Smart meters - are they being 'forced' on us?

My daughter is with Octopus and was asked about a smart meter that she doesn’t want. They are supplying her with new normal meters.

The reason we no longer have those old fashioned meters of our youth, under the stairs and always wiffy of gas is because over the 70 years or more of my life, at least, meters have regularly been upgraded. In almost every house I have lived in over the last 50 years, at sometime for some reason meters have been replaced with more up to date ones, fuse boards have been replaced by consumer units. That is improvement in technology.

Smart meters are just the next generation of meters that will enable electricity and gas companies to read our meters without having to get into the house or rely on estimates. Three cheers and hooray. I say.

Every technology, including the wheel has downsides, wheels kill people if they roll the wrong way or too fast, with or wothout a propulsion unit.

Energy suppliers already have complete control of your energy supply. They can cut you and others off, in the road, at the substation or even further up the chain. It just needs a man with a van. We frequently have short outages and I have to go and reset the oven clock. The power supply can be hacked whether you have a smart meter or whether you do not.

Most of us have wifi in our houses, mobile phones, televisions, computer equipment, DH has medical equipment that communicates by wifi, plus burglar alarms and other wire free equipment. Having a smart meter is going to have little effect on anyone who already has a household of those devices.

Obviously if you are not in the electronic world there could be some glitches and other specific technical glitches others have mentioned with power supply and solar panels

The Early smart meters did only work with the company that installed it, but the 2nd generation meters now being installed can be transferred from supplier to supplier.

I think I have smart meter as our meter was moved and, I think, replaced at the end of last year. But to be honest i do not really understand why there is such a song and dance about these meters.

We are a house with six flats and all the meters are in a communal cellar. I rarely go down to the cellar, just now and then to read my meter. What use would a Smart meter be to me in the cellar?
Also, we have a Landlord supply in the cellar that uses very little electricity, just a nominal amount for the lighting. They want us to have a Smart meter for that! Ridiculous. It was a new meter in 2018 too.

A definite NO here, unless legally enforced ! No advantage to the consumer - anyone with any nous knows which appliances are energy guzzlers and can adapt to using less if they want to.

I have had texts and emails for years and take no notice I don’t want one for no other reason than I don’t need one I know what I use I don’t need something ticking over to tell me My bills are what I expect each month Why should I be forced into something that will neither help me or them I m quite capable of sending my readings in and paying online every three months I had a new ordinary metre a few years back maybe 3 so absolutely no need to renew it
My daughter had one as she didn’t mind one way or the other but after a week of seeing the meter ticking away on the counter it’s tucked away in a drawer and never sees the light of day

In France, if people refuse them, which is difficult to do, the consumer is told they will have to pay extra for someone to read the meter.

I'm with Bulb and send them an accuratemeter reading within the first 3 days of every month. I can see online what my energy consumption has been Over the last month/year so what advantage would a smart meter be to me? I just delete the emails that tell me they're "in your area so book your smart meter today!"

My OH won’t have one as he’s convinced they charge you more? I have no idea why he would think that but it’s his responsibility so I’m not arguing. Any ideas why he’d think that though? The link posted above doesn’t answer that question.

I have solar panels, which is one reason I am not keen as I have heard (perhaps incorrectly) that smart meters can mess up the readings.

My meters are in the garage, easy to read, I do this once a month and e Mail them off.

If the time comes when I can’t read the meters, well, I’ll review it.

I don’t need to see what I’m using. If I want to use the cooker or washing machine etc, then I will and blow the cost. I try not to be wasteful.

They probably are. I expect there were people saying "Electricity - is it being forced on us?" All those years ago. Isn't it aimed to help us use the power smartly ... eventually.

Calendargirl I don't think I've had any problems with the solar panels. The two FIT payments I've had since Ive had the smart meter have seemed right for the time of year and the meter is definitely showing me using less electricity from the grid when the sun's out. I don't know if it makes any difference that the smart meter is from one company while the meter that measures the panels is from another company, I couldn't be bothered to faff around changing the FIT payments when I changed the main electricity supplier.

pinkquartz I don’t understand re the sensitivity, as I said, ours is switched off in a drawer, the readings are sent from the actual meters outside?

British Gas are constantly bombarding me with emails saying.

