Smart meters

Think we must have a Dim Meter as it only occasionally sends a meter reading to our energy supplier. I have queried this with them and have been told that they take time to get working properly! Also the amount of usage that it shows bears no resemblance to our meter readings so is totally misleading. I have contacted our supplier about this but have not received an answer yet, Whatever amount of money these companies are investing in smart meters would be of better use put to reducing our bills!

Smileless2012

Messages asking users to turn of some of their appliances during peak times; are you sure Normandygirl? I know some have signed up to restrict their usage during peak times, but that's not the same thing.

A couple of my friends here have had requests to reduce usage at peak times and a friend in America had the same thing during the summer heatwave. I presume there was too much air con usage? You are correct that they received " incentives" to sign up to a contract that allows the energy company to do this.
The pertinent point though, is that smart meters allow the energy company to control your energy use, not you. What happens when everyone has a smart meter and incentives are no longer needed to persuade?
Energy companies in France are under immense pressure to have all of their customers on smart meters by 2025 or they face multi million euro fines for failure to do so. This had led to very aggressive selling/bribing tactics, with some customers being told "it's the law" that they have to agree.
I don't see that there are any real advantages to the customer but huge advantages to the energy companies and government.

Sorry this is a long story....I decided to get a Smart Meter from SSE (now OVO) because reading my meter had got difficult for me. I’m on electric with storage heaters so I’m on Economy 10. That’s a cheaper rate during three periods of day and night totalling 10 hours.
Smart Meter was installed. No check was done to see if everything working. Next morning I realised there was no heating from storage heaters and no hot water. I’m 80 and disabled. Phoned SSE. Eventually was told someone would come “anytime up to 11pm.” No-one arrived.
Phoned SSE Customer Service (based in South Africa). Later a replacement Smart Meter was finally installed and storage heaters etc started working. (The other meter had been faulty.) The Display Unit shows high costs during times of cheaper rate. I give up. I just can’t be bothered any more. There are loads of other things about it all but that’s enough now.

I find my smart meter very useful. I am on a pretty tight budget so it really helps. Living alone, I don’t mind economising and it certainly points out the major energy guzzling items I have.

I have a smart meter because my meter is on an outside wall. I try not to look at the smart meter because I am shocked at the cost of just boiling a kettle. I am on Economy 10 and am all electric and because not very mobile have to have keep the heaters on. I asked EON if I could go on a lower tariff but was informed that I was already on the lowest possible tariff with consideration that I was on a State pension. I really do feel sorry for those people who cannot afford the cost.
Everything was much easier years ago when things were nationalised and we only had three utility bills.

susie you can still take reading yourself and I am supposing that edf have an online facility so you can send readings in.

We can’t have one as we live in a penthouse apartment and consequently are too far from the meter so they can’t read each other! We are just being as careful as possible!

I like my smart meters, the fact that readings are sent automatically and I no longer have to crouch down on the the ground to read the gas meter outside. I am not obsessed by the monitor which sits inside the house but I did turn my heating down and there was quite a difference in cost

I was never going to get one but changed my mind and glad I did so

If Smart Meters are so smart, why can't they show the energy cost including VAT?

Candelle's husband

Some of you are getting confused here - the actual smart meters are the ones that replaced your old gas and electricity meters, the main benefit of these is you never need to take meter readings, basically you can just forget about them. The small digital display you have in your house just gives you assorted information about your usage and tariff - this is not a smart meter and you do not have to use it if you do not want to, although I find it useful being a prepayment customer.

We had solar panels installed a few years ago. The display for the smart meter (electricity only, as we're too rural for mains gas) is in the utility room, and it often reads zero. We're with Octopus and get paid for electricity we export (although there's no feed-in tarriff these days), but that's obviously less than the cost of the energy we use from the grid. So seeing the display reading zero is a good prompt to tell me that now would be a good time to put the dishwasher on or do some vacuuming.

I like the IHD - tells me how much I’m using daily - that helps me to regulate my usage

Messages asking users to turn of some of their appliances during peak times; are you sure Normandygirl? I know some have signed up to restrict their usage during peak times, but that's not the same thing.

