Are there any dowsides to having a smart meter?

[areyoureadytobestrong]

I've got a letter offering a free upgrade to a smart meter and I wonder if there's a catch at all.
The old meter is in a high cupboard which is inconvenient for taking meter readings so it might be good to swap.
But someone said to me that if you get a smart meter then you can't switch suppliers afterwards as easily. Does anyone know if that's true?

Just make sure it's a SMETS2 smart meter, they are the second generation ones that can be taken between suppliers

@areyoureadytobestrong
We have had a smart meter installed for the last 6 months and it does make things easier. I'm not sure that they actually save you any money but they certainly allow some flexibility in what tariffs you can sign up to. I think their main role is to make people aware just how much energy they are using.

We have looked at this again and are planning on switching from British Gas; we haven't in the past as the options were limited. Found a video on youtube which has helped us compare prices and options - might be worth checking out

@TempleCloud you might find it easier to record a video, then pause it, take a screen shot of the bit you actually need, and delete the video. The picture quality isn’t as good, but it’ll be good enough for what you need.

if you have a smart meter can you go back to the old sort?

The only benefit in installing smart meters will be for the suppliers - not consumers - who will start increasing their charges should you use energy - like using the washing clothes, dishwasher, lighting etc - during normal day hours, which will become ‘peak hours’.
Right now, in absence of smart meters they don’t know when in the day you use your energy and can’t charge you for different times in the day you use energy.
I will never install a smart meter. It’s a con - and which will only become apparent in the coming 5-10 years when they the bring in price differentiation based on the times of your use in the day.

Watch this video:

Exactly #jasonmark39 - it’s a swindle, which will only result in higher charges for consumers.

At the moment DH is working for a big electricity company on a project to provide and install smart meters, he is involved in the software side of the project.

He has asked several people in this company what would be the upside for him in installing a smart meter, and no one has been able to give him a single reason why it is a benefit for customers.

We will not be getting one.

I don't have one and I don't want one, I can't see the point. My bills are not excessive and I turn lights off, don't waste elec, etc. I don't need a meter to tell me this.
I think they are for the benefit of the energy company. The only upside I can think of is I believe I would no longer have to do a reading for the gas/elec man. I'm usually out when they call so have to supply the reading. This seems to be every month at the moment, which I think is a ploy to get me onto a smart meter (no more readings).

I’ve had to block the British Gas number on my phone, to stop the daily calls.

We are actually renting at the moment and I told BG that I couldn’t consent to changing the meter, they would have to speak to the landlord. BG replied that the meters belong to BG so they can change them whenever they want. Surely they’d need either mine or the landlords permission to enter the property and make alterations? It’s a block of flats and the electricity meters are in the communal hall and the gas meters are outside, at the back of the property but on private land.

@areyoureadytobestrong
Try Martin Lewis' money saving website for better deals, they have a price comparison section like moneysupermarket and they list a lot of smaller suppliers who are usually cheaper than British Gas and the like

I’ve had to block the British Gas number on my phone, to stop the daily calls.

Same here, but with Shell Energy. We switched to them this year and they were ringing two or three times a day!

@Fraggling if you don't want the old mete boxes you need to replace them. They are your responsibility not the your suppliers. Try www.meterboxdirect.com

Smart meter benefits;

1. No meter reader visits
2. Accurate bills
3. Ability to monitor energy consumption and eliminate waste (both customer and supplier benefit)
4. More accurate purchase of energy

Because of less waste due to more accurate purchasing and more bills being paid as they are accurate energy prices can come down as there is less loss to the businesses.

The development of technology for the future for smart houses are all connected to the install of smart meters.

Ultimately though the rollout is on the instruction of the government.
Energy companies have been threatened with massive fines if they don't get these smart meters fitted.
This is why we are having sub-standard technology fitted which will have to be upgraded to enable you to move smart meters between suppliers along with pressurised 'sales' of smart meters.

You can move suppliers right now but the meter will begin to operate just like a normal meter.

There is no 'personal data' kept by a smart meter and there is no reason to be afraid of them. What a ridiculous notion.

The only thing I can add is that if you do not have any reliable 4G signal inside your house, then a smart meter WILL NOT WORK at all.

I have actively encouraged smart meter installation, and ask the suppliers 'but I do have to mention at the same time you will need to improve the mobile phone signal to our property because the only one that works inside the house is Vodafone provided you are standing in the lounge by the front windows, and even then it won't work all the time.'
Funnily enough no smart meter installer has taken up that challenge, which is a shame, I'd love my phone to work more reliably inside the house.

Our signal is weak -nail in the smart metering coffin!

Judging by how obsessed keen energy companies are to get people to have smart meters, I can only assume that the benefits are greater to them than they are to us.

There are, at the time of writing, two different types of Smart Meters, SMETS1 and SMETS2.
The problem is with SMETS1, which can become dumb metres if you transfer from the big six to a lesser known, but this is not always the case.
SMETS1 metres will become smart again after an expected software update, but there is still no fixed timetable for this.
SMETS2 on the other hand are transferable, but not all of the big six have started installing them even though since march 19 SMETS1 installations have not counted to their targets.
The worst culprit send to be British Gas (BG) who have a massive stock of SMETS1 metres.
If you are getting gas only then BG will install SMETS2 but if you ask for both you get SMETS1, go figure.
I asked for metres to be installed and asked if they would be SMETS2 and the BG lady said, she didn't know, but just to ask the engineer when he arrived, that was May this year, when he arrived he was installing SMETS1 so I cancelled the install, he was annoyed at the wasted appointment, so we I, it's time everyone was forced into installing smart meters SMETS2, not ones that can go dumb.

www.britishgas.co.uk/business/blog/smart-meters-explained/
This tells you all you need to know

I work for a company that fit them. 1st gen meters can go dumb or may not it depends on whether the two energy companies use the same software. At a point in the future all smart meters will be adopted by the DCC and will go smart again. There is a small annual cost, you pay it whether you have one or not, it's a levy on the energy cos. Smart meters are really for the industry, they can see how much energy the country is using so they don't need to overproduce, it allows us to turn off power stations

I'm a retired electronics engineer and switch suppliers regularly. Usually i get the best deal from a small supplier. I plan to wait until my supplier can guarantee to fit a SMEETS II meter AND i stand a reasonable chance of being able to switch supplier without problems.

I'm concerned that a high percentage of people with SMEETS II meters are also having problems...

www.thesun.co.uk/money/9814440/homes-suffering-smart-meter-problems/

" ... a third (33 per cent) of households with second generation “SMETS2” meters, which were not expected to experience technical problems, also encountered issues."

I forgot to add....

A few years ago when i was with a bigger supplier they called me and tried to tell me I had to have my meter changed because the one I had was too old. In fact I knew exactly how young my meter was because I built the house!