My electric meter is out of date and could be a hazzard(it was put in at the time of new house build 21 yrs ago) not sure if that makes it old!

Both my gas/electric meters are outside easy to read.

They have not mentioned any Smart Meter but I have feeling they could sneak one in, in the hope I don't notice.

My energy supplier wanted me to get my gas meter moved as it was too hard to read - it faces a wall about 6 inches away! I waved told they could not just move the meter, I would have to have smart meters fitted. I told them no.

When I finally got someone on the phone with a brain cell I explained why I both could not and would not be getting one fitted. The meters are in a cupboard under a flight of stairs, the cupboard is in the middle of the building, I'm in a really bad signal area- seriously I'd have to put the meter in the middle of the garden to get a signal, and I neither have nor can get WiFi. Plus I don't like them. He agreed that a smart meter wouldn't work properly in my home.

It was only after this conversation that they stopped bombarding me with calls trying to arrange an appointment to fit one.

I agree with you gangy5 - no advantage to the consumer. I consider that I don't waste energy as I only use what I need,
probably because I was not brought up in a wealthy household.

The Smart Meter account on Twitter is always posting things like “Smart meters help Britain use more renewable energy” and so on. People ask how that can be, but there's never a coherent answer and no useful or relevant information on the website. I am at a loss to understand how it is useful for my energy supplier to know the instant I switch on one of my energy saving light bulbs! The energy companies must have masses of data already about energy use - most people tend to switch lights on when it gets dark and use their heating when it gets cold. These patterns of energy use are simple to work out.

The only advantage to the energy companies I can see is that knowing exactly when a customer uses energy rather than not just how much means that, at some point in the future, the price of energy will vary at different times during the day. No doubt that will work out more expensive for many and no doubt the energy companies will put a “green” spin on it by saying that it helps encourage people use less energy overall.

Whys should any meter be of advantage to the consumer? I think the energy suppliers made a big mistake when they tried to 'sell' smart meters to the public instead of just treating them like a run of the mill meter change.

The biggest advantage to the energy companies is that they no longer have to employ meter readers, a big cost saving measure and do not have to rely on people sending estimates. At a click of a button they have accurate and recent readings for reading bills.

I haven't had anyone read my meter for maybe 3 or 4 years anyway Monica

Talullah

We don't have one . I'm not desperate for one. Nobody seems to ask us if we even want one. If and when they become must-haves we'll get one.

Same!

Had one before, I had it taken out as it was a thick meter not a smart meter! ?Had another ordinary meter installed and I would certainly not have a smart meter again unless I absolutely had to by law!! ?

The energy company I am now with request a meter reading monthly. I simply take a photo' of the readings on each meter, using my 'phone. Doing it this way saves bending. I then fill in the details on the company's website, which is so easy to use.

Interesting situation regarding my mums house - currently rented out as she now lives in a care home. The dual energy company have been given the dates when the tenants moved in and sent final readings. There are smart metres at the house. The tenant does not use to same energy provider. I used my power of attorney to inform them that all post relating to the final bill should come to my address.

What more could I have done? Two months later we are still being debited for energy based on estimated bills, correspondence is being sent to mums house not me ( luckily I also have paid to have the post redirected) and I have phoned them three times, emailed twice and done a live chat!

I am about to do battle again this week following yet another incorrect bill! So having a smart meter has not helped at all.

Jaxjacky

it is the actual meter that has the microwaves not the tiny one you can carry around.

A friend tested their neighbours new smart meter and in a small building it is very powerful.

MOnica my point is that NOT everyone has a home full of Smart phones and other devices.
I want the right to live without.
Some of us are hypersensitive.

We didn’t get a choice here. They arrived and put it in. That’s Australia for you. Same with these harsh lockdowns. Do as you are told or pay massive fines, just like China.

Microwaves? What? Source please.

mokryna

In France, if people refuse them, which is difficult to do, the consumer is told they will have to pay extra for someone to read the meter.

My DH lives in France where consumers have cheaper rate electricity overnight and at lunchtimes. His dishwasher and washing machine have timers, enabling us to take full advantage.
My understanding of the promotion of smart meters is that ultimately a similar system could be introduced here, once the meters provide data about times of heaviest usage.