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.

My bonkers neighbour says her bills have soared since she had it fitted....well 30 min showers....tumble dryer going all day today....its 26c and sunny....
yes they can adjust tariff for price surging ....spain has variable time tariffs....we will end up with one as going solar next year....but i dont understand all the urban myths that bills have gone up since the installation of the smart meter.

They say you should be a minimum of 40 feet away but because they are regarded as "safe" and not legitimately proven to cause health issues, they are not regulated in this way,

some people might have them right outside the door with only a thin wall between them, that's why I refused mine

..

We've had one fitted today. I need to know why we are using above average.

So will be having a look by switching things on and off.

We have a fish pond with a filter. Does anyone else have one and found it uses a lot?

Fair enough. But you do know if your lights are on or if you have turned the oven on ( for example)

I am seriously thinking of getting one installed - because we pay way over and above our usage each month. Aren't they supposed to be a way of allowing you to control your usage more tightly so you only pay for what you actually do use?

I have a smart meter and love it. I don’t need to submit readings, readings look accurate (there are spikes when we cook dinner, run a bath etc). Also we have a smart tariff which means we only pay 7.5p/kWh between 00:30 and 04:30 (fixed until August 2023), so we can charge the car, run the washing machine, put on the slow cooker and have extremely cheap electricity for what are now our peak use hours. Highly worth it for that alone.

We have a pond with a filter, but don’t use an excessive amount of electricity.

Typical day for us yesterday (we charge the EV between midnight and 4am hence spike at this time), running the pond filter and working from home.

My “console” (assuming you mean the digital display thing) goes anywhere in my house, it just plugs into a USB for power…

I have recently had a smart meter . I wasn't too bothered either way about having one as I live alone in a flat . My usage is probably more stable and predictable than a family home .

I do like knowing which appliances are expensive.
I wouldn't have dared to have a fan on for 24 hours during the heat wave . I have now seen with my own eyes that it cost a few pence to do it .
I know that an economy wash on my new washing machine is a lot cheaper than I thought it would be . The oven on my 20+ year old cooker is very expensive and to be avoided where possible.
I had no idea how much a long luxurious shower was ( having had it drilled into me that shower =cheap , bath =expensive . (The short shower part seemed to have passed me by .)
I always assumed that a short wash was cheaper than a long one in the washing machine . I now know that the very long cooler programs are much cheaper.
I know that having a light on or charging my phone is negligible compared to my iron or hair dryer.

In short , a smart meter has helped me see what is costing the most to run and what is a lot cheaper to have on than than I thought . I'm on a low wage so I find it really helpful to see where I can make savings ( short shower , economy wash ) and what is cheaper than I thought ( lights , a kettle boiled for a mug costs about 2p).
Knowledge is power ( no pun intended !)

@Montgomerymmoose I can just look at the back of my fan for example and see it's 50w, so 1.2kw a day

I'm hoping it's not the pond as I love it.

Some people I know are using 1/3 of what we use so I need to get to the bottom it.

If you fall into debt on a credit meter the energy company has to go through the process of getting a warrant and instruct a bailiff to enter your premises to fit a prepayment meter.

Smart meters can be switched from credit to prepayment remotely, by the supplier, no bailiff needed.

It's going to cause a lot of grief this winter

Because my ordinary meters work perfectly well. They are made of plastic and I think it is ridiculous to throw them away when they have no problem. Energy companies harp on about "predicting requirements". Well guess what. My family of 4 have lived here for 15 years. Our energy use is pretty ordinary. Predict it based on that, not a stupid "smart" meter that is made of more plastic and has another plastic handheld companion that needs to live in my house (for no particular reason). It isn't smart to chuck plastic out. So they can fuck off with their smart meters.

DH just turned pump off and it is using loads.

If you fall into debt on a credit meter the energy company has to go through the process of getting a warrant and instruct a bailiff to enter your premises to fit a prepayment meter.

Smart meters can be switched from credit to prepayment remotely, by the supplier, no bailiff needed.

It's going to cause a lot of grief this winter

all those people cancelling their direct debits on 1st October - do they realise that they could be switched like this? if they go into debit on October the 1st then how long before they get switched over

It isn't a quick process, as the energy company has to go through a process to try and sort out a debt plan with you, make sure you aren't vulnerable etc. first.

I think the "don't pay" people are hoping that if people are refusing to pay in such HUGE numbers, it will overwhelm the energy companies. I'm not convinced that will be the case though.

No, but that's what the adverts want you to think! You only pay for what you use regardless of the type of meter.

Some have to be within 10 metres of the meter to work or something like that. Mine didn't work if it was too far away so I didn't use it as meter was in the hall and signal from any of the rooms was very poor

I’m not getting one because they want me to get one and they’re cunts so they can fuck off.

all those people cancelling their direct debits on 1st October - do they realise that they could be switched like this?

They're only supposed to cancel if a million people pledge to do the same - as @acrobatcaviar says, there is still a process to follow, but it will be swifter than going through the Magistrates court and instructing a bailiff, so it's a risk some people might not be aware of if they join the campaign, which is relying on volume. Perhaps energy companies will want to make examples of people though (the 'won't pays' rather than 'can't pays')??

It's actually the government that are compelling the utility companies to get them installed so.....hang on.....no, as you were. 😉

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone, I've found this thread really useful. Seems to be such a divide in why people don't want them vs liking them.

I'm wondering if we should cancel our instalment now.

Just a note that you should be paying over your usage just now because this is when usage is at its lowest. If you only pay what you use every month, then you pay relatively little in summer and then need to find £700 a month
or something for the winter months. That's why direct debits are a fixed sum - you pay more than you use in summer and less than you use in winter and it's meant to even out.

If you don't want the electricity company to sit with your money as credit then pay what you use and put the rest into your own savings so you can afford the big bills in winter. But make sure you have got the money somewhere because you have to pay for what you use regardless of payment method.

Another note
make sure you put in meter readings now and get billed for those reading at the unit price now

you don’t want underestimated bills and pay for electric and gas at higher prices in October