Smart meters - yay or nay?

[RavingAnnie]

I've had the email offering us a smart meter.

I very much like the idea of automated meter readings; I have ADHD so as much life admin that can be automated the better!

However have heard lots of negatives mainly that they don't work very well (which sounds like that could cause an administrative nightmare) and it reduces the provided you can go to?

What's the current thinking? Have any of these issues improved? Do you like or hate your smart meter 😊?

Ours went back to being a stupid meter about 3months after we had it fitted when we changed supplier, so for us it's neither better nor worse! We did get £30 because they rearranged the installation date.

Is this a smart meter for water? If so it is not an offer, its compulsory....

We got a smart meter fitted by British gas - but it's defunct since we switched provider - so I'm not evangelical about them.

@janinlondon

Is this a smart meter for water? If so it is not an offer, its compulsory....

It's not compulsory, the electricity companies just try to suggest/imply it is. There is no legal obligation to have one and if a company tells you that you have to then you should contact CAB.

@tal45 the new WATER smart metering programme for the UK is indeed compulsory - there is no option like there is for electricity.

Modern smart meters will not need to be replaced when you switch supplier, make sure they are not installing a 'first generation' meter as there were reports of companies installing these to get rid of old stock.

We've had ours for about a year and they have been great, but then our supplier before this was incredibly terrible, always billed us wrong, we would have to work out what we owe and then send them a long email with our calculations and reason for paying them the amount we did. It was always approved but same issue would happen the next quarter!

Nah.

If you are like me and change gas and electricity supplier every 12 -18 months, when you do it is currently very likely to go back to being a normal meter. (In the last 12 months I have had 3 utility suppliers due to one going bust and my supply being taken over a supplier of last resort before I could change suppliers.)

If you live in a place with poor mobile signal or not enough capacity at certain times of the day, then it will never act as a smart meter.

The technology involves a large number of low bidders and doesn't work very well. If you go for it, make sure the meter is commissioned , I e sending readings before the installer leaves. Otherwise you won't get the only benefit, automatic readings.

Is it a gas, electricity, or water meter OP?

If it’s a gas meter, not until the generation of meters that are universal, meaning the meter is still in use if you switch providers. The current ones don’t. Ours has been winking uselessly at us for six years.

They want us to shop around for the best energy provider for our needs, but they also want us to have a smart meter. The two aren’t compatible yet.

My only experience of a smart meter is when we changed suppliers and were left without gas and electric for 8 hours in November. The new supply was supposed to kick in but didn't and after spending the whole day on the phone with different people, it finally kicked in just as it got dark. I'd heard about this happening with first generation metres but not the newer one so wasn't at all prepared.

It depends on what sort of meter they are installing. Bulb have just installed one for me and it's a new generation one so it will work between suppliers. Previously we'd had one from British Gas and that became defunct when we switched suppliers.

@janinlondon

Is it a gas, electricity, or water meter OP?

Gas and electric.

I had one under the assumption that whilst it was for the utility companies it would be automatically read and my DD adjusted. Not so! The readings are only reviewed twice a year!

We moved house and I had a huge bill even though I moved with the same supplier.

I work in the energy industry and yes, you definitely should.

Just make sure it's a 2nd generation meter - also known as SMETS 2 - as these are interchangeable between suppliers.

You will have more accurate bills, no more need for a physical meter read, and it gives the energy companies useful information about energy usage which helps bring down bills.

My brother installs smart meters for a living.

He has declined to have one in his own home.

Just saying’.

I'd be concerned at the prospect of 'surge pricing' - google it.

'Surge pricing 'only applies if you sign up for a variable tariff. And the opposite of surge pricing is paying less for your electricity when demand is low - a bit like Economy 7.

(It's how Uber operates)

For example, if you have an EV you might sign up for a variable tariff so you can charge your car at night time when demand is lower and get a lower rate. Smart meters enable this type of market efficiency - it is a good thing, not a bad thing.

We got one, plugged the display thing in and it didn't work; the guy installing it fiddled with it a bit and made a phone call then said, yeah they don't work round here

Oddly enough I found it last night and plugged it in and lo! it seemed to work. Then we noticed the reading didn't change all evening whatever was turned off or on so it's back to the cupboard of useless shite for it (starting to get a bit full). Maybe the meter itself is doing something useful though.

I’ve got one, it’s not affected by supplier changes.

Smart meters do not reduce bills. The point of the programme is demand management, given that we have 70 million people with infrastructure for 55 million. How do you manage demand? By price.

You will have more accurate bills, no more need for a physical meter read, and it gives the energy companies useful information about energy usage which helps bring down bills

Unless you have mobility/sight issues or your meter is in a stupid place, reading a meter is not an issue. As long as you read your meter when they ask, your bills should be accurate and they're no more likely to take notice of a smart meter read than one supplied by the customer or one of their meter readers. Errors and deliberately ignoring the number can happen however it gets to them.

But how does a smart meter help bring down bills please? The energy companies already know how demand varies due to the weather and even major TV broadcasts, because everyone gets up to put the kettle on in the adverts, or used to anyway.

And as the cost of the meters, including the ill thought out first generation ones, which are useless in a market that encourages frequent switching, is built into the price we all pay for G&E, all they've done up to now is make our bills bigger, not smaller.

Ours is a newer one so it's supposed to move with supplier...

When we moved over to British Gas it only recognised the electric side so we're half and half now . At least I don't have to go outside to read the gas meter though, so that's something.