An0n0m0us

Got a smart meter installation booked for next week but now having 2nd thoughts on the basis of don't fix what's not broke.

I don't fancy my bills going up or them braking anything as my meters are ancient and difficult to get to.

Anyone had it done and had any issues? They even want to do half hour meter readings which seems a bit over the top?!

dpb

Theyve missed their own appointment to install once allready , and i couldnt be bothered to try again when offered . Im sure someones made money out of us , dont care much

i can read the blummin meter mysel and send reading

the smart bit is inconsequential compared with lack insulation

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

Two of my neighbours are having massive issues with theirs,
One managed to spend £1800 over a couple of days.

peter zippy reid

iTrader: (25)

I have them but if i change supplier they wont send readings so i would need to change them again

silver-sub

I was thinking of getting one but changed my mind too.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/con...o-smart-meter/

andy97

iTrader: (1)

Pretty much each utility supplier has their own firmware/Software. Guess what, if you move supplier they most likely won't talk with the new utility software, making it a dumb meter. What is the point?

markb_s1

we had one and it was fine.
the only odd thing was that for some reason the energy supplier still insisted on sending a guy round to read the meters periodically.

coupe_20vt

iTrader: (2)

Early last year we had our meters changed to Smart ones. All done within a couple of hours. The only positives were seeing how much gas and electric we were using in real time. It did encourage us to switch off lights, chargers, underfloor heating earlier etc. We saw a 10% drop in our electric bill over the following 12 months.
However, we recently switched from Scottish Power to Bulb and the Smart meters will now revert to bog standard meters until Bulb roll out their own Smart meters.

longsh07

No experience yet (still waiting for ours) but I did a bunch of research when we switched providers.

There are a couple of types, the old SMETS1 and the new SMETS2.
V1's generally only function with the supplier to fitted them. Then, as @coupe_20vt mentioned, they revert to dumb meters. Some suppliers still fit these for whatever reason...

V2's are supposed to be multi-protocol so you should be able to keep it when you switch suppliers. Some suppliers are not bothering with V1's and will delay installing meters until these V2's are readily available.

Hopefully your new supplier will install a SMETS2 meter!

Bit of info on them here: https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/smar...eter-installed

An0n0m0us

Thanks i'm cancelling as my mate says everyone he knows whose had them has had problems including incorrect bills. I'm happy reading off the old ones and manually submitting them. Not having the hassle them messing about with my current ones.

edit: cancelled online which saved arguing the toss with someone at EDF.

An0n0m0us

Thanks for this just the sort of stuff my mate was telling me he had heard, he's an electrician and said he will never have one.

mannyo

I've had a smart meter on the electric side for quiet sometime now with no problems at all. Billing has always been correct and its great seeing what you are using each day and when your peak usage is. The small in house realtime energy monitor is perfect, and can show a multitude of info.

I've saved a small fortune by turning things off that don't need to be on, unused phone chargers, devices in standby etc. it comes as quiet a surprise when you see how much power some devices consume in standby.

neil-h

Yup, yet another half baked government initiative. If they had any sense the communications protocol between meter and energy supplier would've been standardised so any meter could talk to any supplier but nooooooooooo that was far to sensible.

longsh07

Lets be honest though, most tech is proprietary to start with before universal protocols get developed. Hardly unexpected, surely? Though I agree its a shame they didn't bother ironing that out before it came to the consumer.

neil-h

Yeah I could allow that if it were new technology but it isn’t. The technology behind smart meters has been used across the process control and instrumentation sector for years.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Yep, refused one.


What IS the point? If we all start saving energy, they HAVE to put the prices up to make the same profits for their shareholders, so why bother?

andy97

iTrader: (1)

Use a little less energy at home and put solar to generate a little more.

