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I have no personal experience of smart meters but my brother in law hadn't one for electric and gas from British gas. He recently went to change companies to someone cheaper and a number of the cheaper companies wouldn't sign him up because they don't support smart meters. I found this odd but apparently true.

So THAT'S why British Gas keep emailing & texting me about getting one of their smart meters...! Now it makes sense :thumb:
 
I have no personal experience of smart meters but my brother in law hadn't one for electric and gas from British gas. He recently went to change companies to someone cheaper and a number of the cheaper companies wouldn't sign him up because they don't support smart meters. I found this odd but apparently true.

It's a Government Initiative to have as many people with a smart meter installed and probably incentivised the suppliers to do this. Unfortunately, a bit like VHS and Betamax ( that's video format for the under 30s) they do not have a standard meter and one installed by Npower will not work if you transfer and the new company may have to repeat the installation.
.
Just shows you how far reaching and innovative our suppliers are NOT!
 
I see no point in smart meters other than you no longer need to let the meter reader in, everyone knows using a tumble dryer eats electricity but if you are too lazy to hang the clothes on the line a smart meter is not going to stop you using it and its the same with central heating, i have always turned everything possible off (as discussed earlier) before going to bed not just to save energy but to lessen the fire risk you do not need a smart meter to tell you doing this saves energy.
 
I see no point in smart meters other than you no longer need to let the meter reader in, everyone knows using a tumble dryer eats electricity but if you are too lazy to hang the clothes on the line a smart meter is not going to stop you using it and its the same with central heating, i have always turned everything possible off (as discussed earlier) before going to bed not just to save energy but to lessen the fire risk you do not need a smart meter to tell you doing this saves energy.

Oh yes you do!
I still get email requests for regular readings and men at the door to read the gas/electric meter end even when I explain that we have a "Smart Meter" he says just doing my job! Smart meter but not smart company in my opinion

They tell you that they will check every year or two just to make sure its working OK (No, I haven't fiddled the meters mate!) Also I read recently that one student got a smart meter reading of £70,000 in one week.
Starting to worry that my Brewday £1.60 should be much higher!

Isn't modern technology wonderful!
 
Oh yes you do!
I still get email requests for regular readings and men at the door to read the gas/electric meter end even when I explain that we have a "Smart Meter" he says just doing my job! Smart meter but not smart company in my opinion

Maybe it depends on your supplier this is British Gas -


Do I still need to have my meter read or give meter readings?

No, your meter readings are automatically sent to us by your smart meter. However, you can still take your own readings from either the smart energy monitor or the physical meters for your own information. We will send someone round every few years to check that your smart meter is operating correctly and safely.

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/help-a...ng-from-my-gas-and-electric-smart-meters.html
 
No, but it's smart to have one! They tell you much more about your energy usage than just exactly what you're using at any given time, but that's the best bit and it's easy for everyone to see at a glance what's going down in pounds and pence. I was surprised too at how little a brewday costs, what with those twin 2Kw elements raging away.
I don't disagree. I've got one.
But, as I said, you don't need one to do a (basic) meter read over shortish period like a week to check how much gas/electricity you are using and then convert that to a cost.
In general terms energy saving is mostly common sense, and has been around since folk lit, heated and cooked in their houses. Use what you need and switch it off when you don't. And if its a property insulate it. And if you cant afford it, decide what you have to do without.
 
Maybe it depends on your supplier this is British Gas -


Do I still need to have my meter read or give meter readings?

No, your meter readings are automatically sent to us by your smart meter. However, you can still take your own readings from either the smart energy monitor or the physical meters for your own information. We will send someone round every few years to check that your smart meter is operating correctly and safely.

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/help-a...ng-from-my-gas-and-electric-smart-meters.html

Same statement from Npower except the promise of checks every two years or so but that still doesn't stop them calling to read the meters!
 
I see that there are folk generally nonplussed by smart meters and reluctant to get one. I thought the same ( the missus sorted ours out) but now, just like at the dawn of mobile phones/ internet etc etc I now wonder how the hell we did without it. Give it time... you'll see.
 
