Forum Topic

Smart Meter

I am being bombarded by SSE to install a Smart Meter and I have resisted so far.I should be grateful for your comments.Many thanks Bina

Bina Pandit ● 1818d28 Comments

The aggressive marketing puts me off. I’ve had appointments booked in by them  without my consent. The bombardment is relentless. It’s obviously in their interests but not necessarily yours. I’m avoiding until they make me. I don’t like being bullied and I’ve heard some issues with changing suppliers, but that may have been ironed out

Maggie Dodge ● 1818d

NoFriend had one fitted a 18 month ago British Gas.It sent the gas bill for summer way overThey are nightmare to get through to complain well after 12 months of complaints and replaced 2 meters still giving incorrect readings a third is been fitted tomorrow.

John Kennedy ● 1818d

Me too Bina and until I know that they are interchangeable between companies, I will continue to do my own monitoring to keep my bills on an even keel.

Elizabeth Ross ● 1818d

Bina Pandit explained" I am being bombarded by SSE to install a Smart Meter and I have resisted so far."Indeed. And the actual marketing is an insult topeople's intelligence.As if anyone is going to check with their smart meter, before deciding whether or not to boil a kettle or turn up their heating.*People already know how much these activities cost,by way of their bills.While actually simply being a way of saving costs for the suppliers, smart meters are now seen as a way of blaming customesr for running up such big bills by using so much electricity or gas. When instead they should have been sat by their smart meters monitoring the costs.michael adams  * The type of person who already does this, puts the figures in spreadshheets etc, represents a tiny minority of users and doesn't need any convincing in the first place.

Michael Adams ● 1818d

You are right. But i think they do have some use if you are using a dual tariff i.e. one that has a lower kWh rate at night for charging your car up etc. Other than that, it's just to make their billing process easier and i'd imagine give them more info (about population in general) and gain the ability for time specific surge pricing in the future.

Rob Reynolds ● 1818d

I was very pleased when Tonik Energy fitted smart meters in 2018, as I didn't have to suffer the inconvenience of giving a meter reader (or myself) access to the meter in a congested cupboard under the stairs.  But then Tonik went bust in 2020, and I was moved to Scottish Power.Scottish Power said they couldn't read my smart meters remotely, and I had to supply the readings myself.  That was quite tricky as the meters supplied a number of different figures over a few seconds, and I had to use my phone to take a video of the screens on the meters, and then pick out the required reading.Thankfully, after a year of this, Scottish Power have now managed to overcome their problems in reading the meters installed by Tonik, and my meters have become smart again as from today. It's certainly worth confirming that any new meter is industry-compatible before being fitted.

Richard Jennings ● 1818d

Yes and I particularly dislike the TV advert with an Albert Einstein look a like telling us how great smart meters are for saving energy. As you say this is nonsense as it’s pretty obvious what devices take a lot of power to run. I don’t know what the situation is now but a while back there were reports of dangerous wiring mistakes made in the rush to fit smart meters and of course the compatibility problems when switching suppliers.

Michael David Rowe ● 1818d

FunnyJust checked Thames water  bill and it’s estimated and I have a water meter??

John Kennedy ● 1818d

Surely people know how to economise on power bills if they need to without new fangled meters, which if this thread is anything to go by,are not worth a carrot.

Keith Iddon ● 1818d

Have heard that the bills are much higher once you change to a smart meter, will avoid as don't see the need for them.

Janice Evans ● 1818d

I think that's probably nonsense, just they are more accurate/not smoothed over time.

Rob Reynolds ● 1818d

I guess we'll have to get one eventually as they no longer seem to come round to take meter readings so you end up with accumulated estimates, and both our meters are difficult to get at to take our own readings.  At least with smart meters they can take accurate readings whenever they like.  I don't really want to know exactly how much I've spent on gas that day, though I know I should be obsessed with that information and immediately trade in our radiators for some thick jumpers and socks, ethically sourced, of course!

Peter Evans ● 1818d

Rob, there have been reports of expensive billing after smart meter fitted.

Janice Evans ● 1818d

I get an email from my power suppiler every 3 months,asking that I send a meter reading.That's smart enough for me, thank you very much.

