Another energy meter post.

[classic33]

Well, you run backwards and forwards around your house with excel and your laptop. I think it's a lot easier to use the smartmeter display and data personally. It already has the data, trends, daily and weekly usage etc. I no longer need to permit a meter reader into my house. I used to have a tariff whereby I paid for my energy at the cost of it at the time it was generated. By having more data my billing company was able to provide better prices.

Admittedly then the Government came in and screwed it all up by letting all the companies go bust, but you can't have everything...

Smart meters do not tell you what appliance has been turned off/on. You work that out for yourself, which when done once shouldn't need repeating. But then non smart meters required you do the same.

 

[notmyrealnamebutclose]

Some more houses were blown up today, on the news, due to gas leakage. Is it getting a more regular occurrence?
Are more folks getting increasingly desperate and resorting to attempting bypassing?

 

[Alex321]

Such as?

You can go round the house turning things off/on to see what's using the most energy with a standard meter.

You can, but it will take you far longer, since each time you turn something off, you then have to go back to the meter and check the readings over a few minutes.

The display for the smart meter can be carried around the house, and shows instant energy use.

It is perfectly possible to work it out with a standard meter, much much easier and quicker with a smart meter.

Once that's done, and you've made a note of what is using what, it's just a meter like any other.

No, it isn't. Standard meters can only show the total amount you have used since you last read them

The smart meter shows you the exact amount you are using at any instant, and can also show you the cost of what you are using, how much you have used today, or this week, you can set a budget and it will war4n you when you are exceeding that.

It does a lot more than just record the total amount of energy you have used.

The only people to benefit from smart meters are the billing companies.

If that were true, the government would not be having to require the energy companies to fit them, setting targets for the numbers they must fit each year.

It's not as though meters, gas or electric, are actually hard to read.

That depends to an extent on where they are, how easy they are to get at. Ours (like most in houses built in the last 30 years) are on the outside of the house, and while many are near the door, ours aren't, they are about 10 yards from the front door, all on lawn rather than hard path.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

It's not as though meters, gas or electric, are actually hard to read.

That depends where they are, to read my sisters meter you have to stand on a set of ladders, which for a visually impaired person with mobility issues is not good, but there are no installers in her area at present

If that were true, the government would not be having to require the energy companies to fit them, setting targets for the numbers they must fit each year.

Unless of course you are a minister who has or has a family member who has an interest in the company that makes the meters

 

[Tenkaykev]

You can, but it will take you far longer, since each time you turn something off, you then have to go back to the meter and check the readings over a few minutes.

The display for the smart meter can be carried around the house, and shows instant energy use.

It is perfectly possible to work it out with a standard meter, much much easier and quicker with a smart meter.


No, it isn't. Standard meters can only show the total amount you have used since you last read them

The smart meter shows you the exact amount you are using at any instant, and can also show you the cost of what you are using, how much you have used today, or this week, you can set a budget and it will war4n you when you are exceeding that.

It does a lot more than just record the total amount of energy you have used.


If that were true, the government would not be having to require the energy companies to fit them, setting targets for the numbers they must fit each year.



That depends to an extent on where they are, how easy they are to get at. Ours (like most in houses built in the last 30 years) are on the outside of the house, and while many are near the door, ours aren't, they are about 10 yards from the front door, all on lawn rather than hard path.

As I mentioned in a previous post, you can fit an energy monitor such as the " Owl " one that I fitted about a decade ago. This gives you a freestanding display of real time energy use, and can be used to display various criteria. I have mine set to display weekly cumulative KwH and resets to zero at midnight on Sundays.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

guess if it does break then you could be without a meter for a while before realising and possibly get behind on the bills?

Or have no bills because the meter stopped reading usage?

 

[Alex321]

As I mentioned in a previous post, you can fit an energy monitor such as the " Owl " one that I fitted about a decade ago. This gives you a freestanding display of real time energy use, and can be used to display various criteria. I have mine set to display weekly cumulative KwH and resets to zero at midnight on Sundays.

Which is fair enough, but costs around £20, while the energy company will fit a smart meter for free

 

[ClichéGuevara]

Which is fair enough, but costs around £20, while the energy company will fit a smart meter for free

There is a school of thought that suggests that if you get something data related for free, you cease to be the customer and become the product.

 

[raleighnut]

The other 'snag' with 'SMART' meters is they give energy companies the ability to charge different prices at certain times, now this won't be like Economy 7 was but rather higher prices at peak periods.

On another note we were told we needed a new gas meter several years back so they came and fitted one.................It never moved from zero, we eventually noticed when they asked us for a reading so we told them they must have fitted a faulty one. They came and changed it and said "We'll estimate your usage" but after checking with Citizens Advice told them "No you can't do that " so they had to give us a refund on the standing order amount that had accrued.

 

[Alex321]

The other 'snag' with 'SMART' meters is they give energy companies the ability to charge different prices at certain times, now this won't be like Economy 7 was but rather higher prices at peak periods.

Glad you put 'snag' in quotes - I see it as a benefit, though not many energy companies are doing that yet.

Whether you see it as higher prices at peak periods, or lower prices at off-peak periods is just a matter of viewpoint.

