'Smart' meters V 'Dumb' meters

[PeteXXX]

Since inheriting a Smart meter in the house we've moved to, I think summat's going skew-wiff..

Dumb meter:
readings flip-flop between Day rate & Night rate..
Simples!

Smart meter:
You may follow below instruction to take electric meter readings

If you're a 2-rate customer, follow these steps;

Hold OK until it enters the 'Main Menu', you will see 'Billing' appear

Hold OK to enter the 'Billing' sub-menu

Using the arrows, scroll to 'Advancd' (2 pushes

of the > button)

Hold OK to enter the 'Advanced' sub-menu, you will see 'TOUmtrx' appear

Hold OK to enter the 'TOUmatrx' sub-menu, you will see 'RATE1' appear

Use the arrows to cycle the rates you need to submit (Rate 1, Rate 2, ...)



That's progress for you 😂

 

[Alex321]

Well theoretically, with a smart meter, you should never need to take a reading - the supplier gets sent those automatically by the meter.

And with most of them, you have a device available away from the actual meter on which you can see current usage and various totals. It should automatically switch between rates when you are on a rate which varies by time of day.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

No need to take readings with smart. That’s the progress bit, plus you can see a 1/2 hourly breakdown of usage etc.

 

[MontyVeda]

that's what they sold us... no need to take regular readings... but it depends on your provider

 

[Joffey]

Since inheriting a Smart meter in the house we've moved to, I think summat's going skew-wiff..

Dumb meter:
readings flip-flop between Day rate & Night rate..
Simples!

Smart meter:
You may follow below instruction to take electric meter readings

If you're a 2-rate customer, follow these steps;

Hold OK until it enters the 'Main Menu', you will see 'Billing' appear

Hold OK to enter the 'Billing' sub-menu

Using the arrows, scroll to 'Advancd' (2 pushes

of the > button)

Hold OK to enter the 'Advanced' sub-menu, you will see 'TOUmtrx' appear

Hold OK to enter the 'TOUmatrx' sub-menu, you will see 'RATE1' appear

Use the arrows to cycle the rates you need to submit (Rate 1, Rate 2, ...)



That's progress for you 😂

Not sure why you would ever need to go through all of that!!

 

[MichaelO]

What's the benefit to households of smart meters (other than not having to take readings)? I've avoided changing to smart, as I just can't see what the benefit to me is, but can see the huge benefit to providers.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

What's the benefit to households of smart meters (other than not having to take readings)? I've avoided changing to smart, as I just can't see what the benefit to me is, but can see the huge benefit to providers.

When they stop working you get free gas / electric

 

[BoldonLad]

Well theoretically, with a smart meter, you should never need to take a reading - the supplier gets sent those automatically by the meter.

And with most of them, you have a device available away from the actual meter on which you can see current usage and various totals. It should automatically switch between rates when you are on a rate which varies by time of day.

No need to take readings with smart. That’s the progress bit, plus you can see a 1/2 hourly breakdown of usage etc.

that's what they sold us... no need to take regular readings... but it depends on your provider

Not sure why you would ever need to go through all of that!!

When they stop working you get free gas / electric

After much badgering from BGas (who supply our gas and electricity), we agreed to have smart meters installed. All went well for about 18 months. Then, I received a request from BGas to submit a meter reading for gas. Why?, I queried, we have a smart meter. It emerged that the smart meter had not been sending the readings for several months. There was no notification prior to the meter reading request. Still waiting for it to be rectified. Pathetic springs to mind.

 

[cougie uk]

What's the benefit to households of smart meters (other than not having to take readings)? I've avoided changing to smart, as I just can't see what the benefit to me is, but can see the huge benefit to providers.

It gives you almost a second by second display of the electric being used. You can unplug it and take it around the house and turn things on and off to see where all the electric is going. It's a fantastic tool for working out the expensive things.
It's helped me track down old school bulbs that had been snuck into the house in new lamps that use ten times as much as the new bulbs.
Definitely worth getting.

OP - you can probably see your usage online so no need to do it yourself.

We have two tariffs as well but using batteries we only use under 4% of our electric at peak rate.

 

[MontyVeda]

After much badgering from BGas (who supply our gas and electricity), we agreed to have smart meters installed. All went well for about 18 months. Then, I received a request from BGas to submit a meter reading for gas. Why?, I queried, we have a smart meter. It emerged that the smart meter had not been sending the readings for several months. There was no notification prior to the meter reading request. Still waiting for it to be rectified. Pathetic springs to mind.

it's continuing to hear about stories like this that leads me to decline a SM every time they've suggested fitting one.

 

[Gillstay]

I have set up the house quite well to save power, then had smart meter fitted as they kept pushing. Has made no savings whatso ever.
Not worth having except to them. I feel i have been conned.

 

[DaveReading]

After much badgering from BGas (who supply our gas and electricity), we agreed to have smart meters installed. All went well for about 18 months. Then, I received a request from BGas to submit a meter reading for gas. Why?, I queried, we have a smart meter. It emerged that the smart meter had not been sending the readings for several months. There was no notification prior to the meter reading request. Still waiting for it to be rectified. Pathetic springs to mind.

Did they not send any bills (which would presumably have been based on estimates) during those months ?

 

[mistyoptic]

I have set up the house quite well to save power, then had smart meter fitted as they kept pushing. Has made no savings whatso ever.
Not worth having except to them. I feel i have been conned.

No savings because you’d already done all the things yourself that might have been indicated by an SM.
They don’t do anything themselves

 

[BoldonLad]

Did they not send any bills (which would presumably have been based on estimates) during those months ?

We are on monthly DD not monthly/quarterly billing

 

[presta]

All the people I saw on MSE complaining about wrong bills/metering were those with smart meters. I recall one had a bill for something ridiculous like 30,000kWh, and it appears that neither the householder nor the supplier could see that it simply wasn't credible. ("Why has my electricity consumption suddenly gone up?", not "My meter is faulty")

The only time I had a problem with fuel billing it wasn't a meter fault, but it took a year to sort out so I don't want to have to put up with any more hassle than need be.

Not sure why you would ever need to go through all of that!!

To keep tabs on it, to make sure it's behaving.

When they stop working you get free gas / electric

Either that, or a bill for 30,000kWh.

a fantastic tool for working out the expensive things.

Once that's done it's done. It's not something you need to keep doing day in day out, and you don't really need a smart meter to do it.