Keith Iddon ● 1818d

We have some of the worst insulated buildings in Europe!  https://www.which.co.uk/news/2021/10/how-to-save-money-on-your-household-bills/#energy

Philippa Bond ● 1818d

https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme

Philippa Bond ● 1818d

Wood floors don't help getting some large rugs.

Janice Evans ● 1818d

I am the sole occupant of my own flat, so don't need to monitor my power usage by constantly checking a smart meter (or a dumb one). If I'm sitting watching telly in the evening with the heating on (or off), I know that there's nobody in another room using up thousands of kilowatts or leaving some sort of electrical gadget churning away all night. I take about 3 minutes to read my meters and send the results to Octopus once a month, and that suits me. Smart meters? No thanks.

Colin Jordan ● 1818d

Agreed Colin - I am the same as you- so far Octpus has been great - long may it continue!!

Helen Bamberger ● 1818d

Sorry - Octopus!!!

Helen Bamberger ● 1818d

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/do-i-have-to-accept-a-smart-meter-aLLKl9O63dbM

Philippa Bond ● 1815d

There was a full page ‘advert’ plugging smart meters in the Evening Standard yesterday featuring the Albert Einstein look-a-like. It claimed that if every household in Britain had a smart meter they would reduce carbon dioxide production by an amount equivalent to the reduction by 70 million trees based on a government forecast for smart meter rollout. I’m sceptical about this but there is some further information about smart meters on the Gov.UK website:-https://www.gov.uk/guidance/smart-meters-how-they-work#smart-meter-benefits

Michael David Rowe ● 1815d

I honestly can't see the point of smart meters for most people. I give my readings online once a month and have all the information I could possibly want available through an app or the Ovo website. The idea that I'm going to sit watching a device that's telling me what the gas and electricity I'm consuming are costing at any given time is quite frankly ridiculous. Worse than that is the possibility that vunerable people will turn off their heating because they have been so frightened by watching their bill growing before their eyes, and goodness knows there will be some big bills this winter.Mostly though I am bothered by the way smart meters are installed - by teams of sub-contractors working to a schedule. Frankly I don't want them anywhere near my meters which live in a cramped under stairs cupboard along with ethernet wiring, CCTV controllers, alarm system, heating controls and broadband router. The possibility of collateral damage is extremely high and the benefits of a smart meter barely discernable, so thanks but no thanks!

Bruce Hammal ● 1815d

BruceYou don't have to have the display unit working its just for information, mine is still in its box it came in four years ago. I personally don't like the place your gas meter is located, as I had to a live gas check on a unused gas supply some years back, to put it into use for a new gas boiler and the regulations on how to site the meter and how it was vented to the outside where quite problematic.As it was a flat they seem to be stricter, but as the fitter said a the time "the best place for any Gas meter is outsidein its own enclosure if possible" but admitted that wasn't always possible.

Bernard Allen ● 1814d

Bernard I agree with everything you say! My last house had its gas meter outside in an enclosure, though the electricity meter was inside. However I'd bet that the vast majority are in understairs cupboards or similar locations. As far as I know there is no plan to relocate them, certainly not as part of the smart meter rollout, so we're stuck with this situation. Can you imagine the cost of relocating almost every gas meter in the land? I think it's now practice to install externally on new developments but that's the extent if it.

Bruce Hammal ● 1814d

From what I’ve read the ‘communication unit’ is part of the electricity smart meter and the smart gas meter is linked to it wirelessly with the power for this being supplied by a long life (10 years) battery. So the gas meter has to be close enough to the electric meter for this to function properly but I’m not sure what the limiting distance is and how many walls can be in the way etc for this to work.

Michael David Rowe ● 1814d

I believe there's  another potential issue with smart meters. They "report back" using the cellphone network and if you live near me (Grove Park) you'll know how poor the service is across all networks. In fact the burglar alarm I inherited at this house relied on a cell connection because there was no landline to the property and the alarm engineer told me it had never worked properly because of the lousy GSM coverage. In the end I did manage to run a line to the unit which solved the problem.

Bruce Hammal ● 1814d

Many thanks for all your comments. It is truly appreciated.BINA

Bina Pandit ● 1813d