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

Dr Hu

I've had an EOn Smart Meter for years, we were selected for one of the early trials.
I don't mind it actually - we've never had a problem with the any billing, and no-one has to read the meters anymore.
I quite like you can see the usage - its goes red as soon as you switch a heavy load on, dishwasher, kettle etc, but that's fine, at least you know its on and sucking the juice down - it does help you keep an eye on usage.
It also helps keeps an eye on cost, for example we have a hot-tub and I could see how much it costs per day to heat it up from cold etc.
They replace your meters for new ones, so poster above saying his meters were ancient - ideal time to get a new one!
The only major bugbear is it does really tie you in to a supplier, as they are generally not compatible with each other - which lets face it is a major **** up beyond words - the SMETS2 roll-out has been promised, broken, promised, broken so many times now over so many years its not even funny!
A smart meter that locks you in to one supplier? How eager are the suppliers to change this.... not very - suspicious - moi?

An0n0m0us

It's another reason on my list of why not to have one, changing supplier is pain in the ar$e enough without the added hassle of a meter needing to be changed. I don't want to be locked in to a supplier and held to ransom over prices so the old meter is staying.

Jonnys3

We had one of the very early British Gas smart electricity meter readers back in 2012 where you wrapped something around the feed in the meter box and it emitted a signal to a display which showed your usage etc. (see http://www.gadgetsboy.co.uk/british-gas-smart-meters/ for those who don't know what I'm on about as it pre-dates what people currently know as smart meters).

It was interesting for the first few months and prompted us to change a lot of our extension sockets to those with switches so that we could actually turn off devices which would otherwise be on standby when not in use. After that, just watching how much electricity the kettle or oven draws became gimicky and we soon ditched the display (but kept the cradle - made for a great mobile phone holder).

This type of "smart" meter did not actually send any data to British Gas (thankfully), and having read the horror stories about the current smart meters which have been rolled out, I don't think I want one.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Strange that Spain has managed to roll out Smart meters with minimal fuss without taking so long.

Well apart from those that bypass the ICP to draw more current than they are contracted for Those days are over, if you draw more than your contracted current, it'll cut you off.

The advantage is very flexible tariffs; like economy 7 but far more options. Which is handy for holiday properties, those using heat pumps or when houses are unoccupied during the day etc.

longsh07

Fair enough. Is it used in the same way? I'm not familiar with the in's and outs.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I now have one at the french house.
Main reason for allowing fitment is that they no longer need access to my property to read it. Handy because I'm only there 6 months if that.


But who ever told you the French have style, forget it
My meter is a lurid lime green...and in my living room, as many are in old houses.


And apparently one has already caught fire at the local Mairie. Enerdis chief turned up...just to tell them they CAN'T catch fire LOL

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44903471

Customers who get smart meters installed are expected to save just £11 a year off their energy bills, a group of MPs has found.

It was originally thought that the new meters would save consumers at least £26.

In one of the most critical reports yet on the £11bn programme, the MPs also said the government was now likely to miss its own deadline.

As many as 53 million of them are due to be installed by the end of 2020.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

£26 a year? wow!

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

The meter can’t save you money it can only make you aware that some things plugged into your sockets are draining electricity. Surely you can’t be that desperate to save a couple of quid that your going to go chasing round the house turning sockets off?

My missus leaves lights on constantly and we all watch tv with a laptop and an iPad next to us. Is the smart meter going to tell my missus to be sensible or is it going to make me look like a moaning ****

andy97

iTrader: (1)

I saw £11 pound a year savings if you switch to a smart meter. The only benefit is utilities dont have to get meters read on site, smart =all remote

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

Putting even more people out of a job then. . .

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

It was never about saving consumers money...if it were, the suppliers would adopt a multi-scale tariff system that charges different amounts at different times of the day or week or month to suit the consumer's habits. It has that capability, non of which is offered bar fixed or day/night tariffs.

Other countries that have adopted it offer Sumer/winter tariffs, day/evening (higher rate can be either way round for those who work at home), weekday/weekend etc. For example: https://www.iberdrola.es/en/electricity/plan-comparison

What the UK suppliers are using them for is to gain better prediction and reporting of real time usage in order to better manage the buying-in of energy from the various generators. As well as automated reading...I'm not sure if UK metres have the ability to limit current consumption or shut off the power like Spanish ones do, as inconvenient it is, it limits consumption and allow you to adopt a tariff with a low standing charge.

Maybe once they have worked out consumers usage habits they will offer more customised tariffs... Weighted in their favour of course.