On the flip side of all the comments, I've got one and actually like it. Doesn't do anything for me now but with some keen monitoring & adjusting of usage early doors of getting it I've knocked off about £150 from my annual bill.
I'm not really clear how it helps given how little info it provides? The one I had was useless.
On the flip side of all the comments, I've got one and actually like it. Doesn't do anything for me now but with some keen monitoring & adjusting of usage early doors of getting it I've knocked off about £150 from my annual bill.
I'm not really clear how it helps given how little info it provides? The one I had was useless.
Agreed to have one in order to get a better deal. When they fitted it they realised they could not get a mobile signal in my garage. but I still got the lower price
On the flip side of all the comments, I've got one and actually like it. Doesn't do anything for me now but with some keen monitoring & adjusting of usage early doors of getting it I've knocked off about £150 from my annual bill.
I'm not really clear how it helps given how little info it provides? The one I had was useless.
What did yours give you info wise?
Just daily usage when it worked. No real useful breakdown on appliances etc....
Have read that the 'first generation' smart meters have too many problems. EDF keep trying to persuade me to change, but I ask them if it will be a second generation smart meter and they say not. I'm not changing until they use the second generation type.
As I understand it 'they' (faceless, unaccountable energy workers) have the ability to turn you off with 'smart' meters if 'they' make an arbitrary decision you are using too much electricity or gas.
More importantly it seems that 'smart' meters vary between company to company so if you decide to change supplier you need new meters too.
Apologies if these points already made not had time to fully read the thread.
On the flip side of all the comments, I've got one and actually like it. Doesn't do anything for me now but with some keen monitoring & adjusting of usage early doors of getting it I've knocked off about £150 from my annual bill.
Easier to stick a strong magnet on the side of the old style meters to slow them down.
On the flip side of all the comments, I've got one and actually like it. Doesn't do anything for me now but with some keen monitoring & adjusting of usage early doors of getting it I've knocked off about £150 from my annual bill.
I'm not really clear how it helps given how little info it provides? The one I had was useless.
What did yours give you info wise?
Just daily usage when it worked. No real useful breakdown on appliances etc....
Mine provides real time usage split by gas & electric and the cost associated with it. Daily cost is in there too but also last 6 months history, so you can drill down to the hour (not that I’ve needed too).
The main benefit I had from it was checking the current usage when certain appliances / heating was running, etc so I could based on that. Small example being that in the morning when I drink tea constantly, it worked out cheaper for me to boil a full kettle once and use the keep warm function I have on it compared to boiling only what I needed 5 or 6 times.
Quiet looking for mine to get it's software upgrade this year to become Smart again, liked being able to see where costs were high, and try to deal with them. Things like a Smart thermostat helped, as did converting the house to LED bulbs.
On the flip side of all the comments, I've got one and actually like it. Doesn't do anything for me now but with some keen monitoring & adjusting of usage early doors of getting it I've knocked off about £150 from my annual bill.
I'm not really clear how it helps given how little info it provides? The one I had was useless.
What did yours give you info wise?
Just daily usage when it worked. No real useful breakdown on appliances etc....
Mine provides real time usage split by gas & electric and the cost associated with it. Daily cost is in there too but also last 6 months history, so you can drill down to the hour (not that I’ve needed too).
The main benefit I had from it was checking the current usage when certain appliances / heating was running, etc so I could based on that. Small example being that in the morning when I drink tea constantly, it worked out cheaper for me to boil a full kettle once and use the keep warm function I have on it compared to boiling only what I needed 5 or 6 times.
I was expecting a breakdown of where energy was being used not an overall figure - not particularly 'smart'.
On the flip side of all the comments, I've got one and actually like it. Doesn't do anything for me now but with some keen monitoring & adjusting of usage early doors of getting it I've knocked off about £150 from my annual bill.
Easier to stick a strong magnet on the side of the old style meters to slow them down.
Ex-gf's step dad had a trick of attaching a hoover to the gas meter to suck the reading back down. All went well until one day he left it on too long and the reading became lower than last time. They had to leave the heating and the oven on for a week to get it back.
