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.

We got one installed a few years ago. We were told that there wouldn't be anybody calling anymore to read the meter as they always did and it would all be done over the internet.
I was very happy to hear this as I have always felt uneasy when the meter reader would come in (into the sitting room), where the meter was. I hate having strangers in the house.

Then after we'd had it installed, lo and behold, a meter reader turned up and has done ever since. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I just don’t feel the need to get one , I read our meters quarterly and submit the readings online which takes about 5 minutes so no hassle .

Tbh I just don't want to give them more info for them to make money off. They can gather some good research knowing what people are using, how much, when and for how long and it doesn't benefit me at all. I already know what I'm using and that switching stuff off will save me money.

Dynamic pricing!

Just tell them to bugger off when they call around

The thing is, energy companies aren't stupid. They know already when you likely use most electricity/gas, by assessing national patterns.

No idea why people don't want one, it's saved me loads of money. I can see exactly which appliances are costing me money and either using them off peak or switching something off.
Electricity price increase aside I was able to reduce my electricity bill from £50 a month to £25.

We’ve had one for years - I don’t really think about it!
It stopped working last year - all replaced without issues.

The only thing is i can see how much the standard daily charge or what ever it’s called - that annoys me!

Though it is scaring me slightly to see the difference in costs from last year to this. & with daughter home how much some costs have gone up (hot water especially)

We have one, its useless and dumb. I got it from Eon and it worked for about 4 months until I changed to BG, a year later I went back to Eon and expected it to work again, when it didn't I rang them up and they said it would remain dumb as I had changed supplier, even though it was their meter, we still have this dumb meter and energy companies are supposed to be connecting these so they work, no sign of it happening anytime soon. Total waste of money and time

Why is dynamic pricing a bad thing?

i think it’s potentially a good idea to charge less at off peak time. Move some demand around, perhaps even enable savings on infrastructure investment so give savings?

Also it's just another piece of electronic crap to break/go wrong. My old fashioned meter has never stopped working or given me an inaccurate reading so I will stick with that.

This. Am resisting as long as possible. Loads of people had trouble with the first generation smart meters which turned out not to be fit for purpose and went dead when they tried to switch suppliers etc. Plus I work full time and am definitely not taking a day off and waiting in all day for them to fail to turn up to fit some 'soon to be outdated' piece of plastic crap in my house, when the ones with dials installed several decades ago still work perfectly. It takes me about 2 minutes once a month to submit my readings for both electricity and gas so that I only pay for what I use, and it doesn't take Einstein to realise that the more things you have switched on the more energy you will use, so I fail to see the 'benefit' to me.

We have had that for years, it's called economy 7, Our smart now dumb SMETS1 is an economy 7 meter, I don't think many suppliers supply these meters now.

I don't have my smart meter gadget plugged in indoors - I may plug it in every so often to see how much things are costing (looking at your DH and your A/C unit!).

I like the fact that the bills are accurate and I don't have to faff about giving readings.

I don't understand the suspicion at all.

It's like going to a petrol station and guessing at exactly how much it's going to cost to fill the tank before you start then getting a refund/paying extra (which bizarrely is sort of how it works in the USA), rather than just paying for what you use.

I don't use the display bit, but both my meters are in inaccessible places, so not having to move loads of stuff every so often so that they can be read is a huge win for me. Knowing that all readings are accurate and not estimated is great too.

I’m not ‘thick as mince’ but I’d like to understand why utility companies are so keen for everyone to have one. Experience tells me it’s much more likely to be for their benefit than mine.

I could never see the point that to save energy I had to plug in a display that used energy to tell me the obvious, that the washing machine used a lot of energy. I only used the display with mine for about a week then put it in the drawer as it didn't really tell me anything that wasn't obvious anyway

It's to hit government targets I think, they are certainly not so keen to change ones that don't work as they already have you in their statistics for the targets so having a replacement probably wouldn't count

Because with a normal meter, you can see exactly how much if being used and you are in control

Smart meter give all the control to the energy company at there end. They have full electronic control over your usage.

My sister gave meter readings monthly from the day she moved in. She was over £300 in credit. They installed a smart meter and conveniently that credit disappeared as soon as they took control over the reading

They can plum in anything they want.

I refuse to get one. I give my readings monthly, I also refuse to pay by DD.

I get a quarterly bill, for the exact amount of electricity I have used.

None of this nonsense estimates usage stuff with ridiculous monthly amounts paid by DD

I only pay for what I have used every 3 months.

I prefer to have full control over what I use and pay.

Our house came with one so we had no choice.

I always wonder how long the invention of the wheel took to take off given our suspicion of new things. New isn’t always good so it’s not a bad thing.

It’s not that they’re keen, it’s government mandated

I don’t see the need when I give a monthly reading and octopus instantly debit the correct amount. Also I’ve read horror stories of high payments that make no sense and the companies just say “the smart metre can’t be wrong”.
I don’t get the benefits- I can read a metre, I know if I’m using electricity.

The government are considering giving energy companies the legal right to turn off your energy via smart meters. Governments and powerful companies versus you. Yeah no thank you. I like some sort of control over my life.

Because

if gas is expensive due to a war then why are utilities companies able to offer a discount on fuel if you use the supply out of peak time - but only to those with a smart meter?

always wonder how long the invention of the wheel took to take off given our suspicion of new things. New isn’t always good so it’s not a bad thing.

utility companies used to send quarterly bills for fuel, so you paid what you used or an estimate- if the estimate was wrong you could give a reading and get an exact bill

then the utilities companies offered a discount on direct debit payments

it means they can set higher than needed payments and use that “free” money to conduct business- it’s to their advantage as it vastly reduces banking tariffs

people jumped at the chance and weren’t suspicious, even now with smart meters giving exact reasons the direct debits don’t fluctuate and take the exact amount for usage

We have a smart meter, my only gripe is we had it installed before the second generation meters came out so apparently will have to have it replaced if we change suppliers (they kept this info quiet until I directly asked the question) but my understanding is the new ones can just be taken over by the new supplier. It all seems to work fine and bills are all ok.