I have had smart meters in the past, although not at present. I think people get overwrought up about them. They are just meters that send readings to your energy supplier and now can offer you cheaper rates at busy times, if you can manage without power for an hour or so.

All these little displays in the kitchen are just window dressing. If you want to know your consumption there were identical gadgets around before smart meters, and probably still are. We had one of these, called an Owl, 15-20 years ago. It showed us that our consumption went up if we put on a white appiance, something we had worked out decades earlier and that generally we were economical with energy.

When we got a smart meter, we put the device in a drawer - and then it got lost. Didn't really matter as we changed our supplier and it ceased to be smart. When the meter needed changing we were given an unsmart meter. I do not know why, it was never discussed with us.

I am now on a list for smart meters. a meter, is a meter, is a meter and as our electricity meter is outside and last time I got soaked when I went out to read it. So change is on the way.

Why on earth would you want to hand over control of your energy usage to the supplier? That's what a smart meter is intended for, so that the energy companies can monitor and if needed, restrict your usage. In Europe and the US they are now used to send a message asking you to turn off some of your appliances to reduce usage at peak times. How long before the request becomes a demand and non compliance will be a fined?

We have declined all offers of smart meters from our energy provider and will continue to do so having read so much about the pitfalls. We are quite capable of taking readings from our old style electricity and gas meters and sending them to our supplier which we now seem obliged to do for accurate bills as meter readers calling at the house seem to be a thing of the past.
We're not happy about the price hikes, although we can afford bigger bills. We have taken to turning down the thermostat (considerably), turning off lights and avoiding using the tumble dryer and the oven to save money.

I have had a smart meter for some time . The IHD stopped working this year , I haven’t changed suppliers . EDF sent me a new one - still doesn’t work . They have now told me “due to a National issue” they cannot get my IHD to work. I can’t read my meters so although EDF can take readings I am unable to . I’m a bit suspicious that it stopped working when the huge rises began and I opted to stop a monthly budget DD as they wanted to put it up to an astronomical £350 a month, even in the summer. I will get DS to read the meters this month just to check .

dragonfly46

I too realise the gadget on the counter is not the smart meter as I have two big ones in the meter cupboards outside. It does not need to be plugged in as it can run on batteries.
I have to admit I find it useful as it has made me aware of how much various things cost.

A lot of posts on this thread refer to the smart meter when they obviously mean the In Home Display. Just thought I'd point it out that you don't need to be driven mad looking at it all the time.

MadeinYorkshire do you have other heat sources - log burner?
You must try and keep rooms you use around 18 degs for your health.
Nannan2 as useful as a chocolate teapot really 🙄

I too realise the gadget on the counter is not the smart meter as I have two big ones in the meter cupboards outside. It does not need to be plugged in as it can run on batteries.
I have to admit I find it useful as it has made me aware of how much various things cost.

No Tilly- it doesnt go off if you reach budget(shouldnt do) it just carries on and then you continue running up the bill!

Yes pittcity- i know the small screen is the IN HOME DISPLAY but that doesnt connect right to my smart meters which are down in the not nice basement and im disabled so the IHD is needed but its useless.Lady at bulb said its too far away- so i asked why they stuck meters in cellar then? She had no reply.(theres a utility and a little pantry they could have put them in but no! Idiots.

My elderly mother was led to believe by her energy supplier that a smart meter would save her money!!! She actually thought she would get charged less. I was furious and had to explain it only saves you money as you are constantly reminded by the damn thing of what you are spending and therefore perhaps cut back resulting in a lower bill - and possibly hypothermia. Very naughty

Obsessed with mine too - but as I only have a max of £2.68 a day to spend on energy, it's hardly surprising really ...

PS £2.68 is only enough to heat my water and run my light, laptop, TV etc ... no heating!

We have one smart meter which displays both gas and electric usage. We decided to get one as we had to get on our hands and knees with a torch to read the meters so it was easier for the readings to be sent automatically.
We never look at our smart meter now - it’s just there. It has always mystified me why the adverts say they will save you money as surely only the consumer can do this by turning down the heating/lights off etc. I’ve never bought a tumble dryer as I’d heard they were expensive to run, we have run our central heating at a lower temperature this winter and tried to remember to turn lights off etc.