Your meter is 'out of date'

[Pebbles16]

So we've been jumped around with suppliers recently and now told our meter is out of date. It probably is as it's likely 25 years old. But is this just a tactic to get a smart meter put in which then ties me to the supplier?
Possibly paranoid

It doesn't.

2. I’d expect an estimated bill to be fairly accurate but if there’s a price change or you change tariff presumably your supplier could suggest the day to send a reading? It’s really not hard to type a number into your phone.

Many suppliers have millions of customers and the onus is not on them to ask for out of sync meter readings. They will ask for readings when the bill is due but customers have to take some responsibility and there is usually some form of notification in advance of the price changes so that customers, if they choose to, can supply a reading. Of course an estimate should be fairly accurate but it will only be as accurate as the information held on the computer to predict the expected use.

The form of notification could be an email saying remember to give us an extra meter reading though. Honestly it’s not difficult to communicate with your customers in this way.

I’m not having a smart meter until it’s a legal requirement. Nothing to do with conspiracy theories. I just can’t see the point in it, and I don’t want to have to wait in all day, clear out the cupboard under the sink/stairs/whatever, and make cups of tea for installers. What’s in it for me?!

@moppety As to benefit, I've saved around £800 from being on a smart tariff, where my unit price is far less than any available on traditional meters. But saving money isn't for everyone

What is this 'smart tariff' rate as opposed to 'traditional tariff ' rate? What company are you with??

Because my energy company has never told me that if I transfer to a 'smart tariff' then my unit price is far less than any available on traditional meters

My point is that I’ve been told my meter is out of date several times. But the dial still moves and the recorded usage fits with what I think we’ve used (ie it dropped when we were on holiday ). But I haven’t been forced to have a smart meter.

Tried to tell us that. Ours is only a couple of years old. It was put in when they tried to fit a smart meter and then realised too late that there is no mobile signal in the village (despite being told).

Well this is a strange thread.

Of course they haven't told you but that doesn't mean that cheaper tarifgs arent a thing, they very much are, all suppliers offer them. Don't you look at all the options?

I don’t really want one. I submit a reading every month so never have stinted bills. I know 2 people who have had issues with getting them installed. One family I know had no electricity for 2 days with tiny children. Another had to fight for his £200credit balance to be put back on his account for 10 months whilst battling cancer (as he wasn’t working that credit was essential).

If you need a wee screen to tell you electricity costs money then really there is no hope. Also how will it make me cut consumption? Will I stop washing my clothes? No. Stop charging my phone? No…

@DreamW3aver Of course they haven't told you but that doesn't mean that cheaper tarifgs arent a thing, they very much are, all suppliers offer them. Don't you look at all the options?

I do indeed and have always found a 'cheaper tariff' - but have never found a cheaper 'smart tariff' to be an option ......... ?

@BashfulClam If you need a wee screen to tell you electricity costs money then really there is no hope. Also how will it make me cut consumption? Will I stop washing my clothes? No. Stop charging my phone? No…

Exactly!! 😊

Are we talking about different things? I don't know how you wouldn't have seen cheaper tariffs for smart meters

But even without smart meters every 20/25 years our meters would need replacing or some kind of check/recalibration as they would be out of certification? The programme may have been enhanced to get smart meters fitted but if they have the same 'life expectancy' as dumb meters then there shouldn't be many needing replaced for the next 10/15 years.

You might decide to use your washing machine at a different time of day when the tariff is cheaper. You might see that using a certain cycle costs half as much as the one you have been using. You might see that your electric shower costs 50p per minute and you don't want your teenage DS having three 30 minute showers a day. Or you may stick the wee screen in a drawer, never look at it and change nothing about your usage. With a smart meter you have the choice.

If clearing space to have the meter changed is onerous that suggests accessing the meter to get readings will also be tricky. With a smart meter you won't have to submit readings to get an accurate bill. There's one benefit.

@DreamW3aver Are we talking about different things? I don't know how you wouldn't have seen cheaper tariffs for smart meters

The ad you've posted says you could save money with a smart meter, not that you will do automatically

You don't need a smart meter if you're already energy-savvy

........ these days who doesn't know that a shower is more cost efficient than a bath, or boiling a kettle for one cup of tea is more efficient than boiling a full kettle every time , or that having thermostatic valves on your radiators is more energy efficient or that turning the boiler temperature down by 1 degree is energy efficient, or that you should turn lights off in a room you're not using ........ etc.

This is what the energy companies mean when they say you 'could save money' - it's not just some magical result of just having a smart meter 😂😂

I'm of the generation where we were taught to save resources and recycle where possible.

Energy companies aren't advising anything different from what I grew up with.

Apparently today they need to eduacate a whole new generation about energy usage vs energy wastage...............

EDF should be done for harassment! Constant calls, despite saying I don't want one. 1) When I did relent they never turned up. 2) I don't want to waste a day waiting around again clearing out the bloody cupboard in the process and 3) it's really no bother submitting meter readings myself. I don't see the point. Bloody water company as well saying we needed a smart meter, except it would mean the device not actually being able to fit in the wall, at our expense we'd have to sort out boxing it in and then have to deal with our cupboard not being able to open properly all in our newly renovated kitchen - told them to sod off!

Reminds me of all the other schemes (cavity wall foam now apparently not good), diesel cars.....

I have OCD- I cannot have a smart meter as I would find it difficult to manage the constant changing info on one, I’d be checking it constantly and I’ve worked hard to reduce potential triggers

@setmestraightplease Octopus Agile. Smart meter only tariff, last month my average unit rate was 14p. There's also Tracker, Intelligent Octopus. They are dynamic time-of-use tariffs that track the wholesale market. Since last July I've saved £800 being on Agile for electricity and Tracker for gas v being on the standard tariff.

Here's my most recent bill. My average unit rate for the month was 14.

Hit enter too soon! 14.4p average unit rate v 22p or so if I was on a standard tariff, so a saving of £52 last month for electricity on a smart tariff.

I think it’s something like that!