Maybe I'm imagining things but when they were first introduced wasn't it going to be compulsory to have a smart meter & over time that was dropped to "it will help you to have a smart meter" Wonder why that was ?
If you are that interested in your energy consumption you can still monitor it via your old/existing meter. Fact is, most people aren't bothered because we have a fair idea what consumes most power.
The the worst thing about them is that the Energy company installing them cannot give you a precise time on the day of installation when they will attend . That issue is bad enough on the occasions when you have no choice but to replace a washing machine , router box or other appliance that you really cannot do without . Here you don’t actually need this device unless you are too lazy to submit readings online every once in a while . There must be loads of people out there who cause aggro and costs for the energy companies by not submitting regular and accurate readings . You don’t need a smart meter if you are not one of them and value your time / don’t want to sit at home waiting for them to turn up and then take time to install .
The spin was that they help us know how much energy we're burning and how much it's gonna cost us, so we can "have more choice" and save money and "be all environmental and that". Truth closer to saving admin and effort and money for the delivery companies. If the technology exists and implementation is competent then obviously it's all good. In practice, the first gen meters mostly aren't up to switching providers, that other great pillar of consumer choice we've been brow beaten about for so long. Providers are under some regulation that they've got to install meters everywhere possible - regardless of the 1st gen meter inbuilt obsolescence thing. Seems there's a 2nd gen meter that is programmable for the real world but if our provider, BG, is anything to go by, they're not obliged to provide a 2nd gen meter but are permitted to determine which tariffs we can choose if we "refuse to have a meter" even if that meter may not be any sort of sensible. Apparently both generations communicate our consumption to the provider by the cellphone network, ergo they need electrical power. No problem, obviously, on the electricity mains consumption. Nobody is putting their name to how said gadget gets its power supply when your gas mains meter is in a box on the outside of the house that very obviously doesn't have a live electrical supply anywhere near. Methane + air + spark = much fun. Sort that little conundrum then, Offgen, BG, anybody? Yet another central government 'great idea' half thought through and swept in to being on a tide of your money hosed into private hands with zero accountability.
The spin was that they help us know how much energy we're burning and how much it's gonna cost us, so we can "have more choice" and save money and "be all environmental and that". Truth closer to saving admin and effort and money for the delivery companies. If the technology exists and implementation is competent then obviously it's all good. In practice, the first gen meters mostly aren't up to switching providers, that other great pillar of consumer choice we've been brow beaten about for so long. Providers are under some regulation that they've got to install meters everywhere possible - regardless of the 1st gen meter inbuilt obsolescence thing. Seems there's a 2nd gen meter that is programmable for the real world but if our provider, BG, is anything to go by, they're not obliged to provide a 2nd gen meter but are permitted to determine which tariffs we can choose if we "refuse to have a meter" even if that meter may not be any sort of sensible. Apparently both generations communicate our consumption to the provider by the cellphone network, ergo they need electrical power. No problem, obviously, on the electricity mains consumption. Nobody is putting their name to how said gadget gets its power supply when your gas mains meter is in a box on the outside of the house that very obviously doesn't have a live electrical supply anywhere near. Methane + air + spark = much fun. Sort that little conundrum then, Offgen, BG, anybody? Yet another central government 'great idea' half thought through and swept in to being on a tide of your money hosed into private hands with zero accountability.
The gas meters have batteries that give them enough power to send its reading to the electricity meter which sends them on to the energy companies / meter reader.
I work in the energy industry and quite closely to the Smart Meter Install (SMI) project so made quite interesting reading going through these comments earlier.
It started with the previous Labour government who decided to go ahead with the SMI project on the basis that a Smart Meter would help customers to stay in control of there bills. As others have already said in this thread, you don't need a Smart Meter to tell you the washing machine's on, the cooker's on and every single light in the house is on. People generally rack up big bills for not being prudent at home.
It's also a quick and easy way to win votes by looking as though you're vowing to take on the energy suppliers when in reality only the customer can reduce how much energy they use.
I've had a Smart Meter for quite a few years now and honestly I don't even look at the In Home Display (IHD) or any apps that tell me how much energy i'm using however I am going to address a couple of comments I read earlier so apologies for not quoting as there's too much to do.
