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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:
scaryteacher · 04/03/2018 08:50

I have a clause in the rental contract for my house that the tenants are forbidden from having a smart meter installed for the electricity. The mobile signal in the village intermittent at best, and if I have to hang out of the attic window to get a signal, I can't see remote readings being done, especially given the thickness of our walls.

BeyondThePage · 04/03/2018 08:52

setting your phone to airplane mode just means that you get the strongest possible transmission when you switch it back to normal communication mode as it tries to reconnect with a tower.

Much better to leave it connected with low powered transmission.

(and switching off the wifi overnight will just mean you get the lowest speed broadband from your provider as a low user)

specialsubject · 04/03/2018 09:48

Look at the sense about science website and read their excellent article on mobile phones, wi fi radiation hazards and the lack of evidence for same.

They aren't selling anything and are scientists.

SluttyButty · 04/03/2018 10:06

I LOVE my smart meters. There have been no negatives. I have much better control of my energy use since having them fitted which means we’re saving money. I’d never go back to ordinary meters ever again!

SluttyButty · 04/03/2018 10:11

@Peekaboo3 I’ve just seen you said get a prepayment meter if we’re all bothered about controlling our energy. Why would anyone voluntarily chose one of those? It’s the most expensive way to buy energy, I think those things should be aboloished.

kalapattar · 04/03/2018 10:26

I have much better control of my energy use since having them fitted which means we’re saving money

What have you done differently?

Used less water in a kettle?
Not had the heating on as long?
Turned things off?

Did it open your eyes to things you didn't realise before?

DGRossetti · 04/03/2018 10:44

I do this shite for a living and some of the reasons I've heard for not wanting one are ridiculous.

And the non-ridiculous ones ?

tired17 · 04/03/2018 10:49

I've always wondered who pays for the electricity that the smart meters use. Does the consumer pay or is it credited back by the supplier?

honeyroar · 04/03/2018 10:50

Our electric supplier had rung up a couple of times to push smart meters and I always said I didn't want it. Then they sent a letter informing me that they were coming on X date to fit one, would need access to the house and the power would be off. I was livid. They said that their engineers would text to confirm two days before, so when they did I text back to cancel.

Why on earth would you need a meter to know that leaving anything on costs money?? I've had it drummed into me over the years as a child that anything that heats costs the most money (kettle, washing machine, dishwasher).

BubblesBuddy · 04/03/2018 10:55

We have one in our London flat where it is excellent. If you monitor use, you can adjust what you do. No more estimated bills so it works for us.

We cannot have one in our main house because the signal is non existent without a booster for our phones and we have no gas anyway.

However if you have a good signal, I can’t see a reason not to have one. Saves time, effort and money.

mummyretired · 04/03/2018 11:00

@Groovylass and @DerbyshireDad17 - how confident are you that smart meters wouldn't be used for load shedding? As all supplies have a Rota Disconnection Code, and medical priority customers are registered as such? COP can change, for example no obligation to do 2 year visual electricity meter checks now.
Self-disconnection via prepayment meter still goes on, without any formal process.

scaryteacher · 04/03/2018 11:02

Bubbles No need for estimated bills if you take 30 seconds to read the meter...

Original poster
Peekaboo3 · 04/03/2018 12:11

@SluttyButty

Peekaboo3 I’ve just seen you said get a prepayment meter if we’re all bothered about controlling our energy. Why would anyone voluntarily chose one of those? It’s the most expensive way to buy energy

Wrong.

Another brainwashed individual.

Many people I know who have them say their bills have never been lower since having them.

@honeyroar

Our electric supplier had rung up a couple of times to push smart meters and I always said I didn't want it. Then they sent a letter informing me that they were coming on X date to fit one, would need access to the house and the power would be off. I was livid. They said that their engineers would text to confirm two days before, so when they did I text back to cancel.

They do seem to be getting to the point where they are bullying people now don't they? They will get a fucking short shrift from me if they try and FORCE them on me like this. Hmm

@honeyroar

Why on earth would you need a meter to know that leaving anything on costs money?? I've had it drummed into me over the years as a child that leaving stuff on costs money.

Yeah same here. I think it's the most sensible, intelligent people who have control over their gas and electric bills, who will continue to refuse these naff and pointless smart meters.

The rest will continue to have them, and believe all the guff and propaganda about them being the best thing since sliced bread.

