smart meters - should I or shouldn't I?

[toffeepumpkins]

I've had an email from my energy supplier to say that the style of gas and electric meter that I have (the normal ones) are being phased out and that they are in my area replacing them with smart meters and to make an appointment.

Do I have to agree? Both meters are outside so presumably they can just turn up and do it without my agreement? I don't want a new meter, the ones I have got are fine as in they both work and so don't need replacing.

We are approaching a time when electricity demand will exceed supply.
Coal fired power stations are being closed, nuclear stations not being built soon enough. Wind is not reliable.
Demand for electric vehicles and trains is increasing.
Smart meters will allow suppliers to vary prices throughout the day. At peak times you will have to pay more or turn things off.

I am not having a smart meter,i think it was on watchdog they said you will be charged, even if you don't think so it will be added on to your bill over time
I submit my readings, and always pay over what I am told I need to pay,then I get a good £400 last time also the time before
I am with first Utility,

We’ve got one. Had it for about 6 months. Pretty pointless decision as I wasn’t aware they weren’t universal between suppliers. Recently switched suppliers and now it can’t be used as a smart meter, I have to supply the readings myself. Which is fine, I just think it was a waste of time and resources.

I wouldn’t bother getting one till a standard version is released that enables you to switch suppliers and keep full functionality.

I've had one for years. No problems.

The guy who fitted ours spent hours and I commented at the time about a strong smell of gas which he said was normal. The next morning it was still there so I had to ring the emergency gas company to come out and it turns out we did in fact have a leak. Lucky none of us smoke and all our appliances are electric

I have it written into the rental contract on my UK house that the tenants can not have a smart meter installed. Thick walks and a mobile black spot means it's a waste of time. You have to hang out of the attic window to get a mobile signal.

Museum I am convinced our old meter was faulty, but as it was a rented property we had no recourse when we moved out. They refused to test the meter without us paying
Ricotta It was a rented house previously so we were stuck with what was there, our new property we own and isn't new - built in the 70's I guess we just don't use much electricity. We are very good at turning lights out, no immersion - just an oil boiler, no electric shower

gladallover has it exactly right. 70 million with infrastructure for 50 million.

Most of the smart meters installed in the last 12 months can be updated remotely so they will be able to switch suppliers when an industry update comes out sometime in 2018.

I was frustrated to go back to a dumb meter though! I wanted to switch as it does mean I think about household useage. We'd got it down to about £35 pcm for gas and electric in total for a two bed end of a terrace with single skin walls.

The future of smart meters means they will be able to set tariffs based on peak usage times.

Nice idea to be able to monitor your own usage but if your energy retailer then turns around and uses that data against you (personalising your rates to be expensive during your peak times) then that’s unfair.

It might not be personalised to your house but they will change plans to be when the majority of people use energy.

See what’s happening in Australia (Victoria) if you want more info.

We had one fitted in last property - made no differnce to bills or usage. So don't think we'll bother in this property.

dunkmeintomatosoup the target is 2020, but it's not compulsory. This is from the government's website "Smart meters will be rolled out as standard across the country by the end of 2020. But there is no legal obligation on individuals to have one." www.gov.uk/guidance/smart-meters-how-they-work It says that everyone should have been "offered" one by 2020.

With regards to flats we (BG) say that both meters have to either be a) within the flat itself or b) within five metres of it. Anything over five metres causes issues with the signal.

And they don't use WiFi, they use mobile networks.

I think you sort of contradicted yourself there. Mobile signals don't work better in flats, but connecting to wifi does. I guess they use both, mobile to talk to the supplier and wifi to talk to the customer device that monitors consumption. (I suppose in theory they could use mobile to send all data back to the supplier, and the customer could access it over the internet, but from what I vaguely remember at the time, that's not how it worked.)