We are with Octopus, on their agile tariff, since for most of the year, we will hardly be using anything at the peak times (due to having solar panels and battery). Today's rates vary from a low of 16.75p/unit (05:00-05:30) up to 33.97 (the max rate on that tariff) from 16:00-20:30. We probably won't use any at all today, since our battery low point today was over 30%, and it is already up to 56%

That highest rate is actually lower than their day rate on most of their standard tariffs (the same on the rest), but the lowest rate is higher than the night rate on tariffs they have which offer a night rate.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Just catching up witha few bits on here from yesterday

a) They can swicth a smart meter 'by stealth' - which is inaccurate becuase they have to tell you first but don;t require a warrent
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/smart-met...eDSx7jniVySbm-0Ms2wDA28N1u-LrRTYb5IgpS6ji0fY6
But - as implied by someone above - when I checked I found several charities saying they were alarmed by the number being switched 'by stealth' but didn;t share those numbers.
Make of that what you will

b) Meters do need changing from time to time - I got a demand from the energy company saying mine needed to be swapped due to safety concerns as it was past its replacement date
which seems fair enough
Until you realise that my house was on a small estate - so all the houses were built at about the same time - in fact mine was completed after most of the neighbours (long story!!!!) so teh meter was newer than theirs.
And yet it was only mine that needed urgent replacement as it was too old
by total coincidence I had sort of half moved in with my partner (another, and even longer story) so for the last year or so I had been only living there for a couple of days a week - and not at weekends - hence my energy usage had dropped dramatically for over a year
Now - a cynical person could think that maybe they thought I had done something dubious to the meter - but maybe or maybe not!!!


Anyway - another point about a Smart Meter is that you can have an app on your phone or web browser that give you even more data and analysis - I use one by Hugo - but Uswitch have one that I have only just noticed and may be better
These also give you access to the winter energy saving hour scheme if your energy compnay doesn;t allow you access through them - I seem to have gained nearly £12 from this so far - and there is another one today. but then I cheat by using the Solar Panel batteries to divert usage away from the grid for the relevant hour which not everyone can do.
Anyway - just information

 

[raleighnut]

Glad you put 'snag' in quotes - I see it as a benefit, though not many energy companies are doing that yet.

Whether you see it as higher prices at peak periods, or lower prices at off-peak periods is just a matter of viewpoint.

We are with Octopus, on their agile tariff, since for most of the year, we will hardly be using anything at the peak times (due to having solar panels and battery). Today's rates vary from a low of 16.75p/unit (05:00-05:30) up to 33.97 (the max rate on that tariff) from 16:00-20:30. We probably won't use any at all today, since our battery low point today was over 30%, and it is already up to 56%

That highest rate is actually lower than their day rate on most of their standard tariffs (the same on the rest), but the lowest rate is higher than the night rate on tariffs they have which offer a night rate.

Ah but with Solar and Batteries you have a completely different situation to most.

As for me I have a constant @100w load on 24hrs a day 365 days a year, my QUAD Poweramps *draw 40w each when not making a sound just to keep the electronics in thermal equalibrium (warm) and the Pre-amp about 20w. Why I hear you ask, well basically switching them off and on again causes damage as they 'heat cycle' and when first switched on they don't sound as good for 30-40 minutes until they warm up. If you dispute this then read any 'High End' hifi site where the advice is 'don't switch Amplifiers off', the exception to this is Valve Amps but most have a 'standby' switch that turns off the power to the Valve heating/emitter element whilst leaving the electronic components on.

* I use 2 QUAD 303 Poweramps first launched in 1967 and made up until 1985, my own date from @1970 and 72 respectively, they need servicing every 15-20 years or so this work being done by the factory repair shop in Huntingdon and all parts being available with the exception of the mains transformer which was a bespoke unit for this application.

Of the 94,000 303's made QUAD estimate 98% are still in working order

 

[Deleted member 26715]

We are with Octopus, .

At the risk of going OT but it is based around Smart meters, what is your thought on Flux?

This is a new tariff by Octopus supposedly designed for customers with batteries, they give a lower rate overnight, then a day rate, then a HIGH rate between 16:30 & 19:30 (I think) but you get the idea. They are also paying more for exporting especially in the HIGH perid.

 

[CXRAndy]

We are with Octopus also, all on smart meters. Variety of tariffs for house and sheds

 

[Alex321]

Ah but with Solar and Batteries you have a completely different situation to most.

Absolutely I do.

But then Octopus won't take new customers on that tariff unless they do, because they don't think it beneficial to you to switch to them.

As for me I have a constant @100w load on 24hrs a day 365 days a year, my QUAD Poweramps *draw 40w each when not making a sound just to keep the electronics in thermal equalibrium (warm) and the Pre-amp about 20w. Why I hear you ask, well basically switching them off and on again causes damage as they 'heat cycle' and when first switched on they don't sound as good for 30-40 minutes until they warm up. If you dispute this then read any 'High End' hifi site where the advice is 'don't switch Amplifiers off', the exception to this is Valve Amps but most have a 'standby' switch that turns off the power to the Valve heating/emitter element whilst leaving the electronic components on.

* I use 2 QUAD 303 Poweramps first launched in 1967 and made up until 1985, my own date from @1970 and 72 respectively, they need servicing every 15-20 years or so this work being done by the factory repair shop in Huntingdon and all parts being available with the exception of the mains transformer which was a bespoke unit for this application.

Of the 94,000 303's made QUAD estimate 98% are still in working order

100W will only use 1/10 of a unit per hour