Smart meters

[biggs682]

Was there a leak?
Go into a quiet house near the rising main and you can often hear if there's a leak in the communication pipe.


Press a stout stick between ear and pipework to better hear the noise.

No leak to be found and after a week the usage settled down to roughly when we knew we had a use

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I don't know if it would be categorised as 'smart' but our meter has never been read physically but every year the water company has an accurate reading from it

so it communicates with the company somehow and at some interval - the same as the smart meters do

However there is no home display unit or anything like that.
The meter was here when we moved in - which was over 8 years ago -so not a new thing!

My father used to have a water meter, there was a wire coming out of it which went outside, the meterman/lady/undecided could simply walk close to it to get a reading, somebody did have a theory the new ones could be read by a van slowly driving past

 

[Drago]

Scottish Poower have been bombarding me with emails, basically, lying and telling me I must have a smart meter.

Today they phoned me and said the same. I yet again said "no" and hung up.

Now reported to OFGEM for their harassment, pressure tactics, and downright lies.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Scottish Poower have been bombarding me with emails, basically, lying and telling me I must have a smart meter.

Today they phoned me and said the same. I yet again said "no" and hung up.

Now reported to OFGEM for their harassment, pressure tactics, and downright lies.

I would worry about that
If they think you have a smart meter then are they getting readings from a meter that they think are your readings
either now - or could someone in the future?

 

[Mo1959]

I would worry about that
If they think you have a smart meter then are they getting readings from a meter that they think are your readings
either now - or could someone in the future?

I think he means they are hassling him to have one fitted. Don't want one myself and will resist.

 

[fossyant]

Scottish Poower have been bombarding me with emails, basically, lying and telling me I must have a smart meter.

Today they phoned me and said the same. I yet again said "no" and hung up.

Now reported to OFGEM for their harassment, pressure tactics, and downright lies.

They've upped the game with me, now telling me my gas meter is old and can be faulty (this is after the constant bombardment about smart metres). I've ignored them.

 

[fossyant]

I think he means they are hassling him to have one fitted. Don't want one myself and will resist.

I send the readings in every month, and monitor it on a spreadsheet, so know my energy use. The good thing is we've cut overall use quite dramatically over the last two years ! I've heard too many issues people have with the smart meters not working and not sending readings, and the companies not wanting to fix them - I'd rather know what energy I am using each month. I don't need up to the minute - anything that's on 'a lot' has a smart plug on it with energy monitoring built in.

 

[Drago]

Same as me Foss. First day of every month I read the meters and submit the readings, without fail.

 

[Tenkaykev]

I send the readings in every month, and monitor it on a spreadsheet, so know my energy use. The good thing is we've cut overall use quite dramatically over the last two years ! I've heard too many issues people have with the smart meters not working and not sending readings, and the companies not wanting to fix them - I'd rather know what energy I am using each month. I don't need up to the minute - anything that's on 'a lot' has a smart plug on it with energy monitoring built in.

I purchased some energy monitoring smart plugs and fitted them to various appliances. Most of the results were as expected, what did surprise me was the amount of power that our Brother Colour Laser doesn't consume when in " Deep Sleep ", it is miniscule. We have an ancient Philips Tumble Dryer in the outhouse, it has a mechanical dial to set the time, with the last part being a " cooldown " tumbling without heating. Mrs Tenkaykev says she always rotates the dial to the unheated portion, but due to the logging app I know different 😉

 

[Alex321]

Scottish Poower have been bombarding me with emails, basically, lying and telling me I must have a smart meter.

Today they phoned me and said the same. I yet again said "no" and hung up.

Now reported to OFGEM for their harassment, pressure tactics, and downright lies.

Don't know about the downright lies, but they are required by the government to get as many people as they possibly can onto smart meters, so I think you'll find that the pressure tactics and harassment are legitimate.

But the government have not mandated compulsory smart meters (yet!), so they can't tell you that you MUST have one, unless and until your existing meter reaches the end of its life.

If and when your existing meter reaches the end of it life, then you must have a smart meter, as nothing else is allowed to be installed any more.

 

[Electric_Andy]

They've upped the game with me, now telling me my gas meter is old and can be faulty (this is after the constant bombardment about smart metres). I've ignored them.

If they think your meter could be faulty then they should be reporting it to [insert gas board here] - mine is Wales and West...my boiler engineer detected a leak so I phones the gas board and they were there within 2 hours to fix it for free

 

[fossyant]

I purchased some energy monitoring smart plugs and fitted them to various appliances. Most of the results were as expected, what did surprise me was the amount of power that our Brother Colour Laser doesn't consume when in " Deep Sleep ", it is miniscule. We have an ancient Philips Tumble Dryer in the outhouse, it has a mechanical dial to set the time, with the last part being a " cooldown " tumbling without heating. Mrs Tenkaykev says she always rotates the dial to the unheated portion, but due to the logging app I know different 😉

I've found leaving the old 'hifi' on uses a fair amount of juice being 35 year old 'tech'.

 

[fossyant]

If they think your meter could be faulty then they should be reporting it to [insert gas board here] - mine is Wales and West...my boiler engineer detected a leak so I phones the gas board and they were there within 2 hours to fix it for free

It's a technique to panic you into going Smart - there is nothing wrong with the metre, just that it's been in over x amount of years !

 

[Electric_Andy]

It's a technique to panic you into going Smart - there is nothing wrong with the metre, just that it's been in over x amount of years !

Yes that's my point - disgusting behaviour. If they truly had concerns about the meter then they should be fixing/checking/replacing it. I did get a polite call once offering me a meter, I just said no thanks and didn't hear from them again.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Don't know about the downright lies, but they are required by the government to get as many people as they possibly can onto smart meters, so I think you'll find that the pressure tactics and harassment are legitimate.

But the government have not mandated compulsory smart meters (yet!), so they can't tell you that you MUST have one, unless and until your existing meter reaches the end of its life.

If and when your existing meter reaches the end of it life, then you must have a smart meter, as nothing else is allowed to be installed any more.

I am not totally certain about this but I believe that if you have a smart meter then you can tell them to install the meter but NOT connect it to the main system
Hence it does not send the data and you have to take reading yourself as normal
I would imagine it is just a metter of disconnecting the comms unit

I would imagine that they may need to connect it initially to install the software and stuff - but then disconnect it before handing it over to you

but- as I say - check as I may be wrong