I have no personal experience of smart meters but my brother in law hadn't one for electric and gas from British gas. He recently went to change companies to someone cheaper and a number of the cheaper companies wouldn't sign him up because they don't support smart meters. I found this odd but apparently true.
I've just changed to a cheaper supplier. My original supplier installed a SMART meter and used the data which it provided them. My new supplier currently don't have the capability of reading my SMART meter, although the thingy I have that shows you the data still works. And you can still take manual readings from the meter itself, just like the old style meters, although it's a digital read-out rather than an analogue display and that's what I do, and the new supplier accepts the readings.
 
Same statement from Npower except the promise of checks every two years or so but that still doesn't stop them calling to read the meters!

My meter is in an awkward place and we have asked the company several times to give us at least an hours notice before the reader calls guess what they never have so now we send the reader away telling them we need to be told when they are going to call, i was hoping the smart meter would end this silly game, looks like it wont.
 
I see no point in smart meters other than you no longer need to let the meter reader in, everyone knows using a tumble dryer eats electricity but if you are too lazy to hang the clothes on the line a smart meter is not going to stop you using it and its the same with central heating, i have always turned everything possible off (as discussed earlier) before going to bed not just to save energy but to lessen the fire risk you do not need a smart meter to tell you doing this saves energy.

I agree and it's another thing to plug in and cost you even more pounds.
 
I worked in the energy industry for 15 years until about a year ago when I left. I was mainly working in the area around metering and the connection between suppliers and the networks. You could say I know a thing or 2 about this subject.

Smart meters are being rolled out nationally with the government target for all homes to have one by 2020. If any small suppliers dont support them they will have to change or wont be around long. All industry systems are changing to support smart meters as well as there is a lot more functionality than just taking meter readings.

As for the expensive bills, take meter readings fairly regularly to build up a picture of what you are using, maybe a few days with trying to save money and a few days using it normally. as you use more in winter Id say use the total for 6 months and half the amount for 6 months to give what will probably be higher than your actual annual usage.

I tend to use comparison sites to find the cheapest supplier. As for the keeping heating on or not, whenever the heating is on it will be burning gas while it is on. When its off, it isnt. It sounds to me like your new house is not very well insulated. You didnt say if you bought or rent it. If you rent maybe you could ask the landlord about cavity wall insulation. If you own it look for government funded insulation, I got cavity wall insulation for free last year and would have had loft insulation as well but had to move stuff around the attic so they could cover 75% of the area. I did my back in as I was moving heavy boxes bending over so couldnt get it done in the end.
 
....... SWMBO only allows the heating on half an hour at a time, .........

I was always led to believe that keeping the thermostat at around 18-20 was more efficient than turning it on now and again, is this true?

........ sitting in the cupboard at 16 degrees and the poor thing is struggling.

.......

Point by point:

1. SWMBO must love you very much to let you switch the heating on for all that time.

2. No! If it's "ON" you are spending money.

3. In winter, brew a lager that happily ferments at 16 degrees.

Whenever I think of heating costs I always remember a friend who lived in an ancient and draughty twenty-two room mansion in the mountains of Scotland.

They had two "warm" (this being a relative term!) rooms. The kitchen (heated by a wood-burning Aga) and the living room (heated by a massive log burning fireplace).

If the family were anywhere other than in the kitchen or living room then, as winter approached, they could be seen slowly disappearing under increasing layers of clothing until by mid-February they all looked like Siberian refugees.

Forget Smart Meters and all the other modern "money saving" gadgets, just go out and buy a few decent sweaters from Oxfam. They will pay for themselves within a day and you will be healthier for the change.

BTW, when it's time to go to bed make sure that SWMBO goes first! :whistle:
 
I...........

Smart meters are being rolled out nationally with the government target for all homes to have one by 2020. ..........

Like many other half-assed government initiatives this one is NOT for the benefit of ordinary people!