Even with a Smart Meter installed a meter reader will still be employed. They (should) still need to come and inspect the meter on an annual basis to ensure a supplier licence condition is met and obviously while inspecting the meter they will take a reading so meter readers likely won't be put out of work but more than likely see workloads decrease as more Smart Meters are installed.
One thing i'll also add is that traditional meters are not always installed in convenient conventional places such as under the stairs, lots of meters are installed in bizarre places that might need a ladder for instance so having a smart meter reduces the risk of injury to the meter reader or customer if there's a smart meter there automatically providing the reads instead. Other bizarre stories that have come back to the office include meters being built over with only the digits available to see let alone the rest of the meter! Point is not all meters can be read for a variety of reasons so having one to automatically submit an accurate reading can't be a bad thing - we just don't need in home devices or apps telling us what we're spending our money on.
On the flip side of all the comments, I've got one and actually like it. Doesn't do anything for me now but with some keen monitoring & adjusting of usage early doors of getting it I've knocked off about £150 from my annual bill.
I'm not really clear how it helps given how little info it provides? The one I had was useless.
What did yours give you info wise?
Just daily usage when it worked. No real useful breakdown on appliances etc....
Mine provides real time usage split by gas & electric and the cost associated with it. Daily cost is in there too but also last 6 months history, so you can drill down to the hour (not that I’ve needed too).
The main benefit I had from it was checking the current usage when certain appliances / heating was running, etc so I could based on that. Small example being that in the morning when I drink tea constantly, it worked out cheaper for me to boil a full kettle once and use the keep warm function I have on it compared to boiling only what I needed 5 or 6 times.
On the flip side of all the comments, I've got one and actually like it. Doesn't do anything for me now but with some keen monitoring & adjusting of usage early doors of getting it I've knocked off about £150 from my annual bill.
I'm not really clear how it helps given how little info it provides? The one I had was useless.
What did yours give you info wise?
Just daily usage when it worked. No real useful breakdown on appliances etc....
Mine provides real time usage split by gas & electric and the cost associated with it. Daily cost is in there too but also last 6 months history, so you can drill down to the hour (not that I’ve needed too).
The main benefit I had from it was checking the current usage when certain appliances / heating was running, etc so I could based on that. Small example being that in the morning when I drink tea constantly, it worked out cheaper for me to boil a full kettle once and use the keep warm function I have on it compared to boiling only what I needed 5 or 6 times.
Jeez, time must fly by in your house mate!
You city boys get to drop your trousers over the 8.20 departing from Euston for Manchester. Less trains to spot in my neck of the woods, so I monitor electricity usage instead. Need something to keep me "Charlton" .
I work in the energy industry and quite closely to the Smart Meter Install (SMI) project so made quite interesting reading going through these comments earlier.
It started with the previous Labour government who decided to go ahead with the SMI project on the basis that a Smart Meter would help customers to stay in control of there bills. As others have already said in this thread, you don't need a Smart Meter to tell you the washing machine's on, the cooker's on and every single light in the house is on. People generally rack up big bills for not being prudent at home.
It's also a quick and easy way to win votes by looking as though you're vowing to take on the energy suppliers when in reality only the customer can reduce how much energy they use.
I've had a Smart Meter for quite a few years now and honestly I don't even look at the In Home Display (IHD) or any apps that tell me how much energy i'm using however I am going to address a couple of comments I read earlier so apologies for not quoting as there's too much to do.
Even with a Smart Meter installed a meter reader will still be employed. They (should) still need to come and inspect the meter on an annual basis to ensure a supplier licence condition is met and obviously while inspecting the meter they will take a reading so meter readers likely won't be put out of work but more than likely see workloads decrease as more Smart Meters are installed.
One thing i'll also add is that traditional meters are not always installed in convenient conventional places such as under the stairs, lots of meters are installed in bizarre places that might need a ladder for instance so having a smart meter reduces the risk of injury to the meter reader or customer if there's a smart meter there automatically providing the reads instead. Other bizarre stories that have come back to the office include meters being built over with only the digits available to see let alone the rest of the meter! Point is not all meters can be read for a variety of reasons so having one to automatically submit an accurate reading can't be a bad thing - we just don't need in home devices or apps telling us what we're spending our money on.