Not their fault they have been brainwashed I suppose. Sad

OP posts:
kalapattar · 04/03/2018 12:32

Many people I know who have them say their bills have never been lower since having them

You do know that prepayment tariffs are more expensive than many other tariffs?

whistlingwigwam · 04/03/2018 12:50

So they can selectively cut you off, if the supplier has a shortage in the future. That's what I was told.

hereyougosuckmyassforensics · 04/03/2018 14:26

You seem disproportionately angry about having a smart meter. Has a smart meter wronged you in some way? Perhaps bullied you as a child, or had an affair with your husband?

hereyougosuckmyassforensics · 04/03/2018 14:27

@kalapattar BRAINWASHED INDIVIDUAL Grin

SluttyButty · 04/03/2018 14:44

I think it’s the most sensible, intelligent people who have control over yptheir gas and electric bills , who will continue to refuse these naff and pointless smart meters

Wow just wow, how did I not realise I wasn’t sensible and intelligent all these years? Thank you so much for pointing this out for me.

You do realise how offensive you are being saying that don’t you? I stated I loved my new meters, they’ve really made a difference and for the record yes I knew all the stuff about saving money beforehand. I am not going to convince you, maybe you’ll catch my stupid and unintelligent ways...

seizethecuttlefish · 04/03/2018 14:58

It's a government initiative. They have to have so many in or they get fined. They are massively behind.

LightastheBreeze · 04/03/2018 16:12

I do find my Smart (now dumb) meter easier to read so glad I had a new one fitted, it works (well did) with economy 7 also. Family hasn't grown 2 heads because of radiation and wifi always worked OK, the main thing against them is that I change supplier every year to get a good fixed rate so unfortunately it remains dumb. It didn't really change my fuel saving habits though for the 3 months it was smart.

LightastheBreeze · 04/03/2018 16:19

hereyougosuckmyassforensics

Exactly what I thought Grin Very ANGRY

Backscratchesforever · 04/03/2018 16:33

I would never have one, a lot of evidence to back up the risks.
Energy costs money, so we only use what we can afford. I don’t need a meter to tell me that or give me cancer

TheCatsMother44 · 04/03/2018 16:46

I've never had it pushed on me, in fact, I don't think my provider has ever even mentioned it to me but as I can easily enter my meter readings online I don't see the benefit anyway.

Now I've read this thread I definitely won't be getting one till there's a universal smart meter for all energy companies just in case I do move supplier in the future.

specialsubject · 04/03/2018 17:53

There is no evidence for the 'radiashun will give my kiddies cancer' idea. Science - true however much you scream.

Squishysquirmy · 04/03/2018 18:26

There's been some very informed points made on this thread. There's also been some utter nonsense.

I understand why some people have specific reasons for not wanting a smart meter (as explained on this thread). eg, they have poor mobile signal, they rent, they can't be bothered waiting in, they want to wait for a better, next generation one.
Makes sense - no-one is going to force you to have one and for a small minority of people they will not be suitable anyway.

However, I do find the "I will NEVER get one" brigade a bit harder to understand.
It reminds me of people I know who swore that they would never, ever use a mobile phone/broadband/internet shopping/chip and pin/self service tills... etc etc they couldn't see the point of the technology and they were deeply suspicious of it. Almost everyone uses all those things now without thinking about it.

And Grin that getting a pre-payment meter fitted is more convenient than a smart meter! A pre-payment meter is a terrible idea unless you are forced to have one. They exacerbate fuel poverty as the rates are generally less competitive and it is harder to switch (although this is getting better) whilst the people most likely to have one are (often) poorer. www.moneysupermarket.com/gas-and-electricity/prepayment-meters/

Worse case scenario with a smart meter is that if it can't cope with you switching it becomes a dumb meter.

"So they can selectively cut you off, if the supplier has a shortage in the future. That's what I was told."

Demand side response is a thing, but it is not really to do with domestic consumers; the idea is that if there are serious shortages in supply during times of peak demand (a serious future risk), participating businesses can reduce their usage. There is a financial incentive for them to do so, and they are not forced to participate. www.nationalgrid.com/uk/electricity/balancing-services/demand-side-response-dsr

Tbh, if we found ourselves in the scenario where the supply during peak demand was so insufficient that they were forcibly cutting off domestic consumers, we'd all be in the shit anyway. In that hypothetical scenario it would be a choice between reducing supply in a controlled, time-limited way (eg it would take longer to boil your kettle) or rolling blackouts.

If energy security in the future takes a hit, refusing en-masse to get smart meters is not going to protect us from blackouts and brown outs. Quite the opposite!