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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Smart meters

70 replies

Justnot · 21/01/2023 13:19

(Probably very obvious)to tell people to not get smart meters? I have always refused when they phone. It’s seems a very bad idea especially at the moment(switching you over to prepayment etc) I also pay quarterly in arrears rather than direct debit monthly where they seem to take more money then they need

From the telegraph in November:
Can you refuse a smart meter?

Smart meters are not mandatory and billpayers can refuse to have the devices installed, and you can do this indefinitely.

However, energy companies can force customers to replace their current meter if it is deemed a safety hazard or is no longer functioning correctly.

Consumers who already have a smart meter can ask for the device to be removed at any time. However, suppliers can charge customers a fee to cover this cost.

OP posts:

CharlottenBurger · 23/05/2023 12:14

gamerchick · 23/05/2023 12:06

Is there something sinister I need to know about

If there's a cock up with your energy supplier, and they do cock up... often, they can change you to pay as you go at their end. Which takes forever to sort out, if it gets sorted out. I've never actually heard of anyone being switched back yet.

It gets repeatedly said on these threads but still people come on and ask what the issue is with them. They're a 2 way street. Why anyone is happy with that level of control by an energy company is beyond me.

The meters don't have any slots for those key things, and they'd have to climb over my dead body to change the electric one.

2023forme · 23/05/2023 12:23

My electricity one (Eon) doesn’t send correct readings - the readings don’t even make sense.

So I get gas bills/statements and they send a guy to read the gas meter but not the electric as “it’s a smart meter and doesn’t need read”. So I send in my own readings which Eon don’t believe as they are completely different to the smart meter - as in my reading will be 9241 and the smart will be 224 or something nonsense.

it meant I didn’t get an up to date statement for ages so with my monthly DD,I ended up owing nearly a grand (luckily I’d put money aside as I knew they were 100% in the wrong).

I then had to take a video of me doing the meter reading and send it in, only to receive an email saying the smart meter team knew there was a problem but they didn’t know how to fix it!!

Not sure if this is a smart meter issue or an Eon issue, but I’ll be leaving them as soon as my contract is up!!

2023forme · 23/05/2023 12:27

2023forme · 23/05/2023 12:23

My electricity one (Eon) doesn’t send correct readings - the readings don’t even make sense.

it meant I didn’t get an up to date statement for ages so with my monthly DD,I ended up owing nearly a grand (luckily I’d put money aside as I knew they were 100% in the wrong).

I then had to take a video of me doing the meter reading and send it in, only to receive an email saying the smart meter team knew there was a problem but they didn’t know how to fix it!!

Not sure if this is a smart meter issue or an Eon issue, but I’ll be leaving them as soon as my contract is up!!

This is what they replied (what’s with the ❤️ ffs??)

how can they not know how to fix this?!

Wishawisha · 23/05/2023 12:32

It annoys me when they phone to ask when they can install too, but only because in my case they’ve tried to install and failed numerous times. I don’t understand why they don’t read previous notes which say the customer is willing to have one but it cannot be done. They just phone like it’s a first time request.

I’d really like one. Would be good for me and the company. It’s a service that I am paying for and they should be able to bill me accurately. I do give regular metre readings but I’m always surprised by people who do it every few years and are then shocked to owe lots of money.

Smartmetercon · 23/05/2023 12:38

We have prepayment meters through personal choice and resisted smart meters for years. We had a power cut and it fried our key meter for the electricity and had no choice but to have one fitted as they no longer had the old key meters left to install. We had them both fitted grudgingly, and it is easier to top up at home rather than go to the shop, but it does feel like we were forced into it. Because of the time it took for us to have it installed and a complaint I raised about not having the old style meter, we were not charged for electricity for about 6 weeks, as they were unable to read the meter, so it was a slight bonus.

Cupcakequeen75 · 23/05/2023 12:46

We had issues with our (EoN) SM when it was first installed last year so I got into the habit of taking manual readings & submitting them on the last day of the month and still do it.
Have checked and the SM since and it is now working fine but it is so quick & easy to read the actual meters I still do that.

Had a SM for years in our previous house (also EoN) and that always worked fine, it was replaced for a new model once but that was it.

LOVE a SM for showing you your current usage. 😄

Terminator66 · 23/05/2023 12:47

I had smart meters installed in July 2015 and I have cut my usage by 35%. For the first few years I just carried on as normal and used around 2400 kWh per year for electric and around 2000 kWh for gas.
I then thought about using less electric and gas and started turning everything that I left in standby, except the fridge and freezer, off at the wall socket for electrical appliances. For gas I started experimenting with reducing the temperature of the water running through the pipes to the radiators and lowering the thermostat temperature. I got my electric usage down to 1600 kWh and the gas down to 900 kWh per year. I now haw the water running through the pipes to the radiators set at 39 degrees and the thermostat set at 16 degrees , this means I can have the heating on for 7 hours per day in winter at a cost of £3 per day minus the SC.

1 unit on my smart meter I class as using 11.3 kWh of gas, but the electric reads in kWh, in the case of gas the 11.3 is close to the usage when you have to do the calculations of multiplying and dividing to get the total kWh used for a bill.

Tianc · 23/05/2023 12:50

2023forme · 23/05/2023 12:27

This is what they replied (what’s with the ❤️ ffs??)

how can they not know how to fix this?!

