Smart Meters

[H]

Not sure if this topic has been discussed before but my gas supplier has told me they will shortly be installing a smart meter at my property.

Now I've had an electric smart meter for over 18 months and apart from not having to send a meter reading every quarter I've not seen any benefit whatsoever.

Am I missing something ?

[fatolive]

10 minutes ago, H said:

Not sure if this topic has been discussed before but my gas supplier has told me they will shortly be installing a smart meter at my property.

Now I've had an electric smart meter for over 18 months and apart from not having to send a meter reading every quarter I've not seen any benefit whatsoever.

Am I missing something ?

You can see how much you are using, current usage and predict usage etc, but I’m the same, can’t see any benefit as it doesn’t reduce the amount you use and therefore pay, it just gives you the option of turning stuff off.

it actually fucked me over, as I was complaining ( true dad style) about all the x box TVs radios on in all the rooms etc and said, right turn em all of and I’ll show you.

the display on the meter went down about 1p a day or something so now I can’t even kick off about that when I come home from work

[Jol_BWFC]

I have a single smart meter for gas and electric. Very helpful to show daily / weekly usage (to compare from day to day) and also the split between gas and electric.

I wouldn’t say it has made any difference to my usage, but I do now see just how expensive the gas central heating is. Also, washing machines / tumble dryers use a lot of energy.

If you want to save a few bob, put on a dirty sweatshirt rather than the radiators/hotpoint.

[Tonge moor green jacket]

58 minutes ago, H said:

Not sure if this topic has been discussed before but my gas supplier has told me they will shortly be installing a smart meter at my property.

Now I've had an electric smart meter for over 18 months and apart from not having to send a meter reading every quarter I've not seen any benefit whatsoever.

Am I missing something ?

Nope.

In the long term, from what I understand they will be able to monitor usage more accurately, and improve strategies for energy production etc.

Or, if my father in law is correct, it's a conspiracy so as to be able to charge folk individually, for usage at peak times and make more money. Or something along those lines.

[Winchester White]

I work from home and try to keep the heating off during winter days by layering up. But, it is a bit biz really to be honest.

[stevieb]

54 minutes ago, Winchester White said:

I work from home and try to keep the heating off during winter days by layering up. But, it is a bit biz really to be honest.

When I work from home I keep warm by eating cheese and jalapeño carrs pasties that they sell in the garage. 

Each to their own! 

Edited June 8, 2019 by stevieb

[barryk32]

They are spending millions and millions to put these in your house.

They won't be spending that to benefit you and minimise profits.

For that reason iamout

 

[Salford Trotter]

15 hours ago, Jol_BWFC said:

I have a single smart meter for gas and electric. Very helpful to show daily / weekly usage (to compare from day to day) and also the split between gas and electric.

I wouldn’t say it has made any difference to my usage, but I do now see just how expensive the gas central heating is. Also, washing machines / tumble dryers use a lot of energy.

If you want to save a few bob, put on a dirty sweatshirt rather than the radiators/hotpoint.

We changed our central heating system with a new boiler and unvented cylinder (courtesy of spider) and it's far more efficient than it was and it is showing in our bills. Check the efficiency of what you have first as that's where the real savings can be made👍

[Breightmet Boy]

I've refused to have them until everything has died down and the current problems are ironed out what some customers are having.  The meters I have aint broken, they can wait until they've sorted that out first.

[Tonge moor green jacket]

Also remember that many of these meters only work for a particular supplier. It was a bone of contention in the media a while ago- the don't necessarily work on other suppliers' systems.

 

[medwaywhite]

Had one fitted changed suppliers and now it doesn't work 

[Traf]

5 hours ago, barryk32 said:

They are spending millions and millions to put these in your house.

They won't be spending that to benefit you and minimise profits.

For that reason iamout

 

Correct and it's putting meter readers out of work.

Boycott smart meters and self scan tills.

[Jol_BWFC]

5 hours ago, Salford Trotter said:

We changed our central heating system with a new boiler and unvented cylinder (courtesy of spider) and it's far more efficient than it was and it is showing in our bills. Check the efficiency of what you have first as that's where the real savings can be made👍

Cheers for the tip. Our boiler is relatively new (5 years or so) and I recall looking at the option of a cylinder. Space was an issue, which I think was why we didn't end up with one.

[Salford Trotter]

35 minutes ago, Jol_BWFC said:

Cheers for the tip. Our boiler is relatively new (5 years or so) and I recall looking at the option of a cylinder. Space was an issue, which I think was why we didn't end up with one.