Contractor came round to install a Smart meter but like others experienced the phone signal was crap and didn't work. Over a cup of tea he told me that I was better off not having one anyway. They always resulted in an increase in usage as they are 100% accurate unlike the old meters which normally understate usage very slightly. Also said that they don't work with every supplier and you may need to change your meter when changing supplier, the technology has a way to go before it is universally workable.
Don't need a meter for the gas, I know how much gas I use by how many times the bottle runs out.
I only watched half of the first link and that was good enough for me, I do not have a smart meter anyway and would never agree to have one fitted but watching that video confirmed my actions.
Comments
More importantly it seems that 'smart' meters vary between company to company so if you decide to change supplier you need new meters too.
Apologies if these points already made not had time to fully read the thread.
The main benefit I had from it was checking the current usage when certain appliances / heating was running, etc so I could based on that. Small example being that in the morning when I drink tea constantly, it worked out cheaper for me to boil a full kettle once and use the keep warm function I have on it compared to boiling only what I needed 5 or 6 times.
Didnt need a smart smart meter to tell me this
Truth closer to saving admin and effort and money for the delivery companies.
If the technology exists and implementation is competent then obviously it's all good.
In practice, the first gen meters mostly aren't up to switching providers, that other great pillar of consumer choice we've been brow beaten about for so long.
Providers are under some regulation that they've got to install meters everywhere possible - regardless of the 1st gen meter inbuilt obsolescence thing.
Seems there's a 2nd gen meter that is programmable for the real world but if our provider, BG, is anything to go by, they're not obliged to provide a 2nd gen meter but are permitted to determine which tariffs we can choose if we "refuse to have a meter" even if that meter may not be any sort of sensible.
Apparently both generations communicate our consumption to the provider by the cellphone network, ergo they need electrical power. No problem, obviously, on the electricity mains consumption. Nobody is putting their name to how said gadget gets its power supply when your gas mains meter is in a box on the outside of the house that very obviously doesn't have a live electrical supply anywhere near. Methane + air + spark = much fun. Sort that little conundrum then, Offgen, BG, anybody?
Yet another central government 'great idea' half thought through and swept in to being on a tide of your money hosed into private hands with zero accountability.
It started with the previous Labour government who decided to go ahead with the SMI project on the basis that a Smart Meter would help customers to stay in control of there bills. As others have already said in this thread, you don't need a Smart Meter to tell you the washing machine's on, the cooker's on and every single light in the house is on. People generally rack up big bills for not being prudent at home.
It's also a quick and easy way to win votes by looking as though you're vowing to take on the energy suppliers when in reality only the customer can reduce how much energy they use.
I've had a Smart Meter for quite a few years now and honestly I don't even look at the In Home Display (IHD) or any apps that tell me how much energy i'm using however I am going to address a couple of comments I read earlier so apologies for not quoting as there's too much to do.
Even with a Smart Meter installed a meter reader will still be employed. They (should) still need to come and inspect the meter on an annual basis to ensure a supplier licence condition is met and obviously while inspecting the meter they will take a reading so meter readers likely won't be put out of work but more than likely see workloads decrease as more Smart Meters are installed.
One thing i'll also add is that traditional meters are not always installed in convenient conventional places such as under the stairs, lots of meters are installed in bizarre places that might need a ladder for instance so having a smart meter reduces the risk of injury to the meter reader or customer if there's a smart meter there automatically providing the reads instead. Other bizarre stories that have come back to the office include meters being built over with only the digits available to see let alone the rest of the meter! Point is not all meters can be read for a variety of reasons so having one to automatically submit an accurate reading can't be a bad thing - we just don't need in home devices or apps telling us what we're spending our money on.
Blimey you are correct.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYPwrbpAHbk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4tBWZvo6Ns
Don't need a meter for the gas, I know how much gas I use by how many times the bottle runs out.
Is that true or another line to get me to have one?