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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think lots of people are dumb over smart meters

290 replies

InkedGreen · 18/09/2019 11:34

Fab little devices, we have ours on the kitchen table and is a great reminder to use less or to turn off stuff when we're not in the room. Showers make it go crazy and we've really cut down the shower lengths if not washing our hair

OP posts:
CatsCatsCats11 · 20/09/2019 20:16

Except the gas board engineer specifically told us not to get one as they aren't engineers fitting them and they are being called out with lots of problems.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 20/09/2019 20:26

since it arrived about 18 months ago, Eon have dropped my direct debit from £78pm to £49 so its win win in my opinion

Did they send you estimated bills for a year and a half (and you never contact them with accurate readings) or did you never realise that using electrical items costs money until the monitor was there spelling it out to you?

QueenH · 21/09/2019 00:42

Thanks for the patronising reply @WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll! I always submitted quarterly meter readings, thanks for checking. I just didn’t think about how much each appliance was costing me individually. The shower, for example, makes the meter flash red for high usage and the cost quickly adds up. So now with a smart meter you can see the usage as you use each item and it’s made me more aware of what I’m using and when- as I stated in my first reply.

SistersOfMerci · 21/09/2019 08:51

This news.files.bbci.co.uk/include/newsspec/pdfs/bbc-briefing-energy-newsspec-25305-v1.pdf is a fascinating read for anyone geeky like me.

IronicalCallSign · 21/09/2019 09:49

The shower, for example, makes the meter flash red for high usage and the cost quickly adds up. So now with a smart meter you can see the usage as you use each item and it’s made me more aware

Um, do you not understand the energy consumption labelling on the spec of the electrical items you've bought?!

Surely this is a surprise to about 5 people in the UK?

It's not rocket science, it's basic common knowledge / sense.

I'm honestly sitting here Hmm at this post.

QueenH · 21/09/2019 10:57

I didn’t buy my shower. Or my oven, or if her integrated kitchen appliances as they were already in the house when I bought it. So no, I don’t know how to otherwise check how much energy they’d use? Sorry if that makes me stupid. But anything that saves me bending down in the cupboard under the stairs with a torch to the get the readings and makes me life easier is a plus anyway!

Tobeshared · 21/09/2019 11:10

I'm amazed at the tone of some of these replies...who knew people were so touchy about this subject?!! Shock

BarbaraofSeville · 21/09/2019 11:45

I thought it was common knowledge that appliances that heated things used a lot of energy and were expensive to run, but apparently not.

PigletJohn · 21/09/2019 13:43

Indeed.

There are still people who fuss about turning lights off.

A typical LED or energy-saving lamp will run for 100 hours on 15p worth of electricity.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 21/09/2019 14:02

@Tobeshared - I can’t speak for anyone else on this thread, but personally I am not touchy about the subject of smart meters, but I definitely am touchy about being called dumb for not having one!!

Tobeshared · 21/09/2019 15:07

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius fair enough, but I really couldn't get worked up if someone thinks I'm dumb for not having a smart meter either...we have our reasons.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 21/09/2019 15:11

Sorry, @QueenH, I probably didn't phrase that very kindly. Fair enough if it works for you; I just thought it was common knowledge that appliances like showers, ovens and heaters were very energy-thirsty whereas charging your phone or listening to the radio will cost pennies a week.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 21/09/2019 15:12

*just inadvertently repeated what Barbara had already said there!

BeyondMyWits · 21/09/2019 15:13

There are still people who think switching stuff off makes a difference. Sad

The US trend for air conditioning is taking hold in this country now - the number of friends who have bought units for their bedroom after the previous hot summer is astounding. What use is me switching the TV off at the mains whilst they are cooling down their world...

Canyousewcushions · 21/09/2019 15:18

Our monitor thing was looked at for a couple of days and then just became clutter before being unplugged and consigned to the random junk drawer.

We are not daft and know what uses power round the house- it's not a surprise that showering or using the heating makes it spike, so it didn't do much for us.

Perhaps there's a reverse in here somewhere, expressing surprise at the naivitey of people who had no idea about their energy use?

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 21/09/2019 15:21

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius fair enough, but I really couldn't get worked up if someone thinks I'm dumb for not having a smart meter either...we have our reasons.

It's still not a nice thread title, though, is it? Very goady. Something like "Why do so many people seem to object to smart meters?" would have been a much more grown-up way of asking it.