Our boiler was very old and the gas engineer reckons it was only 50% efficient so we were literally chucking away 50p in every £1 spent  which was crazy. The whole new system cost about £5k which is expensive but we had 17 radiatiors to potentially heat if required so it had to be a big'un to cope. Every engineer we have come across recommends the cylinder option as the most efficient. 

Edited June 9, 2019 by Salford Trotter

[Zico]

3 hours ago, Traf said:

Correct and it's putting meter readers out of work.

Boycott smart meters and self scan tills.

Is that still even a job?

Thought everyone did their own online these days

If someone turned up wanting to read my meter I'd presume it was a gypsy wanting to case the joint or something

[freds dad]

4 hours ago, Traf said:

Correct and it's putting meter readers out of work.

Boycott smart meters and self scan tills.

I won’t have a smart meter and refuse to use self scan tills. If they give me 10% staff discount for doing their job then I’ll reconsider. 

[Traf]

2 hours ago, ZicoKelly said:

Is that still even a job?

Thought everyone did their own online these days

If someone turned up wanting to read my meter I'd presume it was a gypsy wanting to case the joint or something

Yeah, it's still a job.

They turn up in liveried vehicles, wearing uniforms and ID cards. No pikeyness.

[Big E]

20 hours ago, barryk32 said:

They are spending millions and millions to put these in your house.

They won't be spending that to benefit you and minimise profits.

For that reason iamout

 

As much as i love your tinfoil approach to headgear i think it is just so they don't have to get readings manually. They have them in ours. seem easy enough. 

[Adlington Trotter]

Ask your supplier if they are installing old SMETS1 or the newer SMETS2 meters. If they are installing SMETS1, don't bother, it will revert back to a "dumb" meter if you switch providers. If they are installing the newer meters, I'd do it.

Most will still be installing the older meters.

[Tonge moor green jacket]

3 hours ago, Adlington Trotter said:

Ask your supplier if they are installing old SMETS1 or the newer SMETS2 meters. If they are installing SMETS1, don't bother, it will revert back to a "dumb" meter if you switch providers. If they are installing the newer meters, I'd do it.

Most will still be installing the older meters.

If you switched, presumably your new supplier would change it, if you wanted.

[Breightmet Boy]

On 09/06/2019 at 13:21, medwaywhite said:

Had one fitted changed suppliers and now it doesn't work 

I know a girl who works for the gas board if you wanna meet her...

[Sweep]

On 09/06/2019 at 11:08, Salford Trotter said:

We changed our central heating system with a new boiler and unvented cylinder (courtesy of spider) and it's far more efficient than it was and it is showing in our bills. Check the efficiency of what you have first as that's where the real savings can be made👍

We changed our boiler about 3 years ago, the one we took out was about 25 years old, made a massive difference.

 

We've got a smart meter, but I don't think I've looked at it for about 6 months - I'm not sure how it helps you really, if I want to put the dishwasher on, then I put it on. I generally only have things turned on because I need them to be.

I'm working with a Smartmeter company at the minute on one of their new designs, and it could be massive, so I need to be quite careful what I say, but I've already seen the next generation devices that are currently in prototype stage............you'll be surprised what they will be able to do. As somebody has said further up this thread, the roll out of these things is costing an awful lot of money, and it's not for our benefit ultimately

[Sweep]

On 08/06/2019 at 20:14, Tonge moor green jacket said:

 

Or, if my father in law is correct, it's a conspiracy so as to be able to charge folk individually, for usage at peak times and make more money. Or something along those lines.

They'll certainly be able to look at your account and offer "dynamic" pricing tariffs based on your typical usage. I already work with one customer who has "dynamic" pricing involved in his business (nothing to do with Smart Meters) and he's already seen his profits rise several percentage points within the last 12 months

[Traf]

3 hours ago, Sweep said:

I already work with one customer who has "dynamic" pricing involved in his business and he's already seen his profits rise several percentage points within the last 12 months

He's an Uber driver.

[Sweep]

24 minutes ago, Traf said:

He's an Uber driver.

He's not, but it works in exactly the same way. He supplies electronic shelf edge labelling and the associated software. So they can remotely alter the price of products depending on what time it is. Pretty clever stuff really, and really helps the shop owners boost their profits.... If which he gets a cut off each transaction that passes through their tills. Reduces staff and increases profits, what's not to like if you're a business owner!!