Do I want a smart meter?

[presta]

The reason I don't have one is that when I browse the MSE website, all the people I see complaining about erroneous bills are ones with smart meters. Even when people get bills so outlandish they're impossible they still seem to be in contention, I remember one case where someone was alleged to have used so much electricity the temperature inside the house would have been 2000C.

I quite like the idea of being able to download data to a spreadsheet, but not at the expense of a load of hassle over a faulty meter. I had one run in with the electricity company about 20 years ago, not a faulty meter, just incompetent admin, but it took a year and a threat from debt collectors before it was sorted out. (In the end they waived the whole bill, not just the sum in contention, and paid £30 compensation.)

There are quite a lot of people who don't understand the difference between power (which is marked on the rating plate), and energy which you pay for, and for those, I think that short duration measurements with meters are likely to be highly misleading. People latch on to high power appliances and think they're the demon without considering either the period they're used for, or the duty cycle of any thermostat. My kettle is 2.7kW, but an 18W router uses three times as much energy because the router's on all day, the kettle isn't. The peak power on the rating plate of my freezer is 90W, but the mean power, net of the thermostat duty cycle is 23W.

It's quite simple. You pay for each unit used and it's the same price per unit what ever way you pay.

DD tariffs have been cheaper than quarterly bills for more years than I can remember, it's the reason I wrestled with the decision every time I switched supplier. Check the total cost, including standing charge and any discounts, not just the unit charge.

 

[Oldhippy]

I had one and it was no use at all in quizzes.

 

[geocycle]

We have them but they regularly miss readings meaning we have to read them manually. This is probably because the mobile phone signal round here is rubbish. The plug in display was interesting for a few days then we unplugged it. I’d not bother if you can resist the hard sell.

 

[MrGrumpy]

Got an edf one and unplugged it about a day afterwards , we are going to use the same amount of electric no matter what and i have enough to worry about without seeing the ££ rising as the day goes on

That’s just the small display unit . I don’t look at mine neither . I just ask that lights and TVs are switched off when not in rooms etc

 

[fossyant]

Direct debit and I do monthly readings to the supplier, I'm in control. I believe some suppliers are struggling sending out regular bills with smart meters. I just pop my readings in a spreadsheet.

 

[a.twiddler]

Perhaps many people's lives have been filled with buttercups and unicorns since they had a smart meter installed but I can only speak from my own experience. It's many years since we had ours fitted for gas and electricity. We were with Scottish Power then. We eagerly awaited the new fangled technology which we hoped would let us see exactly what we were using in real time, especially as we already had solar panels.

A surly sub contractor and his mate rolled up, did a very speedy job, and cleared off to his next customer with a minimum of discussion. We looked at the remote read out which was very basic and didn't really tell us much. Then we found that our bills were going up despite no change in our activities. I queried this with Scottish Power who suggested that our old meters might have been under reading. Yeah, right. We asked them to send someone out to check on them, which they wouldn't do. This led to a falling out and a change of supplier, which worked out cheaper.

We've changed supplier many times since (quite a few of whom are now out of business due to recent events). Many smaller suppliers don't support the smart meter system so we went back to monthly readings. Even when we were with Eon we weren't pressured to update our smart meters to theirs. The meters still mock us with the Scottish Power logo on them.

Recently someone tried to get me interested in smart meters again, "they're second generation now sir, they're much better and you can transfer them when you move suppliers". Just colour me unconvinced for now. A meter is still a meter whatever electronic gizmos it has.

 

[welsh dragon]

Bulb energy keep sending me e-mails asking me to make an appointment to have one installed. I just keep ignoring them.

I've heard too many bad things about them not working, going wrong etc so no thanks. I will pass.

 

[si_c]

I'm not keen on companies having more information than they need about my activities. Certainly not companies who may find ways of monetising that data later. Same applies to my internet usage, I don't allow people to track my usage if avoidable.

The much touted benefits of a smart meter are entirely predicated upon you seeing your usage, looking aghast at the price and turning off a light in the house. Like most people it is unlikely that you'll find any benefit to having one unless you are particularly profligate with your usage, I doubt for example that you'll run the washing machine any less often or turn the fridge off overnight to save money.

