Smart Meter = smart move?

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, SHMD said:

Don't forget - or be deceived - the end aim, of getting enough "smart meters" installed, is so that the industry can bring in peak time pricing.

 

When that happens (as it undoubtedly will), we will need smart devices to decide what time of day (or more probably night) we want the washing machine to run. 

 

The industry will argue that that is beneficial at the macro-economic level because they can then generate a more stable rate across the day and can reduce their peak capability against what it otherwise would be, so that will be cheaper.  However it also means there is less resilience in the network.

 

The other feature they aren't advertising is selective load shedding - deciding who or what gets cut off first when they can't satisfy total demand in an area.  This will become far more important if we all switch to electric cars. 

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Smart meters, and what they will become, are the greatest advert for Tesla style independent battery systems for domestic properties.

I would have thought that, but not entirely surprised it hasn't happened yet, by now some enterprising company would be coming along and installing Tesla systems and renting them back to you to make you totally independent, maybe when the prices start to go up exponentially someone might.

 

Mike.

[Bernard Lamb]

9 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

When that happens (as it undoubtedly will), we will need smart devices to decide what time of day (or more probably night) we want the washing machine to run. 

 

The industry will argue that that is beneficial at the macro-economic level because they can then generate a more stable rate across the day and can reduce their peak capability against what it otherwise would be, so that will be cheaper.  However it also means there is less resilience in the network.

 

The other feature they aren't advertising is selective load shedding - deciding who or what gets cut off first when they can't satisfy total demand in an area.  This will become far more important if we all switch to electric cars. 

In my experience the wind tends to decrease at night time.

With a higher percentage of power coming from this source will the peak hour period remain as it is at present?

 

Regarding cutting off supplies. This has been the case with gas for many years in industry where a cheaper deal is offered in exchange for accepting possible shut downs.

Bernard

[class27]

32 minutes ago, Bernard Lamb said:

In my experience the wind tends to decrease at night time.

With a higher percentage of power coming from this source will the peak hour period remain as it is at present?

 

Regarding cutting off supplies. This has been the case with gas for many years in industry where a cheaper deal is offered in exchange for accepting possible shut downs.

Bernard

This is only for very large users. Large users used to have a choice of Firm or interuptable contracts, but now they are all interuptable and most large users have a plan B (dual fuel burner heads is the most popular) I used to visit these sites as part of my day job and it was very sad to see that over the last few years before I left, that I was down to one industrial (Michelin) and even that has now gone forever.

[boxbrownie]

15 hours ago, Trainshed Terry said:

Dose anybody know of a smart meter that takes in account those people that Economy 7 heating.

 

Terry

I was told by our supplier that if we wanted “economy7” (apparently it’s not called that anymore) then we would need a Smart meter installed and the supplier switches the rates instead of the E7 meter doing it.

 

I got the impression they are not keen on E7 anymore and want everyone to have the Smart solution (an oxymoron if ever I heard one).

[Nick C]

On 21/03/2021 at 09:59, Jonboy said:

They insisted on a process of monitoring the next three months usage to calculate bill, rather than previous readings...as the meter failed in early November I had a big negotiation with them as I wasn’t prepared to let them use winter readings to calculate an autumn bill.

 

I used to have an argument with SSE every year (until I switched away from them) as they'd insist on recalculating my bill every April/May - "well, you've been using more energy recently" - of course I have, it's been winter! Every time they wanted to whack it up about £30/month more than the correct amount (correct being, to me, the mean monthly usage over the past year)

[Reorte]

25 minutes ago, Nick C said:

 

I used to have an argument with SSE every year (until I switched away from them) as they'd insist on recalculating my bill every April/May - "well, you've been using more energy recently" - of course I have, it's been winter! Every time they wanted to whack it up about £30/month more than the correct amount (correct being, to me, the mean monthly usage over the past year)

Oops on their part - thought that was the whole point of the way billing works, so that rather than just having a meter reading and paying whatever that says, which as you say would be much more in winter, you pay roughly the same over the year (overpay in summer, underpay in winter).

[hayfield]

Just now, Reorte said:

Oops on their part - thought that was the whole point of the way billing works, so that rather than just having a meter reading and paying whatever that says, which as you say would be much more in winter, you pay roughly the same over the year (overpay in summer, underpay in winter).

