Smart Energy Meters

I am with EDF and have asked to go on their list. I cannot read my meters as I have AMD so they used to send a man here every 4- 6 months but then I stupidly asked a friend to do it and I sent that reading off so they have now decided I can read my own meters in future. I would like to have better control of my electricity usage and I think that a smart meter may help me.

Wait and see also

Got one and they're great fun when you get them watching what everything costs - and I've finally got DH to turn lights off when he goes out of rooms. I can't really see what the objection is or am I missing something?

'cunco' I'm with you. I don't see a problem with monitoring our own energy usage and I don't trust the energy companies, their ability to monitor correctly or protect data.

Actually I heard a radio programme recently about massive software problems with different smart meter types and different energy companies: they cause problems switching between suppliers (it may simply be impossible), they can't cope with Victorian or old properties where the meters may be in cellars and they apparently can't cope at all with solar panels.

I gather there have been many problems with accuracy of bills in the USA. Lastly I'm not at all sure about the health or health and safety implications. Again, many people in the US have reported ill health after their installation. So it's no thanks from me! We don't have to have them, they are just an offer. The radio programme claimed that the potential problems were such that they'll probably never be completely rolled out. Good!

As far as I am concerned a complete waste of time and effort. We had a smart meter installed 3 years ago. It was worked for six months, although we never looked at it. We have always been energy aware, I had worked in the industry, so our house was already as energy efficient as possible, and so were we.

Anyway, six months after it was installed we changed energy supplier. Each smart meter is particular to the energy company that fits it. Change your supplier and the smart meter is instantly useless. So after six months our smart meter became useless. The meter reader for our current energy supplier comes round and reads our meter as before and the display unit we were supplied with is at the back of one of the kitchen drawers.

Does seem a bit of a waste of time to me too, I shan't bother with one.

I'm one of these sad people that read their meters every week, and can judge what we are using so there are no surprises. I can see smart meters may be useful if you've no idea how much energy you use and initially may be fun, but I think basically bit of an expensive gimmick.

I have one, I am on a pay as you go meter, so I can now top up online or by my phone, which is fantastic. The old system was to go outside where the meter was and check how much was still on and try to figure out how long that amount of money would last. Now it tells me how many days I have left to put some more money on it. It's just took me two minutes to top up, brilliant. No more getting dressed, going out in the rain for going for top up.

We have one which tells us each day how much we are spending on electricity and gas. Does make you more mindful of what appliances/ heat you have on!!

Good grief, if you're going to be paranoid about health and security..... Do you have a wifi hub or television in your house - or live in an area which is mainly granite? You really need to start worrying about radiation! Do you have any forms of store or loyalty cards - how much information do those relay about you? Mobile phone - well now you're talking about radiation AND security/information. On my list of 'things to be worried about' I'm afraid smart meters are well down. Now solar panels, which involve paying people money which often has come from those on high tariffs on pay as you go - those do concern me on moral grounds!

Yes, Badenkate been there, read all the bumff, done some research, have plenty of other things to worry about but prefer the precautionary approach where possible. Too many innovations/drugs/pesticides where the harm they do only became apparent many years down the line.....

not sure what point you're making about solar panels as I haven't investigated the economics of them. I thought they were on the way out anyway as the government has removed subsidies??

Many people installed solar panels so that they could get reimbursed for the extra electricity they fed into the national grid. Which is fine, but the amount they were/are paid is much greater than the normal cost of electricity. This comes from the rest of us when we pay our fuel bill, and those on pre-paid meters for whatever reason pay a higher amount for their electricity. Many of these are among those who have little enough money to live on. It just seems to me that it is morally questionable to make a profit in this way.

Interesting Badenkate, thank you. I can immediately see the problem: fluctuating energy prices and the need to set a price, probably(?) when the panels are installed. Our world seems to have become filled with things/systems/choices that were originally good ideas but have never been properly thought through, planned and costed which ultimately end up useless and/or with all sorts of costs for someone or everyone! Rant over

We were told we were getting a smart meter. But guess what? they could not fit it because "you haven't got a Vodaphone signal"!!!!!!! At no stage was I asked if I could get a mobile signal here, never mind vodaphone - then to cap it all the idiot engineer said it was all very odd as they had had the same problem with two other houses in our lane the previous week!!! What idiots run a system that A) depends on a good signal and does not confirm with the householder that there is one and B) does not realise that if one house in a rural lane cannot get a signal, the chances are that two others less than 400m away cannot either - so three wasted visits, 2 men in a can each time and WE are paying for this incompetence.

Thanks for all these replies. It seems I am not alone in wondering whether smart meters are worthwhile.

I have also found an interesting article from the BBC which is worth a read. It seems Germany, Canada and Australia looked at the cost-benefit analysis of installing smart meters and decided against.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35894922

My df lady friend told him (mistakenly) that it cost 17p to run a smart meter and now he wont have one in his house

Having said that I think smart meters are a waste of space, they do have one advantage - that you can get an accurate gas reading for the bill every quarter without having to read your meter yourself or wait for a meter reader.

Or this would be an advantage if there was an industry wide standard for smart meters, as it is, get a smart meter, change your gas supplier and the smart meter will not be compatible with your new supplier's computer systems so is useless.

However smart meters are sold to consumers on the basis of increasing our control over our energy use, but I think the average consumer falls broadly into one of two groups; those who have always monitored or controlled their energy use who will gain nothing from smart meters because they already use energy efficiently and those, less organised, who will treat the smart meter as an amazing new gadget for about a fortnight and then just ignore it and continue to use energy without any regard for efficiency.

Well said Munica

I think your black and white vision of energy consumers is rather limited, M0nica. I have a pretty good idea of energy usage around the home, but some things have surprised me. For example, we are always told that leaving things on standby is extravagant, and yet looking at the energy that is used by them these days with reasonably new electrical items such as TVs, computers, printers etc, they use virtually no power at all. However, the heated towel rail which I hadn't really thought about uses 2p/hour - so now I only have it on during the winter (although I do like nice warm towels ). Maybe also it's my background as a scientist - I like as much information as I can get so that I can process it myself.
I'd also point out that we are all paying for these anyway, whether we have them or not, so why not just try them. As the person said who fitted mine - if you decide you don't want to use the information, you can just put it in the back of the cupboard.

We don't have one. Mostly because our energy supplier failed to keep 3 appointments to fit it. So now not bothered. But, what about the meter reading jobs that will be lost?

Also, currently the energy supplier from our previous house owes us £££, but apparently can't find a digital mechanism to repay us?? Cheques don't work any more? We can't be credited because we are no longer customers!?
DH on to it daily!

BadenKate I had all the information. I used to work in the building services industry. What really reduces energy consumption is insulation, LED bulbs, efficient controls on central heating systems, properly used, and good energy housekeeping.

Smart meters are merely the icing on the cake. We had an 'Owl' on the wall for several years before we had a smart meter, as most people I know did. We had already honed our consumption. I think most careful consumers are well aware how much power different appliances use. That is why we had our towel rail plumbed into our gas central heating system.

I'm sure you're much cleverer than I am M0nica at analysing energy costs. I bow to your superior knowledge, place myself in the 'less organised' group, and will go away and play with my nice shiny meter.

Information is available for everybody and we all have our own spheres of specialist knowledge. Cleverness doesn't come into it.

A sense of humour is often useful as well