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Original poster

To ask why the hell energy companies keep desperately trying to push SMART METERS?

244 replies

Peekaboo3 · 02/03/2018 20:51

Just that.

Why?

Hell will freeze over before I have them.

My energy provider has sent me a letter saying ...

'We are now ready to install your smart meters. Just one phone call, and we will install the meters at your convenience yada yada.'

With the way they've worded it, it sounds almost like you have no choice.

We do have a choice of course. And my choice is no.

It is NOT compulsory. So they can piss off bugging me.

But WHY do they keep pushing these bloody things?

WHY?

OP posts:
PinkSparklyPussyCat · 03/03/2018 15:03

We were going to have one fitted until we realised they aren't universal so we cancelled the appointment. Seeing what I use isn't going to make any difference to me anyway - if I want the heating on it'll still be going on.

kalapattar · 03/03/2018 15:06

I'm with a small energy company. I don't think they are at the stage of doing smart meters anyway.

kalapattar · 03/03/2018 15:08

I do however think they can have a 'nudge' effect - and that is that if you are seeing that you are spending a lot of money on power, it might convince you to see if you can spend less by using less power.

That's a good thing - the effect of seeing money 'on a meter' is a very strong visual signal.

HolidayHelpPlease · 03/03/2018 15:13

Agreed - it drives me insane! I rent and they will not stop going on - I couldn’t install them if I wanted to!

melj1213 · 03/03/2018 15:46

I have smart meters and I don't understand why people are so dead set against them.

I am with nPower and they have the best rate deals for me and have done for the last few years (and I check every year or so). My meters are in exceptionally awkward places - the electric meter is high above the front door in a tiny "hall" (a square entryway with just enough room to open the front door and take one step before reaching the step up to the lounge door) with no room to put a ladder and have room to actually get up it and the gas meter is in a cupboard in an alcove of the lounge but was installed in such a way that the display faces the wall so you have to get flush against the wall to squint at the display to read it, which necessitates moving various bits of furniture every time. Because of this I was more than happy to get smart meters installed as I now don't have to play contortionist or set up scaffolding to read the meters and the readings just get sent automatically (and I can check on my phone app).

Also it has made me more aware of wasting electricity/gas because "its only one light or the hob was only left on an extra 5 minutes" adds up and now I can see those costs individually as they are occurring rather than just lumped in to one bill every few months where I can't understand how our bills are so high. My smart meter has different screens, one shows current usage level and daily spend, one shows a breakdown of cost through the day so I can see our peak hours, and the other shows current usage and cost per hour at that rate (so if I put the kettle on I can see exactly how much that one boil costs and how it affects daily usage).

Confusedbeetle · 03/03/2018 15:50

The only ones to gain are the companies. The govt is also trying to push it. The new universal ones potentially can end up communicating with other WiFi ready gadgets according to a hacker expert I read recently. Not impossible to get data by the back door, I will not have one either

Confusedbeetle · 03/03/2018 15:51

Changing suppliers can be a problem. They have been known to give wrong readings, who would believe you?

Malbecfan · 03/03/2018 15:53

How do they actually communicate with the electricity provider? If they use a mobile phone signal, they won't work here as there isn't one on any network, despite the assurances from Vodafone that there is. We also use economy 7 and due to careful monitoring, manage to put almost 70% of our use onto cheap rate, so I'm not getting one.

Surely if you want to know the cost of boiling the kettle, multiply the power rating of your device by the proportion of the hour(s) you used it and then multiply the result by the price of each unit of electricity. Simple and works for all providers Wink

Bluelonerose · 03/03/2018 16:12

I've heard a free things about smart meters that put me off if anyone can shed any light on the subject.

  1. Any not installed by the end of the 2019 will have to be paid to be fitted by the customer?
  2. If you need the pipes replacing due to a sm your landlord won't pay as you have changed the mwter?
Original poster
Peekaboo3 · 03/03/2018 20:14

@kalapattar

I do however think they can have a 'nudge' effect - and that is that if you are seeing that you are spending a lot of money on power, it might convince you to see if you can spend less by using less power.