 

They recalculate my payments once a year, Autumn I think and the recalculation takes into account the whole years usage, last years underpayments were greatly reduced due to a malfunctioning meter, I am paying catch up this year thankfully it seems less than the savings in payments I made last year.  

[ess1uk]

Just been hassled by my provider again asking if I want a smart meter.

they will not accept I don’t want one 

[2E Sub Shed]

A friend already has a Smart Meter, but gets calls asking them to have a Smart Meter. Points out that one is already installed, problem is no mobile network coverage so cannot operate.

[hayfield]

16 minutes ago, ess1uk said:

Just been hassled by my provider again asking if I want a smart meter.

they will not accept I don’t want one 

 

Why not?

 

The reason I say this is that in these days of rising energy costs it could help you to save money. The big plus is no estimated bills

[ess1uk]

Just been hassled by my provider again asking if I want a smart meter.

they will not accept I don’t want one 

[Metr0Land]

15 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

Why not?

 

The reason I say this is that in these days of rising energy costs it could help you to save money. The big plus is no estimated bills

 

But you can do that without a smart meter (maybe not with all suppliers?)   I was with Southern Electric who got taken over by Scottish Power who got taken over by Ovo.  It was the case that every few months I got asked to input a reading online to my account = instant feedback as to my bill on that date.

 

Though...... in last couple of weeks I had an estimated bill from Ovo (which wasn't far off) - they didn't ask me to input anything this time.

 

No acceptance of smart meter here unless compelled by law.  There's no relaible mobile signal in my part of rural west Wales

[boxbrownie]

13 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

Why not?

 

The reason I say this is that in these days of rising energy costs it could help you to save money. The big plus is no estimated bills

How do they help you save bills?  Unless your going to look at the meter every time you turn something on and then decide to turn it off again….but then you can do the same by using a simple current clamp meter with a readout in the house (which we have), we haven’t had an estimated bill for years as we send the reading in at each time they ask, not a biggy.

They want you to have a smart meter not for your cost savings but so in the future they will be able to use variable charge rates at high and low periods of demand.

 

Having said that unfortunately our gas meter has a fault which has stopped it recording usage so requires replacing and I have notified the suppliers of this and they say they will get around to fitting new meter (and it will have to be Smart) when they can, I don’t mind as it was first reported last September and since then officially we have used no gas over the Winter, I think they are not too bothered as our original supplier was one that went bust just before Christmas.

[ess1uk]

Just been hassled by my provider again asking if I want a smart meter.

they will not accept I don’t want one 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

How do they help you save bills?  

 

In my specific case I could same some money by charging the car off peak. Octopus still do a EV tariff that's worth having but I'd have to go on (their much higher) standard tariff until they fitted a meter. 

Last time I did that (with Green Energy) I spent two years waiting for a meter that never came.

I skipped having a meter when offered last summer because my supplier only does a flat rate anyway. Regret that now. 

[hayfield]

53 minutes ago, Metr0Land said:

 

But you can do that without a smart meter (maybe not with all suppliers?)   I was with Southern Electric who got taken over by Scottish Power who got taken over by Ovo.  It was the case that every few months I got asked to input a reading online to my account = instant feedback as to my bill on that date.

 

Though...... in last couple of weeks I had an estimated bill from Ovo (which wasn't far off) - they didn't ask me to input anything this time.

 

No acceptance of smart meter here unless compelled by law.  There's no relaible mobile signal in my part of rural west Wales

 

I was with Southern up tp 6 years ago, not very impressed when Scottish power took over

 

51 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

How do they help you save bills?  Unless your going to look at the meter every time you turn something on and then decide to turn it off again….but then you can do the same by using a simple current clamp meter with a readout in the house (which we have), we haven’t had an estimated bill for years as we send the reading in at each time they ask, not a biggy.

They want you to have a smart meter not for your cost savings but so in the future they will be able to use variable charge rates at high and low periods of demand.

 

Having said that unfortunately our gas meter has a fault which has stopped it recording usage so requires replacing and I have notified the suppliers of this and they say they will get around to fitting new meter (and it will have to be Smart) when they can, I don’t mind as it was first reported last September and since then officially we have used no gas over the Winter, I think they are not too bothered as our original supplier was one that went bust just before Christmas.

