Being harassed about Smart Meter

[NewGirlInTown]

Does anyone know if utility companies can force homeowners to have a Smart Meter?
I don’t want one but am getting frequent calls and texts hassling me.
I told them on the telephone that I am not interested.
My meter is very accurate; estimated usages are incredibly close to actual, so no alarm bells there.
I should add that I have recently withdrawn some of the substantial credit balance on my account, leaving 2/3 months worth of direct debit. I did it all through their online service, but since then, I am being hassled.
Many thanks to anyone who can provide advice.

I must be amongst the minority...love mine! We are with Octopus and never had an issue with meter or company

This is where EDF caught me! End of tariff, looked for new one....only with smart meters. I gave in and had them but in a cupboard where I can't see them. Now Thames Water are pestering me - I'm in 1st floor flat so I'd probably be right in thinking it could be disruptive? I'm resisting!

It depends on the meter's certification period. For electronic, but non-smart, electricity meters, it's often 10 years so, by law, your meter should have been replaced 5 years ago!

We declined too and the letters were relentless.

They even sent a chap round with one, saying he'd got an appointment booked with us, much to our surprise. He tried every excuse in the book to be allowed in to install it: it was his job, we could have it removed later if we didn't like it, blah. After being continually hassled, DH told them if they didn't drop it, we'd change to another energy supplier. The calls and letters stopped.

They cannot force one on you and there are homes where smartmeters do not work anyway due to interference from other sources. They can absolutely replace an old regular meter with a non smart meter. We switched supplier and did exactly this when the time came.

There are good reasons not to have one.

I don't get all the hysteria on here over smart meters.

We've had them for years (electricity and gas), just upgraded to the newest models. Absolutely no issues, I don't have to send readings, I can see on the indoor display monitor or on an app how much my house is using at any given time etc.

I'd say stop being so suspicious and get one.

I’ve been harassed for about two years. I have argued with them on the phone and they have been quite firm with me and used lots of reasons why I need one. They sent out an engineer to fit one and he told me I didn’t need one and that they are not reliable and sometimes cost the home owner more.

I still don’t have one 😂

RTS meters have absolutely nothing to do with the type of boiler in the house. They are a type of meter that support different peak and off-peak rates; basically a much more sophisticated Economy 7 meter. They are controlled by a national radio signal which is being turned off. Since they are not designed to operate in the absence of that signal, they may not operate correctly afterwards, which is why they are being replaced. Also, most RTS meters were installed decades ago, meaning they are now outwith their certification periods and long overdue for replacement anyway.

They will give up eventually , I ignored all messages and haven’t heard anything for a good few months now

Same here. I think it is just hysteria. People don't like change.

The engineer was talking nonsense. Even if they can't connect to your supplier, they're just as reliable as any other meter. And why would they sometimes cost more? They measure energy consumption in exactly the same way as older types.

Changing the meter doesn’t impact on your internal wiring. It’s a really quick job.

I would ignore all the scaremongering. Smart meters have become yet another culture war topic, and people love to spread misinformation about them. If your meter is over a certain age, depending on the model, it is no longer guaranteed to be accurate, and your supplier is required by law to replace it. This has always been a thing.

It's not necessarily a quick job though.
My meters are out of date. I need them replaced, however when the engineer came to fit new, he decided there wasn't enough room in my cupboard.
He called his boss, who took half an hour to come over (and then had a massive shit in my toilet, but that's by the by).
He also said there wasn't enough room in the cupboard.
The only solution they could come up with, was ripping out the cupboard entirely, leaving me with hundreds of pounds of costs, and many hours of labour in having to replace the wall/door, repaint the whole room, and rewire in the house alarm and the nest control box.
I said no...

The appointment itself can take up to 2 hours for both meters, some of that time you will be without power. I wfh so only arranging disruption to my work when I absolutely have to.

But sure, don't get one. You are allowed to be irrational and economically inefficient if you want. Just send them an email stating you don't wish to get one and then send all future messages to spam folder.

A meter reading is still required for an accurate bill, that I can do in a couple of minutes, online. How is that being economically inefficient?

Because you can't get the cheapest tariffs.

You can't save additional money by choosing cheap periods to run your heavy usage appliances.

A smart meter is not just about reading a number

I did that and was told smart meters are "service messages" not "marketing".

Took a shitty letter to the CEO to stop it in the end. But worth it!

I don't even know why people love them so much - I use as much gas and electricity as I need to (which isn't much), and knowing the cost or the quantity in real time won't change that. Taking a meter reading once a month is not exactly a hardship either - I open a cupboard and read a number.

But the real dissuading factor is the mad level of pushiness from the utility companies. They are definitely not being so zealous for my benefit, so what is in it for them?

I also use as much gas and electricity as I need to. The difference is that I pay a lot less for it than I used to, on an Octopus smart tariff. Taking meter readings is no hardship for me either, but it was for my elderly mother, who couldn't bend down to read her meter.

The utility companies are under pressure from the government to fit smart meters, no question, but they also have a legal duty to replace meters which are life-expired. So, for them, they're killing two birds with one stone.

I think people only have them for the offers, probably not for the readings as they are easy to give anyway. Though I did have a new gas one because it looked better than the 1980 old one under the stairs.

There are millions of homes in the UK and how many have had issues with their smart meters? How many have had issues with their standard meters? I know because I used to work for an energy company. We used to piggyback meters we thought were recording incorrectly, so you have 2 meters for a period of time. That is for the ones we knew about.

Changing meters costs the company. They don't do it for fun. Meters have an expiry date just like a lot of electronic things. New meters being made are smart meters but they also do refurb the older style meters too. Smart meters provide information to the energy company which helps them plan for future. Do people know they are trying to update the pylon network to ensure the UK meets Net Zero targets for 2050?

I am with Octopus and on a smart meter. Do you know what I get? Free electricity slots where anything I use in a time period chosen by me over the weekend costs me nothing. Do you know how they do that? They use the data about usage from all their customers to work out grid demands. I can also see on my account when there is more green energy to be used so I can time usage into those time slots.

The biggest thing you all need to remember is you do not own that meter. It may be on your property but it is owned by your local supplier no matter which company you get your energy from. I like my free electric for my tumble dryer.

The time stuff is what makes me dubious about it all. I know some people will say it's just like the old Economy 7, but there's potential for much more detailed changes. I already resent having to faff around picking a tariff and supplier so I don't get ripped off. That never used to be a job we had to think about.

I don't want on top of that to be worrying about running the dishwasher because it's not the second Tuesday in the month. Of course in the short term it's logical for a customer to take advantage of a free energy Saturday or whatever, but it's all part of making us manage our usage patterns for the convenience of the energy generators. Which isn't all bad, it'll make things more efficient. Because it is difficult to store large amounts of generated but not needed energy, and you can't turn wind turbines on and off. But it's going to become one more thing to optimise. And the savings will diminish once we are all locked into that way of doing things.

Malicious hacking, of no benefit, other than to cause disruption is on the rise!

ln addition a smart meter is linked to your energy account. That contains a raft of personal data including your bank details. There should be “Chinese Walls” between the 2. But anything is only as secure as the next hack.

I love the free hours! Had 8 so far. We are away next week too so more to accrue.

@Gourdgirl Dh is gutted they change the wheel spin as he used to get a free Nero coffee every, single, week! I love my free hours too, I mean who doesn't want free electric? Every time they email me about a power down I am IN