Show quote history

WTF?!

Good that they've admitted it in writing though.

The typical pattern for organisations with a monopoly or oligopoly, who have spent zillions on flawed systems, is to defend the system to the death. Literally, unfortunately.

Fujitsu's disastrous Horizon software for the Post Office is a typical example. That was already a long-running problem when I wrote the Smart Meters thread in 2011. It is still running right now, 2023 – although at least last year a lot of the Post Masters wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office because of Horizon were finally declared innocent.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal

British Post Office scandal - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal

Weedoormatnomore · 23/05/2023 12:58

CharlottenBurger · 23/05/2023 11:59

Sorry, I'm a bit puzzled here. We have a smart electricity meter (at least I think that's what it is). It sits in the cupboard in the hall above the circuit breakers (used to be fuses but got updated). Also a gas one outside in a white box by the door. We were given a kind of display thing with a screen, buttons, and red, amber, and green lights. It shows the current readings, and little bar charts of recent use, etc. The lights change colour according to electricity use, as far as I can tell. All that is different from before as far as I can see is that (a) we can see the readings without actually going to the actual meters, and (b) the meters seems to tell British Gas the readings, because we can see them on the web site if we log in to the gas & electric accounts (both with BG). Plus we know when the oven or washing machine, kettle is on, etc, because the lights change. We get our bills by post and email and they agree with the readings (I write them down every day). We pay the bills each time. Is there something sinister I need to know about?

Like most things they are great when they work. I have spent at least 25 plus hours on the phone to my supplier trying to get mine fixed after going to ombudsman finally got a bill after not having one for 6 months. The new meter they fitted can now be remotely switched to a prepayment meter thankfully I had proof that it was not my fault though heard of cases where people where just transferred to prepayment.

mogsrus · 23/05/2023 13:04

BashfulClam · 21/01/2023 15:02

I don’t understand stand ‘seeing how much you use’ as an argument. I use what I need, I’m not suddenly going to think ‘I’m not washing my clothes because I’ve already spent x amount!’

I’m definitely with you on these things, who wants to watch a clock ticking over how much this that & the other is costing, we haven’t got one & never will

CaptainMyCaptain · 23/05/2023 13:17

Phillipa12 · 21/01/2023 13:24

I really like mine, it helps me see what I'm spending per day.

This. I don't use the display unit but can't see a problem with the meter itself.

CaptainMyCaptain · 23/05/2023 13:19

ThreeLittleDots · 21/01/2023 13:46

I don't get why you wouldn't want to know what you're spending when energy costs are so high. Feels like people objecting to stuff for the sake of it

A smart meter automatically sends meter readings to the energy provider via SIM.

An 'In Home Display' is a calculator that communicates with a smart meter to let you know how much energy you have used.

Any meter will tell a consumer how many kWh they've used. OP isn't being ignorant!

I don't use the display unit but can get a full breakdown and comparisons of usage online at any time. I couldn't do that with my old meter.

EnterFunnyNameHere · 23/05/2023 13:31

Justnot · 21/01/2023 14:22

I don’t have a smart meter so my direct debit (when I paid like this for a while) was an estimate and was always high but tbf that was a few years ago

If anything that's an argument for having a smart meter surely? As they wouldn't have needed to estimate your bill if you had a smart meter that was sending them the readings...

But regardless, it's good to let people know their rights to say no if they don't want a smart meter for sure. For me, I don't see any good arguments not to have one, so I am on the list. I don't expect it to change anything other than not having to log meter readings myself anymore - but I'm already over-invested in our usage so not expecting the in home display to tell me anything I don't already know 😊

Riapia · 23/05/2023 13:42

I’ve had my smart meter nearly 2 years.
I have to email my readings every month.
Apparently it’s a signal problem.
Useful for letting me know my usage but that’s all.
😉😁😁

Kyse23 · 23/05/2023 13:50

I only agreed to one recently as they were paying me £100. Fine by me!

Megifer · 23/05/2023 14:03

I'll hold out as long as I can before I'll ever get one after seeing my poor mother reduced to tears on more than one occasion over hers.

I've had eon try the "your meter is hazardous it needs replacing with a smart meter" so i said show me evidence/statistics that my meter model is a known hazard. They couldn't sooooo they can f off.

mogsrus · 23/05/2023 14:24

Nobody has ever contacted us about one, the answer would still be No thanks

Jux · 23/05/2023 14:39

Despite the fact that they've now actually tried to give us one twice and found itimpossible to do we still get calls from our supplier asking when they can come. We chuckle and tell them they're welcome to try again but nothing's changed since last time. The poor callers then actually read the notes on our file and discover, lo! it can't be done. Then they bugger off. I quite enjoy it now.

Crazymadchickenlady · 26/05/2023 00:05

I licensure smart meter. Means we can get paid for the electricity our solar panels export to the grid. Got £111 this month from Octopus!

Biker47 · 26/05/2023 01:14

Delaying having one until it becomes a benefit to me. Surge and dynamic pricing will come sooner rather than later (already here kind of), so I imagine they'll start penalising people without smart meters at that point, which is when I'll probably have to change. Fine by me to give two readings to my energy company each month, takes less than 2 minutes to do.

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