Why are people suspicious of smart meters?

[ilkleymoorbartat]

We're thinking of getting one, but there seems to be such a mix of opinions. People who are against them, can you explain why?

Most of the problems that are coated seemed to have been with the first generation of meters and not the new ones.

I find the dynamic pricing helpful? I.e I run the dishwasher and washing machine on a timer 2-6am when my electricity is 1/4 of the price.

I'm not getting one.
On the phone to them for hours and they tell me they have no fixed term only variable for me after sending me a promo email with fixed term pricing.
But then hound me for smart meter.Piss off.

i got them specifically for dynamic pricing. Cheap electricity overnight to charge the EV car. Quarter of the cost for overnight use.

Thank you for your reply. I am on an Octopus flexible tariff, will I not be charged the same amount for say using my washing machine at 10am regardless of whether I have a smart meter or not? I appreciate this is not an ideal time to use the washing machine, but just as an example. In my mind, having a smart meter doesn’t actually affect the amount that I am charged because that it is predetermined by the tariff I am on and the time at which I use my appliances and for how long l?

It's very easy for them to change it over to a prepay meter if you can't pay your bills
Flick of a switch!

And switch it off

It won't fit in the space where our current meter sits, so I'm not getting one.

I don't get why people are against them at all. I can monitor my usage better and don't have to send in meter readings. My display is by the front door so when I leave the house I can easily check if I left something switched on because the usage will be higher. So it has saved me money. It allowed me to see which appliances are most energy consuming and different settings on the washing machine - again saving me money. I can also see my cost so far this month so I can predict what my bill will be - no more shocks when the bill comes through.

And the people that say they don't want to give energy companies control etc Smart meters allow them to monitor patterns in household usage so they can better predict demand and match the supply better for the nation. Surely that's a positive? I don't see what sinister things can come from Octopus knowing my usage increases at 7.15am when I boil the kettle for example. Unless you are doing something criminal like growing cannabis??

We are not getting one as they can't even answer our question... 'what will happen when the 3g signal gets turned off (which is due very soon)'?

Surely it'll just use 4G or 5G? It doesn't matter as long as it can connect to a cell that is capable of data transfer

I like having mine, I know exactly how much I'm using and I'm only paying for that. My colleagues are being royally ripped off by direct debits at the moment and my bills are a lot less than theirs. I was also in credit to a supplier once for £800, when I asked for the money suddenly I had been on the wrong tarriff for 5 years and I actually owed them £24.... funny that. I'll stick the pay up front smart meter thanks.

Two family members had them installed in the last year. The in-home display has never worked in either household and their energy suppliers have never been able to resolve it. So no real benefit to them, other than not having to manually submit readings.

I was considering getting one a few months back, and logged onto my supplier's website (So Energy) to see a banner across the top saying that some smart meter customers were experiencing gas supply interruption due to a fault with the meters - article about it here: Households left without gas after energy supplier smart meter glitch - which put me off.

Exactly what @MintJulia said.

Because it hands complete control to the power company, and they already have quite enough control. With an ordinary meter, the co. know I use x amount of power. With a smart meter, they can adjust pricing depending on when/what I use, turn off the power remotely etc. There is no benefit to the consumer and the project is wastefully expensive.

In time, electricity companies will use these meters to charge more for when electricity is commonly used - between 6-9am and 4-8pm - with higher prices overall.

there is no benefit or the consumer and only benefit to the power companies who will use this information to charge consumers more

Because as predicted they will use your patterns to bring in surge charging, meaning if demand is highest between 5pm and 8pm the will charge you more. It might all be well to say well I'll do it at night time but when lots of other people do this too then it won't be cheaper either. Not mention if we meet the target for all electric vehicles in the future demand will be high regardless of the time in day.

It will impact people who cannot afford to say do their washing over night - think shift workers who may be the poorest paid so forced to wash their work clothes at peak times because of the hours they work. It will force poor people to change their sleeping habits as they can only afford to do certain things at different times of the night.

And Ofgem are already letting energy companies look into introducing this type of surge pricing tariff soon. So its coming whether we like it or not why do you think they are pushing to get as many people on meters as possible.

Its all done to money and how much they can make

I predict this will be the new aibu - neighbour insists on running washing machine at 2am, and I can't sleep.

😂

I had one fitted about 10 years ago, it has been fine, and I don't need to get on my hands and knees to peer at the understairs meter.

I don't need one because my current meters work fine.
It wouldn't "save me money" because I wouldn't look at it & it wouldn't change my energy use. If I want to reduce my consumption then I'll just switch things off or use them less - the type of meter is irrelevant.
There is a bit of a creepy Big Brother feeling to it.
I don't like being told what to do by companies for whom I am the customer.

My hand held bit has never worked. Five engineers couldn't sort it.
My meters worked fine but the gas had a crack over the dials so it HAD to be replaced it was DANGEROUS, like the PP I didn't get a choice.

On and they didn't turn up four times. If you aren't in its a sixty quid charge though, tis only fair.

another one of those industry things that serves only one purpose and doesn't need to exist.

But the DC can see that the actual lights are on! You don't need the smart meter display to go red in order to know that you have got a lot of lights on!!

But even with a non smart meter you know how much you are using because

1. You know if you have switched something on that uses electricity
2. You have a meter! It measures how much you are using. That's its whole purpose

But the fire service are telling us not to run dishwashers/ washing machines/tumble dryers at night when you are asleep.

I hate ours but mainly because of the mess of getting them installed:

They came to do both gas and electric. They did the electric but couldn't do the gas as they couldn't get the bolts undone. So I have one smart metre and one not - so I still have to submit readings for the gas.

The electric metre connects to report my readings about once every six months so there is never an accurate reading for my bills. I cannot submit a reading using the app or website because it says I have a smart metre so I don't need to bother. So I have to call it in.

It's such a farce and much harder work than when I read them once a month and submitted the numbers over an app.

I remember the stories of them causing fires/explosions due to the installers not being competent, I think that was the first general ones but I'm still cautious.

Also not at all sure the signal would actually work in my house because mobile signal here is abysmal and the meters are currently in the cupboard under the stairs right in the middle of the house.

I'm not sure I understand the time of day adjusted pricing argument. This used to be the way years before smart meters came about so surely they can do it anyway? We used to pay less for early mornings and late at night so they must know? Either way, I prefer not having to faff with reading meters so I'm happy with it.