To think lots of people are dumb over smart meters

[InkedGreen]

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

What about changing suppliers? All the big companies I looked at last week explicity; siad their cheapest tarriffs were onl;y on condition that I accept a smartmeter within 3 months.

Is that enforcable?

I don't want one until you can switch providers as you wish without making it 'dumb' - as soon as they can guarantee I'll get a new generation version I will do this, but otherwise I'm not taking time off work etc to get something installed which may be useless in a year

We had one put in by eon, switched 3 months later to British Gas and have now had to go back to giving meter readings.

"Since then I discovered if you change energy suppliers, like I do, every 12-18 months that the meter version most energy companies are still installing aren't compatible with other suppliers"

Yup this. We had an appointment booked, found out it would be a first not second gen device. Cancelled appointment....

Smart people change their gas/electricity "supplier" regularly. If you have a smart meter, either you can't do this (some suppliers don't accept new customers who have an existing smart meter or refuse to have a supplier-specific one installed) or your smart meter becomes a dumb one again when you switch.
Therefore, smart people do not have smart meters installed.

Fluff face I am in that situation. We had a smart meter from 1st utility and loved it, we have since switched and it doesn’t work anymore. New supplier is refusing to put in a replacement as we have already got one. They are so bloody hard to read manually when the smart reads don’t work.

I heard a piece about these on the radio t he other day.
They seem great as long as they a) work (ours didn't as couldn't get enough signal near our boiler in the cellar b) you don't switch providers-as they don't switch automatically-you need a new one (and as lots of people switch about regularly to save money that seems a bit of a problem).
They have cost something like 14 billion quid to roll out with a relatively low success rate and are years behind programme, due to the above issues and also not having enough people to fit them/low take up.

I don't need a fancy device to tell me what things cost, I know. At the moment when you change supplier it doesn't work, about to have our third fitted at work. I'm not bothering at home, I read my own meter

I'll wait for a tenth generation one. I have had several calls and refused politely, despite being assured that second generation ones are vendor agnostic. I already know our usage is ridiculous and I pay for the privilege of having two teenagers who don't know what an off switch is.
Whilst I appreciate the sentiment that awareness reduces power consumption and saves the planet, I am looking to America, Mexico, Japan, India, China and Russia to sort out their emissions and pollution excesses before I stress over my overnight light usage.

Is the OP still here ?

It wasn't thought through properly by the Gov they are rolling it out anyway...in practice. It should mean they can predict and deal with peak loading and encourage loading on non peak periods and set up contracts to encourage consumers to use electricity at non peak times, it should also save money as meter readers do not need to be employed. In practice this has not worked out...the meters are not smart enough...you need to change them everytime you change supplier and we all know that smart consumers change suppliers frequently to get the best deals....what a mess.

I was hoping it was a device that would tell the supplier what my reading is. Is it?

We are a family of five. I refused a smart meter.
Every year our energy consumption decreases as we become more aware of how to keep it to a minimum and the importance of doing so.
All without the use of a patronising, sanctimonious plastic box.
So dumb.

I was hoping it was a device that would tell the supplier what my reading is. Is it? Yes - as long as your supplier installed it, once you change suppliers - which you should plan to do - it will be dumb again.

I've read the Which guide which outlines my right to refuse a smart meter (I think it should also cover what to do if you're being blanket bombed bullied by your energy provider too)... But it doesn't cover if they're saying you agreed to it being installed within 3 months?

EON are harassing me but I would NEVER have agreed to this if the contract had mentioned it. Maybe it was buried in the tiny t&c but I'd still scanned it. As an compos mentis English speaker, if I got conned into agreeing.. who else is? (It's irrelevant anyway, I'm not letting them in).

Does anyone know what to do if they insist I start paying more for energy i.e. move me forcibly off my tarriff? MP? Citizen advice?

My brother fits them for a living.

He says he would never have one in his house. Says it all really!

Does anyone know what to do if they insist I start paying more for energy Move supplier or if that's not possible due to your contract, after complaining to the supplier you can approach the Energy Ombudsman.

The op is some kind of bot.

This thread just told someone high up (govt, energy company or Russian bot) that people don't like smart meters.

Look at Ops posting history.... Definitely a bot.

Do bots usually post about their house purchase?

Could the OP work for an energy company and have been instructed by her employer to post on social media and forums about how great smart meters are in an attempt to have us all phoning our suppliers begging for one to be installed?

But instead she's discovered that we're all resisting because at best we're fed up with being told what to do and at worst suspicious about their motives.

Mine didn't work for months, the company had no system to repair or replace it, still trying to sort out the bill. Its an over-complex device which will be far more susceptible to failure than the tried and trusted meters that we used before.

We have a new one now, I have two degrees in engineering, can't make head nor tail of the display. I can, however make the link between the heating being on and using more gas or, if I wanted calculate the energy use of my tumble dryer all by myself.

I have a smart meter but the device is in my cupboard turned off because I couldn't care less whether my tumble dryer uses 70p.
I'm not on an electric meter so it's almost irrelevant.

You're also 'dumb' for using the word dumb in this context...

Smart meters are a necessary step to the energy suppliers' goal of managing our use by charging according to the demand.
So when you get home from work, turn on the oven and have a shower you will be paying through the nose.

My bill has gone up since having it installed, I think it’s a con

When enough people have them, surge pricing will become the norm, and your rate will fluctuate over the day, and all the times you actually need to use energy will be the most expensive, such as cooking for meal times. Might be able to save you money... if you cook your dinner at 4am.