There's also the facility for the energy companies to remotely switch people to a prepayment scheme.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63554879
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63554879
Another energy meter post.
- Thread starter stephec
- Start date
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Do post some links to this 3rd generation of Smart Meter that your friend mentions. As far as I can see, no such item exists or is planned for.
Why? What is there not to trust?
It's not about that. It's about the convenience of having meter readings every 30 minutes for gas and pretty much in real time for electricity. This allows your energy company to plan better, National Grid to plan better and in theory helps lower your energy costs as it can also help you to plan better. Expect to be excluded from some cheaper tariffs if you don't have a smart meter.
classic33
Leg End Member
Isn't the 3G network being turned off in the UK by nearly all providers, this year, rendering the meters useless.
Third Generation Smart Meters
Yes. People like this lady who failed to pay her bills and did not communicate with her supplier. I do wish they'd stop calling it a prepayment meter. The meter hasn't changed, just the payment method.
So yes, if you routinely don't pay your bills and don't respond to phone calls or e-mails from your supplier, you may well get switched to a prepayment method.
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
Why, the sound quality of my fridge doesn't change..............also modern HiFi gear sounds crap most of the time, I know I've heard a few at friends/work colleagues houses in fact you need to spend rather a lot of money to even approach the sound of my set-up. There are exceptions like Sugden, Naim and Linn to name a few (there are others too) but most modern (mainly Japanese) Hifi I find too harsh and 'spitty/shouty' so that after a while they become wearing alright if you just have em on quiet as background music but not for long time listening pleasure.
Yep most people do not have the palate/hearing to tell the difference, oh and BTW I'm not one of those who pays hundreds if not thousands of pounds on interconnects or speaker cables as long as they are of suitable quality the difference is minimal for instance my speaker cable is QED 79 strand at less than a pound a metre so for 4 x 5 metre lengths less than £20
Yes and no. The meters will be fine. The hub modem may need an upgrade though.
Wow a vague article from 2015 about a Korean manufacturing company. Not sure what it is telling us, or if these "3rd gen" meters will ever be produced and if they are, whether they are any different for the consumer than a SMETS 2 meter,
classic33
Leg End Member
Reliance on a network that's soon to be switched off in the UK, by most mobile operators.
And some of it's from 2014 as well.
Conference held in Lyon.
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If the big deal about smart meters is that I know exactly what I'm using then point 2 here sums up perfectly why I don't really need one.
Alex321
Veteran
- Location
- South Wales
You don't need one unless you are wanting to start exporting and being paid for it.
But there is not really any significant downside to having one, and it may help you a little.
It is expected to help the country as a whole when just about everybody has one.
To be fair I don’t know what the problem is with smart meters . I can see exactly what I’m spending or have spent ? However to be fair before this energy crisis I probably didn’t give too hoots about the readings ! One thing though it saves sending in meter readings and estimate bills !!
ClichéGuevara
Legendary Member
- Location
- Kingston upon the River Hull
There's been a lot of comments which sadly haven't led to a meaningful debate regarding the frequencies that the networks operate on interfering with the measurements of various pollutants as they emit frequencies that are in a similar range which risks skewing the data.
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
1st gen. smart meters weren't very smart, so they came up with the 2nd gen. These too have their issues (many listed on several threads here at CC). I told Eon that trusted neither the 1st or 2nd gen. smart meters and will wait for the 3rd gen and see what consumer feedback on those is like, and if it continues to be poor, I'll wait for the 4th gen. They haven't asked me since about getting a smart meter fitted... and they certainly didn't say there won't be a 3rd gen.
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Z’ha’dum
IIt does need to be pointed out that some of the 1st Gen smart meters just needed a software upgrade to become 2nd Gen meters
A software upgrade that can be done over the network
Mine was like that
Exactly why I had to pester then for a few years before they did it - in spite of their website saying how wonderful it was to have a smart meter and several companies promising to do it - has yet to be explained
But once someone bothered trying it just became a 2nd gen meter - when I checked the make and model it turned out that it was always capable of being either!
A software upgrade that can be done over the network
Mine was like that
Exactly why I had to pester then for a few years before they did it - in spite of their website saying how wonderful it was to have a smart meter and several companies promising to do it - has yet to be explained
But once someone bothered trying it just became a 2nd gen meter - when I checked the make and model it turned out that it was always capable of being either!
classic33
Leg End Member
Possible, but another possible may be that many gas supply routes into houses are no longer known. This includes the larger gas mains.
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
Yep, I lived in a complex of Flats,Maisonettes and Houses* on London rd in Stoneygate Leicester (posh area) self managed by a 'Residents Committee' with well tended communal gardens called Oliver Court, nice place built in the 70's. One day they were renewing the gas mains on the road that was the rear entrance to the place and also access to the residents garages and car parking and cut off the gas supply to the middle section (where we lived) after a couple of days with no heating the contractors were contacted and the British Gas representative informed the committee that "You don't have gas" and was most surprised when he was told "why are we paying gas bills then" cue much red faces and the supply being reconnected to the 10 flats and 8 maisonettes in the centre block that had 'forced air' central heating.
My point being that this wasn't some ancient place that had been renovated but a modernish complex and this was also before privatisation when if you had gas it was British Gas as the only supplier and they still hadn't got the maps right of where the pipes ran underground and despite sending bills to the properties still didn't seem to know they supplied us.
* 30 flats on 3 floors as the front block, 8 ground floor flats with 3 bed maisonettes above and 1 1st floor flat (ours) and 1 2nd floor flat above us in the centre block and 10 4 bed terraced houses on the rear block
