Smart energy meters, should I/shouldn't I?

[Illaveago]

Our smart meter has stopped working . Not sure if it is because we changed supplier or that it has just given up . It was working since the change over but not now .
Apart from being able to read your meter from it I don't see the point of them . Are we supposed to sit by them all day switching things on and off just to see what each one does to the readings ?
We still have to take the meter readings and send them in each month .

 

[I like Skol]

We still have to take the meter readings and send them in each month

Isn't that supposed to be the key point, accurate, remote billing?

 

[Tanis8472]

Mine is accurate without it
I give them a reading or they send someone.

 

[wonderloaf]

Just recently we've had to renew our gas & electricity tariff and it seems every company insists on a meter being fitted (this was through comparethemarket.com). We've been with EDF for a number of years and they've been very good so don't want to change as we've had very bad experiences with BG, Npower and Scottish & Southern (to the point where we nearly had to get the Ombudsman involved with S&S). So we've renewed with EDF again and capitulated to having a meter fitted, although on their website it says it will be a 2nd generation version that should be compatible with all suppliers ... we'll just have to wait and see.

But I've just realised that I've got their numbers blocked on my mobile and landline phones as we were getting so many calls previously asking 'when we would like to have the meter fitted?', although we hadn't asked or agreed to this .... must remember to unblock those numbers at some point

 

[vickster]

Not Smart Meter related but my wife talked me into putting our Gas and Electric on Direct Debit last year.

EDF have managed to nigh on double it in a year, just as I expected they would...

Lesson learned, back to quarterly payments for me.

If you have a big credit, ask them to return the extra and to set a DD that reflects actual usage.
And do a check to confirm that you're getting a good tariff

 

[Deleted member 1258]

If you have a big credit, ask them to return the extra and to set a DD that reflects actual usage.
And do a check to confirm that you're getting a good tariff

We're with OVO and I tend to treat the energy account as a savings account, they pay interest on the money in it and i can draw money out of the account, just have to leave some in to cover the next bill.

 

[vickster]

We're with OVO and I tend to treat the energy account as a savings account, they pay interest on the money in it and i can draw money out of the account, just have to leave some in to cover the next bill.

That's fine assuming you couldn't be saving more with a different supplier on a cheaper tariff

 

[icowden]

There are a few things going on here.

You don't have to have a smart meter if you don't want one BUT...

The energy companies *have* to install Smart Meters in all homes or they will be fined by the government. This is a UK government initiative and despite the cynicism further up this page, the initiative is about trying to reduce energy usage. The rationale is that if you use a smart meter you can see how much power you are using and how much it is costing you, thus you will be encouraged to use energy better.

So, the energy companies have to encourage you to have a smart meter fitted but you don't have to use the console and your supplier can set it up to work like a dumb meter. To me there seems little advantage in this. In order to get you on board the energy companies are using the carrot and stick approach. If you have an ordinary meter you may be charged a much higher tariff, for example. If you are an energy company this makes a lot of sense. It's a lot more cost effective to have data from a smart meter as you can much better predict energy usage.

The stick is the endless e-mails, calls, texts, letters telling you how wonderful smart meters are and why you should get one.

I'm with Bulb and had one fitted. It took 6 months to commission because the fitting is done by a service company, not by your supplier. That said it works well. I can see just how much energy is being used and can walk around the house telling my children just how much they need to pay me as they have left the lights on in their bedroom and the TV on AGAIN.

 

[Poacher]

So, the energy companies have to encourage you to have a smart meter fitted but you don't have to use the console and your supplier can set it up to work like a dumb meter. To me there seems little advantage in this. In order to get you on board the energy companies are using the carrot and stick approach. If you have an ordinary meter you may be charged a much higher tariff, for example. If you are an energy company this makes a lot of sense. It's a lot more cost effective to have data from a smart meter as you can much better predict energy usage.

The stick is the endless e-mails, calls, texts, letters telling you how wonderful smart meters are and why you should get one.

Looks to me like two sticks and no carrots.

 

[icowden]

The carrot is "save money with a smart meter"

 

[I like Skol]

The carrot is "save money with a smart meter"

That's not what you said. It is a stick, i.e let us fit a smart meter or we will hike up your prices. No carrot in sight.

 

[keithmac]

If you have a big credit, ask them to return the extra and to set a DD that reflects actual usage.
And do a check to confirm that you're getting a good tariff

I'll be sorting it out in two months when contract is up and changing suppliers.

Fancy signing up to the pair that were on Dragons Den, will see how that goes!.

 

[Milkfloat]

We're with OVO and I tend to treat the energy account as a savings account, they pay interest on the money in it and i can draw money out of the account, just have to leave some in to cover the next bill.

You need to be a little bit careful with that as if the company goes tits up there is no guarantee that you will get your money back.

 

[Milkfloat]

The energy companies *have* to install Smart Meters in all homes or they will be fined by the government. This is a UK government initiative and despite the cynicism further up this page, the initiative is about trying to reduce energy usage. The rationale is that if you use a smart meter you can see how much power you are using and how much it is costing you, thus you will be encouraged to use energy better.

The rationale is totally flawed, as nobody goes out of their way to waste energy (unless they are in Northern Ireland ). So a smart meter does not really help reduce use. In addition, a smart meter does not tell you how much power an individual device is using, only the total draw. The benefit to a smart meter is purely in its ability to micro charge like Economy 7 on steroids. The costs to everyone so far outweigh the benefits massively.

 

[MontyVeda]

...

The energy companies *have* to install Smart Meters in all homes or they will be fined by the government. This is a UK government initiative and despite the cynicism further up this page, the initiative is about trying to reduce energy usage. The rationale is that if you use a smart meter you can see how much power you are using and how much it is costing you, thus you will be encouraged to use energy better.
...

No... they have to offer them/make them available to all consumers. They are not obliged to *force* us to have one and we're not obliged to have one.