Smart meters

one of the main reasons for my becoming an octopus was annoyance at being constantly nagged by calls and letters to get a smart meter.
that was e-on, or their meter-fitting contractor.
i had told them repeatedly that i didn't want one.
a friend whom i recommended to octopus had to actually wait to get a smart meter fitted by octopus.
amd when they couldn't complete the job on the same day, as one meter was outside and it was raining, they credited her £10.
people who want smart meters, fine.
it's being harassed about them which i object to.

I love my smart meter! It helps me keep track of my usage and what appliances are using the most. I am with Utilita and there is no standing charge for the meter either. Price is reasonable for this day and age and it hasn’t gone wrong…yet! Some utility companies are obviously better than others but I do think we have to change with the times and realise that some long standing ways of doing things will eventually become obsolete.

I haven't got one and don't want one, I ignore emails telling me I need one and no longer seem to get the, too many to mention, phone calls. One thing that really annoyed me about the campaign to install smart meters was the promise that it would make your bills cheaper - what a load of nonsense, I think we all realise that if we turn off the heating, use the tumble dryer less etc etc then our bills go down without the need to be constantly looking to see how much each appliance is costing.

knspol

I haven't got one and don't want one, I ignore emails telling me I need one and no longer seem to get the, too many to mention, phone calls. One thing that really annoyed me about the campaign to install smart meters was the promise that it would make your bills cheaper - what a load of nonsense, I think we all realise that if we turn off the heating, use the tumble dryer less etc etc then our bills go down without the need to be constantly looking to see how much each appliance is costing.

You’ve got it in a nutshell knspol.👏👏
You would have to have been living in a cave for the last 10 years to not know which appliances cost the most to run.

If I want and need to use my kettle - I will use my kettle - despite being able(or unable) to find out how much it's costing me. Same thing with any gadget
If there's power shortages - they can either switch 'everybody' off - OR THEY CAN INCREASE , TEMPORARILY - the tariff at YOUR end, if you have a 'smartmeter'.
If you don't have one-they cannot do this.

I’m about to get my third smart meter installed 🙄 the first two went “dumb” within weeks of being installed- and installation took ages because of our thick, solid stone, internal walls.
I’m tired of the contortions needed to read them at the moment - they are in different but equally inaccessible cupboards; one under the stairs, one high in the kitchen. Because of the age of the house and said walls I can’t have them moved.
The current provider has finally offered me an acceptable deal on my fuel bills if I let them change them to the newer smart meters , so I’m interested (but not very hopeful )

Anyone changed supplier as I've heard that can be a problem when you've a meter?
Mind you, that was a few years back.

Scottish Power are on a campaign at the moment, first I had an email, then a phone call, and now I have been offered a £100 Amazon voucher to get one installed. It's tempting, but I still don't want one.

Notagranny44

They told us some time ago that we "needed" them. When they came to look at our old, thickwalled stone-built house, they couldn't get a phone signal near the meter, so gave up and went away! They haven't bothered us since!

That is what I keep telling our electricity supplier but they say they will send an engineer to check. We can only get a mobile signal upstairs or out in the yard.

I’m with octopus and got an email saying our meter was coming to the end of its certification and we needed to have a smart meter. I replied saying I didn’t want one, was there an alternative? They said they are not compulsory but it may malfunction or be a fire hazard. This is all because the gov want everyone to have one I think it’s by 2030. We have two little cupboards easily accessible on the outside wall. Octopus send me a reminder online every month, and I go outside, read the meters and send them the reading. I have never had an estimated bill so I’m sticking with the old ones until I am forced to change.

I was nagged for YEARS by a major supplier and always refused including the ‘we are coming to fit a SM next week’ and banning all post and phone calls about it. However, having recently downsized to an older property our new supplier politely informed us that the certification on our meter was going to be obsolete within a few months. They sent us the link below, I checked it and they are right. I sent the same link to my DinL who rang her supplier direct and found her meter is good for another 10 years. So I would suggest you do either of those and check for yourself. In the end everything has a sell by date and this after all is a vital safety issue.

www.gov.uk/guidance/electricity-meter-certification

PS. A beautiful period house in Bradford on Avon lost it’s roof , attic and first floor due to an electrical arc from an out of date meter. No-one had notified them, they were unaware that the meter might be obsolete. Don’t learn the hard way.

New built house-10months old- complete with so-called 'smart meters', by british gas- worked fine till they went on a 'new' system- now wont send signal to them so for last 6months theyve been asking me to read meters & send it- we 3 all have disabilities so cannot get down to do this- i tried my best last week, but i must have pressed wrong button or something- they told me my bill was £1,102.16- FOR ONE MONTH!!! (other months has varied from £68- £110!) SO theyre coming to read them tomorrow.And to see why it wont send signals back.I'm wondering if they have turned it off like other poster said EDF had? 🤔

No you don't and I wouldn't. Wish I'd never got one. It's never worked in 8 years! Will not pair..

Yes I know about this Sakura4 and I have already checked mine. It’s good for another 12 months so I will change then. Thanks for the info anyway.

I wish British gas would give me £100 voucher- im doing their job for them, despite having the "smart meter"😆

Our old victorian house had smart meters but though they sent a signal to octopus they would not connect to in home display due to being in cellar wìth the thick old stone walls/floors.

My neighbour had a card meter where you top up the card. She changed supplliers and was assured it would work. It didn't and 9 hours on the phone trying to get through to them. We charged her phone and stored meds that needed to be in a fridge.
A bit off topic but perhaps might help someone not to trust what new supplier will say

Almost everyone around this area has the card.
Theyre fine,until they malfunction.

What have people got against them?

Missiseff

What have people got against them?

Against cards or smart meters?
I think there’s enough information on here to answer your question.

Have a smart meter that sits quietly in the corner. Updates usage. Octopus. They seem quite good for an energy firm. Who knows with these companies

Had a smart meter for years with no problems. As for the monitoring gadget I moved mine from the kitchen to a shelf in the attached garage.. I only see it when I intentionally want to.

I never switched our display on 4allweknow it’s unwrapped in a cupboard, I can manage and view our account from the app if I want to.

We had one from a previous supplier about ten years ago. To this day we still have no idea what it does or is supposed to do. The instructions are gooble-de-gook to us. We've never seen anything that tells us usage of gas or electric, no idea what buttons to press for info, don't even know if it still works - or ever did.

As someone said, it is obvious that a tumble dryer costs a lot to run, as does an electric heater, so we are very careful with those - but at our age we sometimes need a bit of convenience.

However, the smartmeter must do something cos we have not had a physical meter reading of either gas or electric in all that time, though our bills seem a lot higher than our neighbours.

We opted for a water meter around the same time and that significantly reduced our bills to around 25% of what they were but it isn't a smartmeter - someone has to stick their head down a hole in the street to read it. The bills often say they have been read by the water company and then the next reading is lower!!! In 2020 we went on a 3-month World Cruise in Jan/Feb/March and managed to use twice as much water as we did the following July/Aug/Sept with a garden full of flowers and vegetables!