comes with advance technology and features. Digital smart meter display in order to show the exact meter reading. It sends automated reading of gas and electricity directly to the energy supplier.

There is no issue of estimated bill and you need to pay for the exact usage of gas and electricity. By the year 2020 it is expected that every home in UK will have smart meters.
Benefits of Smart Meters

Accurate bills for the actual consumption
Real time energy usage
Puts an end to Estimated billing
Monitor your own energy consumption accurately
Appliance based energy usage
Modify the usage to save money

Click here - vswitchusave.co.uk/blog/quick-review-smart-meter

It is important for people to realise that they can refuse to have a smart meter installed, there are good reasons for doing so. I'm not going to set them all out here but inaccurate readings and problems of consistency between suppliers are two important ones. Some people worry about yet more WiFi in the home and hence health worries. Worth not taking the propaganda at face value.

I personally don't mind an estimated bill. I can then go and give a true reading. I also have a "standing order" in place with my energy companies so they can't take amounts out willy nilly.

Sister had a smart meter and it caused all manner of problems.

I for one will insist that I don't have one.

We've had a smart meter for about 8 months, no problem at all. Nice to see how much appliances use. It now sits in the corner ignored.

You do not have to have 1 of these meters. we were contacted by our supplier last yr to have 1, the chap came , fitted it but could not get a signal !! so had to take it out and put the old 1 back in, another date was set for someone to come to fit it again, this appointment was then cancelled within an hour of time they were meant to be here , this happened twice so i told them to forget it, last week our supplier came and fitted a new "old style" meter as ours was out of date now, so we will stay with the old style meter.