What a lot of people are annoyed by is the incessant TV advertising and pressure from utility companies, many of them pretending that it's a legal requirement or, at least, that you'd be utterly stupid not to (a bit like the OP).

Many people seem to like them and a lot don't seem fussed either way, so by all means advertise them or offer them to those who want them, but respect people who decline the offer and leave it at that.

I have elderly relatives who are not interested in the least in using computers or the internet. Even having grown up without it, I personally cannot imagine living life without it now; but I accept that they've made a different choice from me and that they live their lives and I live mine. I don't call them stupid for not wanting to be online and they don't call me stupid for wanting to be: live and let live and everybody's happy.

Otterseatpuffinsdontthey · 21/09/2019 15:43

@ InkedGreen
just to add to all the negatives - are you aware that they are fire risks - if not, you should be - especially as you have posted you have toddlers.

MidweekObscurity · 21/09/2019 15:56

Hmm our electricity usage is insanely high and my supplier has never contacted me about getting a smart meter. I was thinking it might be beneficial for us, but reading this thread it seems not.

Topseyt · 21/09/2019 16:17

I think your thread title was rather goady. It isn't dumb to like your status quo and not go for a smart meter. Nor is it dumb to like a smart meter and find them useful.

I like our smart meter to be honest and really don't get all of the angst about them. Ours is supposed to be one which isn't tied in to one particular supplier, so I hope we will find that to be true.

I've always been careful with electricity usage and turned items off when not in use. I don't use the smart meter for that, but I do like the information it gives me at the touch of a button, such as how much we have spent in a day, a week, a month etc. without having to go outside and read the meter (which I used to do fairly often by the way). It is read remotely by the provider, and I like that. I am hoping it will mean and end to the inaccurate estimated readings, which various providers managed to apply to us even though we supplied them with regular readings ourselves. Time will tell on that one, but fingers crossed.

We use ours in conjunction with solar panels on the roof, and it also shows us how much we are making and exporting to the national grid, for which there is a feed-in tariff payable to us.

Obviously people who have responded on this thread are ones who are aware and conscious of their electricity usage, but there are plenty of others around who never give it any thought. Maybe smart meters would make some of those think a bit more carefully (or maybe nothing would).

I have no problem with smart meters. I imagine they are fitted as standard in new-build properties now?

Oh, and I never run the washing machine or tumble dryer overnight. Too much of a fire risk. Also, with solar panels here it is cheaper for us to run them during the day when those are producing a lot of what we need.

Redglitter · 21/09/2019 16:29

I've got one purely because it was fitted by the previous owner of my house but i dont check my usage. Its handy because my meter is awkward to get to for readings so I don't need to bother about that. I've had no problems swapping supplier either.

Quail15 · 21/09/2019 16:29

After being harassed by my energy company to have one fitted and using a days annual leave to wait in for the engineer, I was asked what my internet coverage is .... I live very rurally we only get 4g if you stand on the bed in the spare room. The engineer then fiddled about in the cupboard under the stairs for a few minutes before saying 'we can't do it without internet access' ...... I asked why I hadn't been told that when the company were demanding to come and fit the bloody thing Hmm

At least the demanding phone calls have stopped.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 21/09/2019 16:36

After being threatened by an engineer that the energy company will cut off our gas if we don't have a smart meter I will only have one if it becomes law as I don't take kindly to lies and blackmail.

I know what uses energy so it will make no difference to my usage, if I want to have a shower I will, if I want the heating on it will go on so fitting one is a waste of time and money.

BarbaraofSeville · 21/09/2019 16:57

There's almost certainly no Internet signal in the cupboard under the stairs where our meters are and if I could be arsed to clear all the stuff out so an engineer could have a proper look, it might shut them up and leave us alone too.

Hopoindown31 · 21/09/2019 17:38

I've had them in the past at other properties and they all turned into dumb meters when I switched supplier and were much harder to read than a standard meter. I've heard nothing about them managing to use a universal standard between suppliers so until that happens I'm not interested.

pigsDOfly · 21/09/2019 17:39

I don't understand why so many people are still being harassed and told lies by their electricity suppliers in an effort to get them to have smart meters fitted.

Maybe it's the company they're with but after being badgered by my electricity company for a while, each time telling them I didn't want one, I told the last person who rang that I didn't want one, I was not going to have one fitted and they were to stop contacting me. I also made it clear that I am fully aware that I am not obliged to have one so telling me it's the law is a lie. I haven't heard from them since; that was about three years ago.