Smart Meters - Downsides?

[LovingLifesHurdles]

I'm considering having a smart meter installed. Are there any down sides of having one?

Usually you just press 9 for a reading if it's a standard smart meter..

I was going to list that as a downside! I hate seeing it mount. Sometimes I I think I’d feel better if I didn’t know! If the dog is sick on the bed, I have to wash the bedding. I don’t need to see the smart meter mounting as well!

Joking aside (that was a joke!) In general, I like having it. If I wasn’t so broke, I’d probably be enjoying being a bit nerdy about how much everything costs!

With a non smart meter, if they want to disconnect you and you refuse access to your property they will just get a warrant and gain access that way.
There's nothing conspiracy theory about them being able to disconnect through a smart meter though.

only that you're constantly reminded how much it costs. This could be a good thing for some though.

We’ve unplugged ours since it never updated to the new tariff despite many phone calls and attempts at trying, in the end our provider wanted £50 to supply a new one, since we’ve been mindful when using both gas and electric, we find ourselves £600 in credit, so they can take a run and jump, like a PP I know the tumble drier eats electric, we’ve held off putting the heating on but I will use utilities when necessary and I don’t need reminding by an electronic gadget that it’s now more expensive. Not only that but when the smart meter was on, we still had requests to submit meter readings every month and had the meter reading person turn up a couple of times a year so I don’t actually see the point.

My meters are outside and I don't really give them a second thought. I like not having to remember to take readings from them. I do occasionally check bills against my own readings though.

Can't think of a downside except that when you change provider they don't always automatically start picking up readings. I had to chase my current provider up twice before they started reading my electricity for some reason, whereas gas they did right from the start.

Ours is absolutely fine and perfectly happy with it. Will immediately get one in our new house.

We got one a few weeks ago. Only issue we have is our electricity meter is too far away from our gas meter so we can only have a smart meter for electricity, still have to do manual gas readings

Thank you for all your comments, it was a really insightful read.

I've been known to jump into new technologies too quickly without looking into things properly and I wanted to avoid it on this occasion. I can see the benefit of keeping an eye on the consumption and not having to bother with meter readings. On the other hand I hate things being out of my control and I worry a bit about something going wrong with it and not being able to get the electricity company to fix it.

In the end, we actually have 0 phone signal in the house (I have tried a number of different providers), and the meters are under the stairs. It seems like this would be a non starter for us in this case, and I didn't know so thank you for those who flagged this up!

Cottagecheeseisnotcheese · Today 15:18
there is also the possibility of pricing according to time of day so units cost more in the evenings and weekends so those you can do their laundry at 11am or 2pm get it cheaper than those you need to do it at 7am or 7pm or Saturday morning

Er......so exactly the same situation - if you are on an 'Economy 7' tariff - as now then.

That was a great post OP.
Judging from the comments I'm going with control of my own meters and readings thank you.

I dont understand the phone signal thing because we have no signal in our house at all, yet the smart meter seems to work fine. It was already here when we moved in so no idea how it was installed etc. I like not having random people turn up to read a hidden away meter.

we had one installed then switched providers and I don’t it sends the readings anymore. I moved ours so it’s on but hidden under the desk, it was too depressing to see it tick up

It horrifies me to look at it .

That particular "conspiracy theory" is not a theory at all.

Most smart meters have a hardware switch that is remotely controlled by the energy company, not by you.

And even if you pay all your bills on time, there is no telling if some software bug could happen, or when some incompetent dimwit could be put in charge of the switch by the company.

We have a smart meter ( no issues at all) but we don't use the consumer display at all (in a drawer somewhere). I can check my usage on an app.

You don't have to use the display if you don't want to.

With regard to turning off people's supply, before smart meters, an electricity company needed a court order to enter a house without the owner's consent to turn off the power or to replace the standard meter with a PAYG card meter. It was expensive and time consuming and so they only pursued that route if absolutely unavoidable.

With a smart meter, they can turn off your power or switch you to a payg tariff, where you have to top up your credit on-line (and pay a higher rate) remotely.

They don't need a court order, because they do not need to enter your home, so it's cheaper, easier and is inevitably happening more often. Especially this winter.

Once someone is moved to PAYG and the higher tariff, they are very reluctant to reverse it for the simple reason they make more profit.

If you don't NEED a smart meter, don't be a fool.

I can't hardly see why anyone would NEED a smart meter?

The only real benefit - monitoring in real time your electricity consumption - can be achieved by using your own gadgets, called Electricity Usage Monitors. Plenty of choice online, and with some wou'll get far more detailled information, if you want.

It was easy to change back to a credit meter after I'd had a prepayment meter installed, once I cleared the debt.

We haven’t got one yet.

Friends have told me to let the dog introduce himself to anyone that looks like a smart meter engineer 🤣🤣. They have had a lot of problems with theirs.

They don’t seem to be very helpful to me.

Im not going to cut down showering and thankfully Mr McD likes a shower or two a day.

I do use the washing machine at night anyway, I tend to do the ironing at night (I’m on permanent nights - so my sleep pattern is all over the place)

im not sure how they help you save money, if you are as tight as Mr McD and I.

Good for you, you were lucky that that being in debt to the point of being forced to have a prepayment meter didn't affect your credit rating at all and your supplier immediately fulfilled your wishes?

Only thing is, in which way this has anything to do with "smart meters" being pushed for anyone's benefit other than the energy companies???

You never had to waste your time talking to walls, sorry I meant energy companies, about wildely inacurate bills?

You want to give such incompetant people a remote switch to your energy supply that some dimwit can turn OFF at any time of the day or night?

Please yourself, but count me out.

No not the same, with Economy 7 there are just two rates.,with a smart meter the supplier will have the facility to have multiple rates, so it might be VERY high at peak times, and could vary by days of the week, severe weather, public holidays etc...

The biggest down side is the energy company can decide they want you to be on a pay-as-you-go tariff and then can remotely change your meter to PAYG.

So if you're someone who struggles every once in a while to pay on time you could suddenly find yourself moved to PAYG, which is more expensive.

This is not a theoretical thing - they have been doing exactly this.