 

Like all information systems they only work if you take notice of what they are telling you, like you I had a gas meter that stopped working, this time it was the new gas meter which was fitted when they installed a smart meter, don't worry they will charge you an amount for gas use for this period based on your previous usage

 

Saving money is quite simply, with me the penny did not drop until I fitted solar panels, I started to look at how you use the energy you buy, my electric consumption dropped quite a lot, far more than the amount of electricity I generate and use. Both my consumption and bills are lower than last year, even in December which was the dullest on record

 

As for gas its a bit different, we use a system called Tado which you set up like a conventional thermostat (but infinitely more programable/controllable). Its intelligent and turns itself off when you are not there, detects when doors/windows are left open, plus its response speed is dependant on the weather. All these things are designed to reduce energy use.

 

It really cost me nothing to buy and install, soon after moving into my house the thermostat broke, British Gas wanted about the same price as a Tado unit to supply & fit a new thermostat as Tado charged for a self fit item and they could supply one far quicker than British Gas. My son in law put me on to it, he has taken it several steps further than me in having programmable central heating in all rooms and lights on togher times and motion sensor  activation

 

My own view is that cost of energy will move us all into using intelligent systems

[hayfield]

53 minutes ago, ess1uk said:

Just been hassled by my provider again asking if I want a smart meter.

they will not accept I don’t want one 

 

Ever thought it might be a good idea !!

[boxbrownie]

8 hours ago, 30801 said:

 

In my specific case I could same some money by charging the car off peak. Octopus still do a EV tariff that's worth having but I'd have to go on (their much higher) standard tariff until they fitted a meter. 

Last time I did that (with Green Energy) I spent two years waiting for a meter that never came.

I skipped having a meter when offered last summer because my supplier only does a flat rate anyway. Regret that now. 

But you don’t need a smart meter to charge off-peak…….we had economy seven before and that worked with just a timer in the car 

 

We were with Green Energy and Pure Planet for two years until they went bust, they kept telling us we needed a smart meter but in the end told us they were having issues with their meter supplier and it never happened, not that I would have let it.

 

They are the supplier last year I told about the non reading gas meter and they ignored every single note I sent them with each meter reading telling them about the faulty meter, they just didn’t seem to be “on the ball”.

Edited January 22, 2022 by boxbrownie

[boxbrownie]

double,post

Edited January 22, 2022 by boxbrownie

[boxbrownie]

17 minutes ago, hayfield said:

, don't worry they will charge you an amount for gas use for this period based on your previous usage

The new supplier Shell Energy told me not to worry about the failed meter as they are not taking over the gas supply until the 26th January and our charges with them will start from that date, I queried the “lost time” and they again said they would bill from 26th January……so I did try. 

[hayfield]

2 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

The new supplier Shell Energy told me not to worry about the failed meter as they are not taking over the gas supply until the 26th January and our charges with them will start from that date, I queried the “lost time” and they again said they would bill from 26th January……so I did try. 

 

 

Well done, I had a real job trying to convince British Gas there was a problem, despite being in deepest winter I was using little or no gas ( much lower than summer). In one way they were correct the smart meter part was working as it was sending readings, what they missed was the gas meter was sending zero use most of the time, the meter was not recording our gas use.

 

Back to the smart meters, they do read the meter automatically so end meter reading/estimated bills. Secondly they show you what you are using, now its down to you to use that information. I have learnt simply to turn lights off that we are not using, must have knocked 20% off my bills in the past 5 months

[boxbrownie]

2 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

 

Well done, I had a real job trying to convince British Gas there was a problem, despite being in deepest winter I was using little or no gas ( much lower than summer). In one way they were correct the smart meter part was working as it was sending readings, what they missed was the gas meter was sending zero use most of the time, the meter was not recording our gas use.

 

Back to the smart meters, they do read the meter automatically so end meter reading/estimated bills. Secondly they show you what you are using, now its down to you to use that information. I have learnt simply to turn lights off that we are not using, must have knocked 20% off my bills in the past 5 months

Every bulb in the house is LED and Mrs BB moans at me for going around closing doors on rooms with the rads turned down as we are not using them, I honestly cannot think of anything else we could do to make a big enough dent in the bills to make it worth while.

[Ron Ron Ron]

1 minute ago, boxbrownie said:

.........I honestly cannot think of anything else we could do to make a big enough dent in the bills to make it worth while.

 

Cuddle your pets and eat Porridge.

 

 

 

 

.

[Jonboy]

The shocker for us was when the last tumbler dryer died and was replaced with a heat pump fitted version, that dropped our electric usage by around 25% per annum on its own.