Why don't we want a smart meter?

[ChimChimeny]

I've seen a lot of comments basically saying posters will never get a smart meter, but I don't know why!

I do monthly meter readings so sending usage automatically doesn't interest me but I'd like the box thing which shows how much we're using because we don't know which appliances are the most costly.

But what are the downsides??

I don’t let the meter readers in. They put me down as not being able to access.

@ChimChimeny

all the scare stories are just noise.
they are great to see what uses the most.
i utterly changed my habits!

Theyve tried 3 times, but there's no signal for it - govt can make all the rules they like, but if there's no signal, there's no signal.

People should really know how much energy things use, its a bit late when you have bought the appliance and you find it is an high energy model.

They don’t work on WiFi, they use a mobile phone signal.
They won’t cause your bills to change unless the previous readings were inaccurate.
All they do is send a regular accurate reading to the company.

Just suggestions until you get a better meter. I take a photograph of my meter and can then zoom in on it to read it more easily. Would this help you?
For the gas meter in a weird shaped cupboard I take a video and can then pause and get the reading.

I don’t get the hate either.
You are charged for the electricity you use regardless of how they take the reading.

my last house was pre smart meters. The meter wasn’t read often enough and my direct debit was set too low. When I actually gave a meter reading when we moved the bill at the end was £900. This was because I had been underpaying and using estimated readings. I paid for what I had used. Saying that smart meters cause the costs to go up makes as much sense as saying that different types of petrol pumps cause the prices to change.

As for the fear of them working on WiFi, first they work on a mobile phone signal, not WiFi. Secondly, if you are frightened of wifi then you need to make sure you live far away from anyone else.

I am on BG 4 years and they NEVER checked our meters. I understand they could be suspicious if I would declare I used "0" gas or electricity. I paid around £50 less that month which is quite reasonable if family was on holidays 2 weeks and house was empty.

This is wrong, we have a smart meter and pay by fixed direct debit each month, just like those without a smart meter.

Partly because my current meters work fine and I don't mess with what isn't broken.

Partly (a lot) because they keep bullshitting me and it annoys me. Knock knock "We'll be changing your meter next week." Nope. "It's not optional - every house must have a smart meter." Nope. "Urgent! Make your appointment for your essential new meter!" Nope.

@Yirk

Shell did ours for free.

Surge Pricing would put most people off, but it's not 'a thing' and even if it was, they could do it from not smart meters.

@Megifer I don't think a smart meter is your biggest problem. You don't have to stay with him x

first they work on a mobile phone signal

Another reason why I wouldn't have one. Where I live the signal is very hit and miss, so unless it's put halfway up the garden or the residents car park (the only 2 places where I can get a signal sometimes), then there really is no point.

Why don't i have one ? Because our mobile signal is non existent.

I don't have one, and I won't get one. Purely because I don't want to waste a day's holiday from work and wait around the house in a dedicated 4-6 hour timeslot on a weekday for someone to turn up and fit one!
I use the things I need to use. I don't use the things I don't need to use. I can't see it changing any of my energy usage at all.

@TimBoothseyes
@slowquickstep

try reading @CleopatrasBeautifulNose
post around 8 this morning.

The smart meter network which allows the meters to talk to the energy companies is encrypted and protected in law (bit like how radio frequencies for police and air traffic control are). The smart meter does not use your home wifi either to connect to the energy company or to update the in home display. The in home display is updated by the meter using specific radio signal, it is a similar wave length to wifi but different so no clash and no greater risk to health than your wifi. So Internet coverage problems does not indicate you can't have a smart meter

In much of the country the smart meter transmits to the energy company via sim card on dedicated network (mentioned above) but in rural North it uses radio waves (dedicated wavelength again), in theory 1% of the population aren't covered but we find rural Cumbria (on the radio version) with its deep valleys etc is much higher than that

I wonder how many of those people who are anti smart meters also have smart phones?

Would you want to go back to an old-style phone?

Smart meters are designed to introduce greater efficiencies into the energy market. And greater efficiencies = lower costs for everyone.

I don’t see the fuss about Smart Meters, if they work it’s a bonus, if they don’t, they’re no worse than an old-fashioned traditional meter. I would say get one.

This website seems to spell out the pros and cons in detail, https://www.smartme.co.uk/good-or-bad.html.

Smart meters are in no WAY the same as smart phones. What a silly comparison!

I have heard too many bad and negative things about them... From people saying they don't work properly and send false readings (too low or too high,) to people saying they just don't work at all. Some people have ended up owing loads of money as the smart meter is saying they are using less than they are.

Also, I have been nagged and bullied CONTINUALLY by my energy supplier to get one... I have had letters and emails, 2 or 3 times a month some months, for the past 3 or 4 years, varying from 'You can now get a smart meter if you want to, just book an engineer as soon as you like' to YOU ARE DUE A SMART METER, WE ARE IN YOUR AREA SOON. BOOK NOW! NOWWWWWWWWW!' (Which pretty much makes it sound as if we have no choice, and it's mandatory.)

The more they nag and bully me, the more I will resist having one. I will just keep my current meters ta!

Right at this moment in time, I will NEVER have a smart meter. I have no idea WHY they are so desperate for people to switch to one, but unless it becomes LAW to have one, I will NOT be having one. I don't appreciate bullying. It's like when they used to try and force people to have the system flush, and people ended up with a much worse heating system, and noisy pipes, and more problems than before the system flush.

We constantly resisted that too, despite them saying they won't do any repairs or maintenance to our heating system or boiler unless we have one (despite a having fucking CONTRACT with them to do it!) As I say, I don't appreciate nagging and bullying.

When the one engineer refused to do the boiler check (that they were contracted to do,) unless we signed up and paid for a system flush, we told him to bore off, sent him on his way, cancelled the contract, and sent a furious letter to the company telling them what we thought of their bullying and blackmailing. They insisted they did no wrong, and sent a letter back, saying their engineer would never have said that, and would not admit any wrong-doing. We never replied, and we never renewed the contract with them.

I've just had mine replaced
They are really small and look very tidy under the stairs.
Was a mess of wires and huge meters before.

Looks like they use the old GPRS/Edge radio signal which is the one that the first iPhones used, also it is often the one you get if the mobile signal is very bad, so nothing to do with 4g by the look of it, just 2g and 3g

My sister, who lives up the road from me has a smart meter that is constantly dropping out due to lack of signal, so whilst it may work in "the rural north", here in the rural southwest it's still dodgy.

Rural setting and mobile drops.
Cost to get it removed if you decide to revert to reading your meters again I believe are £££ but am prepared to told I’m wrong about that.