According to what I have read (and I may be wrong):

1. The energy companies will be obliged to "offer" their customers a Smart Meter within the next few years; but the customers are NOT obligated to accept one.

2. The Smart Meters will cost millions and millions of pounds, will be bought by the government and provided to the power companies by the government FREE OF CHARGE.

3. Once installed the Smart Meters will become the THE PROPERTY OF THE POWER COMPANY THAT FITTED THEM.

4. The power companies who install the FREE Smart Meters will be allowed to increase their tariffs in order to recover the cost of installation.

So, in synopsis it is another huge screw-up by our illustrious leaders and yet again the tax-payer will subsidise private utility companies. :doh: :doh:

Remember, the one saving grace is that, AT THE MOMENT, YOU THE CUSTOMER CAN REFUSE TO ACCEPT THE INSTALLATION OF A SMART METER.

I am old enough to remember the time when the water companies conned people into installing water meters.

They introduced some really attractive tariffs to persuade people to change over to a metered supply and they even had a "No Standing Charge" system that allowed really economical people to "pay for every drop". (A phrase used in an Anglian Water promotion that is still being used today, despite the fact that it is a total lie!)

Since the majority of people now have meters, surprise, surprise, the "No Standing Charge" systems have been scrapped and the cost per cubic metre of water more than quadrupled.

The question is:

"Does anyone think that the universal
installation of Smart Meters will result in the taxpayer paying less tax,
or the ordinary householder paying less for electricity and gas?"​

If the answer is "Yes!" then I hope to live long enough to see the day that happens ... :thumb:

... and if the answer is "No!" then who will benefit? The Utility Companies of course! :doh: :doh:
 
Like many other half-assed government initiatives this one is NOT for the benefit of ordinary people!

The question is:

"Does anyone think that the universal
installation of Smart Meters will result in the taxpayer paying less tax,
or the ordinary householder paying less for electricity and gas?"​

If the answer is "Yes!" then I hope to live long enough to see the day that happens ... :thumb:

... and if the answer is "No!" then who will benefit? The Utility Companies of course! :doh: :doh:

As I said, I worked in the industry for 15 years. You'd be surprised how little utility companies actually make, when I was on the supplier side a few years ago it was about �£35 per customer per fuel. Anyone changing supplier costs about 2 years profit to process the change. When I went onto the networks side I was in what should have been well paid for the job I was doing but my salary was well below average for the area and there was a pay freeze in place because of the low level of profits. I ended up taking redundancy as it wasnt worth the effort and travelling for the salary.

Smart meters are supposed to be about energy efficiency which in turn is meant to bring savings.
 
.............

Smart meters are supposed to be about energy efficiency which in turn is meant to bring savings.

Ah, but savings for who?

The sole purpose of any commercial enterprise is to make a profit and pass that profit on to the shareholders.

The last thing a company needs is for its customers to stop or reduce the amount of money that they spend with the company.

In this instance, the people who are supposed to be saving money are actually paying out massive amounts of money for Smart Meters, which they will not actually own and which will be handed over "gratis" to the utility company that installed it.

I have yet to see a UK utility company declare a loss, (which is why so many foreign companies leapt in to purchase them when they were privatised) so, as permitted by the agreement they have the government, they will increase their prices to make up any losses that the installation of Smart Meters may cause.

In real terms, there will be no "savings" to the consumer!

Actually, the term "hoist with his own petard" springs to mind with regard to your comment on your pre-retirement salary.

"Keeping wages down." and "Reducing the number of workers." go hand in hand with "Increasing prices." when a company is looking to increase its profits. :thumb:
 
Hmm... what I pay for energy hasn't come down since getting the meter, but our wasteful consumption certainly has and we haven't suffered in any way. And the meter was free but get this - the installation company failed to keep their first 2 appointments and gave us £30 on both occasions for the inconvenience. I was wishing at the time that their engineer would phone in sick evertime he was due at our drum...
 

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