That's a good thing - the effect of seeing money 'on a meter' is a very strong visual signal.

If it's so important to you (or anyone else) to see how much you are using daily, then just get a prepaid meter. Much better idea.

Some people say 'oh but you get higher tariffs yada yada..' and yet every one I know who has them says their bills have never been lower. Probably because they can see how much they are spending daily.

No need for smart meters at all. They only benefit the suppliers and the government - not the consumer. And I have heard of a number of cases where people complained about their bills being much higher now.

And as many posters on this thread have said, there are too many risks with them, being hacked, giving wrong readings, other peoples leccie getting added onto yours, wifi not always working properly. The list is endless.

I will stay as I am ta. Wink I don't give a shit how much it costs me to boil the fecking kettle!

OP posts:
NotACleverName · 03/03/2018 21:15

Also there is proof hackers can get access to your wi fi via smart meters but that fact is being hushed up.

Link or it didn't happen.

specialsubject · 03/03/2018 21:29

Simple maths tells me exactly what it costs to boil the kettle.

Welldoneme · 03/03/2018 21:30

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

londonrach · 03/03/2018 21:36

I know op from what ive seen the costs are more with smart meters. Theres a mum fb page that always complaining about how much they cost per month with a smart meter which is double what i pay without. Madness. Doesnt take long to send your own meter readings every month when requested by email by your energy company.

specialsubject · 03/03/2018 21:40

How can that be? Is the meter smart but the user still on a standard tariff?

SingaSong12 · 03/03/2018 22:11

Any of you in the industry. I live in a block of flats. Electric meter is in cupboard with the others. We have access to read with a key. Gas meters are numbered and each outside the block. It's definitely nowhere near my WiFi. Will it be possible to install smart meters in blocks of flats? (Currently I'm happy reading the meter myself.)

YimminiYoudar · 04/03/2018 04:12

They don't use WiFi they use mobile phone signal.

thetemptationofchocolate · 04/03/2018 08:08

One of my neighbours has a smart meter. We are very rural and have problems getting a mobile signal, with the result that at least half the time their smart meter is as dumb as the old-style one in my house.
I shan't be bothering to get one.

aquashiv · 04/03/2018 08:21

is that true it interferes with the wifi signal?

Bookaboo · 04/03/2018 08:27

This is the main reason I don’t want one.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/energy/10015679/British-families-at-risk-from-smart-meters-campaigners-tell-MPs.html

BeyondThePage · 04/03/2018 08:34

Strangely enough I don't believe a word of the article by Stop Smart Meters UK - may be a little bit of bias in there... and where is their "evidence" - I am unable to find their specific evidence on google... (plenty of speculation)

kalapattar · 04/03/2018 08:35

This is the main reason I don’t want one

Bookaboo - have you got wi-fi in your house?

Bookaboo · 04/03/2018 08:40

Yes, and I turn it off overnight and set my phone to airplane mode.

We don’t know what the cumulative effect of surrounding ourselves with all these ‘smart’ devices is. So I don’t want another one that doesn’t even have any benefits to go with it.

shouldnobetter · 04/03/2018 08:48

We are getting smart meters fitted at the end of the month. I am with British Gas for electricity and gas and currently use a pay as you go system.

For me, the meters offer me a more convenient way of paying for my energy e.g.online, by phone etc, and I will be aware of exactly how much energy I am using. At the moment we have a gas meter outside our front window which keeps breaking when it becomes waterlogged (it has been replaced four times already) and an electricity meter on the wall at the back of our house.

In our case, the smart meters will be more reliable and they will help us with the micro-budgeting we need to engage in to make ends meet.

starlightafar · 04/03/2018 08:50

Don't they charge you so much a day, especially if you top up before using.