The only real benefit as noted above, is at the supplier side where they no longer have to pay Dataserve, Morrison DS or one of the other meter reading organisations to have someone manually read your meter periodically.

The one caveat to that might be if you planned to use a time of day tariff where you are billed in half hourly increments, but if that's the case then you are likely to already have solar PV and/or a battery installation.

 

[Chromatic]

Bulb energy keep sending me e-mails asking me to make an appointment to have one installed. I just keep ignoring them.

I've heard too many bad things about them not working, going wrong etc so no thanks. I will pass.

Like you I get regular communication asking me to book to have one installed and like you I ignore them.

 

[Mark pallister]

I’ve got one ,it doesn’t work in the house ,only place it gets a signal is in the garage on the other side of the wall to the meter
it’s sat there for a couple of years now ,I never look at it and have no idea how it works
the wife sorts out all the finances and is happy as it saves her reading the meters

 

[Gillstay]

I’ve got one ,it doesn’t work in the house ,only place it gets a signal is in the garage on the other side of the wall to the meter
it’s sat there for a couple of years now ,I never look at it and have no idea how it works
the wife sorts out all the finances and is happy as it saves her reading the meters

Yep, the only saving is on sending in a reading. Would not have had one if I had been thinking on the day I agreed.

 

[MrGrumpy]

I’ve got one ,it doesn’t work in the house ,only place it gets a signal is in the garage on the other side of the wall to the meter
it’s sat there for a couple of years now ,I never look at it and have no idea how it works
the wife sorts out all the finances and is happy as it saves her reading the meters

I use the app to see my usage, can see spikes on a daily basis. Never bothered looking at the small display telling you what your currently using . All those saying it doesn’t save you money . Well getting one fitted may not do that but it can help point you to think about what your spend is !
Main issue with them is changing provider , they seem to stop. That for me is wrong, although I suspect the real issue is mobile signal strength.

 

[Alex321]

Do most energy suppliers not offer quite a decent discount for paying by direct debit though?

Most do, yes.

 

[Hornchurch]

Don't do it.

Make them send you a quarterly bill and pay it as and when.
Do not go direct debit and watch your usages.

Quarterly bills "don't happen" anymore, according to the M.S.E (Money-Saver-Expert) discussion forums I wuz reading.

I was ALWAYS quarterly, until the bar-stewards "moved the goal-posts" - (A LARGE FAMOUS SUPPLIER, I SHALL NOT NAME !)

Looked into it (as you do), only to find that THE last ('man standing') supplier, ONLY does "Quarterly" on Direct-Debit.

Bollocks to that, thinks I...... (my outlook is/was the same as yours)

Alas, the "robbers" that I'm with (UK's largest & most famous, IIRC), have now gone monthly only - No option.

I've ravaged them several times already - As I'm a "bit sharp" with the Ombudsman - Have won 2 x cases so far.


Quite rewarding when the HUGE large, big "smug B'strds" DON'T listen to your repeated pleas** (rather likie a minnow)

All I asked for was a sodding 'paper-bill' - The self-same type I've had from them, for the last 20+ years....

** Only then (months later), to find that YOU'VE taken them to the Ombudsman - "Whoops" !!!!!!


Then & only then, do they "fall over backwards" to help you - And beg you not to "up the ante" (persue the case).

Ignorant B'strds - If only they'd listened AND sent me the paper-bill, I wouldn't be "ragging them".


I'm quite savage with them & the last time (2021, pre-"name-change"), they paid £200.00 of my bills, for nothing (thanks you deaf-mugs !)


Having the "energy supplier Ombudsman" on your side AND on their case, is a wonderful sight to behold.

Just do what I did - screenshot everything & keep all your paperwork & records (as I did) - worked a treat !

However, Quaterly payments now (sadly), rather do seem like a thing of the past, which, disappoints me bitterly.

Sign of the times.....Alas.

.

 

[Alex321]

It's quite simple. You pay for each unit used and it's the same price per unit what ever way you pay.
They just like DD as they can profit from the overpayment investment.
When you atchually look deep it's no saving

Most suppliers do give a discount for DD.

I must admit, regardless of discount, I would also personally hate to do it your way. Much prefer to have known monthly bills than variable ones quarterly.