AIBU to think smart meters don't make any difference?

[Lochroy]

I'm being stalked by my electricity supplier to have a smart meter fitted. I don't want another gadget to have to find a home for in the house! I'm careful with usage (as I am with water, conscious to recycle as much as possible and so on). I don't know anyone with one for whom it's actually made any difference.

There's that radio advert with a woman frying something something and the narrator says she's part of the 'quiet revolution' because she's got a smart meter. what revolution? I feel the utility companies should be more clear about what benefits the customer will get rather than just saying it's a quiet revolution.

I've avoided getting one too. Meter readings for me are no hassle at all.

Just a way for utility companies to instigate smart pricing. Watch electricity prices double during 4~7pm when usage is the highest. This will really hurt young families

You still have to have your meter read every two years, they just call it a safety inspection.

cancelled my DD a year ago and I’m still using the excess to pay the bills. They had over £1000 of my cash sitting in their account

When I found out that my DD was more than my usage, I asked them to reduce the DD. Conversely, when they saw my DD was less than they thought, they increased it.

It does take some personal responsibility to look at your bills and to calculate roughly what you think you'll be spending.

We’re not having one installed. Energy companies don’t need to know when we are at home using energy. We are not having Alexa etc. either (although I am aware that our mobiles are already listening in on us anyway...).

I won't have one fitted...I'm not sure what it can tell me that my PP meters can't. I know how much I'm using per day and I know how much it's costing...which is 50% less that it was when I was paying by DD.

Loads of things I didn't know... for example the data collection, potential price hikes or that you can put the house receiver in a drawer!

We changed suppliers via uswitch and specifically chose the second cheapest as the first specified we would have to have a meter. I might have to bother to phone them and ask them to leave us alone!

I got one in my new property as I got a cheaper tariff for it. I assumed it was just one of those little screens that show you how much you’ve spent and I wasn’t really interested in that.
They came to install it and it’s actually a meter which has a SIM card in and sends the meter readings to the supplier. I also have the little screen but don’t have it plugged in as I don’t wish to see the information.
It has saved me taking the readings and inputting them on my energy supplier’s website every month, other than that it’s made no difference to me.

I'm getting text messages every three days telling me to book my appointment i might have to take my phone number off them

@NotExactlyMrsCurrentAffairs those bloody spiders absolutely bleed energy; they love a 2 bar electric heater, I understand.

The only good thing about having a new much smaller smart meter as ours were old and huge..... is they moved the gas meter to much better place.
And the electric one as well! further up the wall so it's not in the way.
So I have much more space in the cupboard now 😀

We are also being pestered to get one. We already have an outside meter cupboard and no one ever comes round so I assume they read the meter remotely anyway. I can't see what advantage a smart meter would be to anyone.

I am with @trappedsincesundaymorn, I have a prepayment meter for gas and elecy , I can look at it any time to see how much I have used and how much I need to pay / put on the next month.

It is also really easy to change proveders too , I think I am right in daying that with some smart ones if you change providers when you have a smart meter the 'smart' dumb bit stops working

And I have noticed it's much more accurate and am spending at least £20 less each month

We have one. The meter reader still came out and pulled our dodgy meter box door off its hinges trying to open it for some reason so we really don't see the point in us having one at all. We only have it because it was here before we moved in.

I installed a cheap "Owl" brand meter myself a few years back, and I love it. It sits by the kettle and is a constant reminder to try and reduce waste. It also once led me to our garden cabin where our children had left a heater on, so we were running at 30+p/hour rather than the expected sub 10p.
Good for the planet, and for my wallet!

@WitchQueenofDarkness

Just a way for utility companies to instigate smart pricing. Watch electricity prices double during 4~7pm when usage is the highest. This will really hurt young families

Exactly this.

Smart meters are a way for energy companies to introduce varying pricing depending on time of day and your own usage patterns.

Avoid!!

It is for the benefit of energy companies not their customers. Just as call centres with automated voice bits are (where you speak or tap in an answer).

My provider keep sending me letters, but I’m not having one installed.