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has anyone got a smart meter

(68 Posts)
pably15 Wed 23-Sept-26 18:06:20

my electricity company have emailed me , saying that my electricity meter certificate has run out and it needs to be replaced by a smart meter. I've heard a lot of bad things about smart meters and I'm not happy about this , does anyone have any advice...

jenpax Thu 24-Sept-26 17:08:46

We have a smart electric meter and its no problem! I can access the readings away from home via the app and adjust or amend my payment levels. Sadly (for some technical reason I didnt understand) British Gas were unable to swap the gas meter which is very annoying

Juicylucy Thu 24-Sept-26 17:14:11

I’ve had one for years never had any issues with bills or anything else.

4allweknow Thu 24-Sept-26 17:18:02

Had one since 2009 for both electricity and gas. No problems at all. Only look at it near the date direct debit is due to be taken. No idea why I do this, just a habit suppose from when it was first installed.

Sadie5803 Thu 24-Sept-26 17:27:33

Just ignore it...more bully boy tactics to get there own way

Magenta8 Thu 24-Sept-26 17:46:08

jenpax

We have a smart electric meter and its no problem! I can access the readings away from home via the app and adjust or amend my payment levels. Sadly (for some technical reason I didnt understand) British Gas were unable to swap the gas meter which is very annoying

Like you I have smart meter for electricity but they were unable to fix it up for the gas meter for some mysterious reason. Every month I have to take a gas reading and submit it online.

Shabti100 Thu 24-Sept-26 17:46:59

When we moved here 6 years ago we tried to get a smart meter but they said we needed wiring sorted luckily below ground and they'd have to come back. They did quite quickly. The meter was obsolete so had new fitted. At first I used to keep checking but it been in a cupboard for 5 years now. So much more convenient than scrabbling around trying to take a reading

win Thu 24-Sept-26 17:58:35

Never had a problem and yes had one for years. I live by myself, so save a lot of money by have my usage metered.

posset Thu 24-Sept-26 18:00:04

We've had one for years with not problems. Would hate to go back to the old metering system.

Warmglovesandsocks Thu 24-Sept-26 18:16:16

Pably15 Just like so many others I was worried about changing but now don’t give it a thought. I have a water meter too.

missdeke Thu 24-Sept-26 19:34:30

I got the same message about being out of date almost two years ago. I had to cancel the appointment because my HA decided to do some work at the same time. Then other things including my health got in the way. Octopus have not contacted me since. My sister decided to have o smart meter fitted about 6 months ago and she has been very happy with it. I will get round to it eventually.

Time2 Thu 24-Sept-26 22:59:36

We applied for one when they first approached us about it. Stayed in for them to come and install, the guy turned up, and realised that we had a very slow internet connection and no mobile signal, so he couldn't fit it.

We've since moved house, but our internet signal regularly drops out, so I'm not sure it's worth trying again.

pably15 Thu 24-Sept-26 23:20:56

what would happen then If they said your meter was out of date but you didn't have a mobile signal and couldn't install a smart meter

Abcdefg Fri 25-Sept-26 12:15:40

Had nothing but problems and Octopus have been useless. Ended up at the ombudsman, still not resolved. As soon as this is sorted we are switching supplier

FranP Sat 26-Sept-26 23:32:56

my cost did go up a little but so convenient that I do not have to read or leave my gate open. My water meter has just gone smart too.

One of the advantages is that I get off-peak discounts, and by running my dishwasher and washing machine overnight using the built in delay switches, I saved £10 last month. It does show what the p per unit is currently and I vacuum and iron when the number goes down (Mostly Saturday). I par-boil the dinner spuds before 5 because the display showed me the unit rate goes up between 5 and 6.

The disadvantage is that I do these things where before I did not even think about this, and I do have better things to occupy my mind.

nanna8 Sun 27-Sept-26 00:07:10

I’ve had one for years,too. They just put them in, didn’t ask. It was free.

Juneandarchie1 Sun 04-Oct-26 21:16:36

I refused to have a smart meter. I really don’t need one to tell me how much energy I’m using. I’m very careful about what I use, as I have to be, and I don’t have a problem taking a minute out of my day every so often to read the very accessible meter.
It’s just another big brother as far as I’m concerned.

Ashcombe Sun 04-Oct-26 21:30:36

No problem with mine which I have for both gas and electricity. I persuaded my supplier to only bill me for what I use each month. They weren’t keen to do this, claiming that I’d face large amounts to pay in Winter. I retorted that at my age I am well able to manage my finances to budget for the heavier costs incurred in colder months.