Smart Meter = smart move?

[Wheatley]

16 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

 

 

I'm sorry for being a bit behind the door, but how does a smart meter make you switch things off that you are not using or needing?

 

Mike.

Quite. Smart meters don't save money, turning stuff off/down saves money*. SSE don't have  a scripted answer for that. 

 

(*No E7, solar panels, electric cars or other complications here.)

[boxbrownie]

51 minutes ago, Jonboy said:

We have an AEG condenser** heat pump dryer. The only things I don’t like about it are:

 

1) sometimes the power button needs a couple of pushes to engage. It is the same on the matching washing machine.

 

2) It stops when it detects no further moisture is being removed, which is sometimes wrong when you have very different fabric types in the load.
 

**flat dwellers so no opportunity to vent externally.

That’s interesting, so far ours has been bulletproof, our previous TD did leave some clothes a bit damp but this one has been fine although we do tend to use the “extra dry” programme.

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, hayfield said:

 

No it gives you more accurate (the smart meter is less accurate) information on the daily spend the next day, also can be changed to weekly/monthly/annually. Its just you can see real time how much you are using/spending,

 

If you start to understand what you are using and what it costs, there is a chance you can take action to reduce your consumption.

 

You set your limits in the smart meter unit, all it does is report if you are on target or going over

Sounds just like our non smart current reader 

[hayfield]

1 hour ago, boxbrownie said:

Sounds just like our non smart current reader 

 

Looks similar except electric only

[boxbrownie]

16 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

Looks similar except electric only

Indeed it is, daily/weekly/monthly/yearly costs as well as adjustable for unit cost etc….think it cost about £25 six years ago.

[Bulleidboy100]

I have applied for a smart meter from Octopus but have not heard anything, which may be due to the current circumstances. Going slightly off topic - there has been a lot of media attention about rising energy costs, and I thought you might be interested in an email received today from Octopus. My duel fuel contract expires in mid-March - I currently pay £114 a month (four bedroomed detached house) - they are offering two fixed tariffs and one flexible - the fixed are priced at £225 and £257 per month and the flexible at £144 per month. I am a member of the Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert energy club, and having entered my details - against all suppliers the result was that my Octopus offers could not be beaten. It did say there were cheaper deals around, but no guarantee those suppliers would survive!  So it looks like an interesting year.

Edited January 23, 2022 by Bulleidboy100
amendment

[class27]

Just for the record . Scotland had 2 power companies Scottish hydro for Perth North and Scottish power South of Perth not connected in any way. Hydro and Southern Electric merged years ago into SSE. The Gossip as I have heard it, is that SSE have haemorrhaged so much money  in Smart metering that they have sold Metering off, they are still a generator and power distributor (no National grid in Scotland). I wonder what will happen to OVO in the next 5 years.

It's the same old story, the idea is good, but the execution............ it's too complicated and long winded to explain here, basically they thought that by getting customers signed up that they would they would be too lazy to change, but that has not happened, there are a growing army of people only too willing to change supplier and all the meter changes are costing the companies millions, but it was what they wanted, one of the many reasons I left the industry at the first opportunity. They all deserve each other. 

[Bulleidboy100]

@ class 27 - My meters were not changed when I changed supplier. Is this a Scottish thing?

[Reorte]

23 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

Of course, Imam not averse to Smart technology (we have an EV after all) but not if it is sold on the basis of saving you money but blatantly made for another reason.

I wouldn't lump EV and "smart" technology together as being pro one meaning being pro the other, even though you probably can't get a decent EV that's not full of electronics (or any other new car for that matter, but it's very much putting me off getting a new one).

 

On the tumble dryer front my tumble dryer usage has dropped significantly since I stuck up an old-fashioned ceiling drying rack. Now the tumble dryer just gets used for towels and the occasional need something clean and dry in a hurry moment. No need for high tech solutions!

[boxbrownie]

18 minutes ago, Reorte said:

I wouldn't lump EV and "smart" technology together as being pro one meaning being pro the other, even though you probably can't get a decent EV that's not full of electronics (or any other new car for that matter, but it's very much putting me off getting a new one).

 

On the tumble dryer front my tumble dryer usage has dropped significantly since I stuck up an old-fashioned ceiling drying rack. Now the tumble dryer just gets used for towels and the occasional need something clean and dry in a hurry moment. No need for high tech solutions!

There really is no need to be frightened of new technology, it almost always is more reliable than that it replaces and more efficient. But let’s not get into that here 

 

As to the tumble dryer unfortunately we have a 93 year old infirm (read incontinent) Mother to look after, so washing machine and tumble dryer get used at least once a day if not more.

[boxbrownie]

12 hours ago, Bulleidboy100 said:

I have applied for a smart meter from Octopus but have not heard anything, which may be due to the current circumstances. Going slightly off topic - there has been a lot of media attention about rising energy costs, and I thought you might be interested in an email received today from Octopus. My duel fuel contract expires in mid-March - I currently pay £114 a month (four bedroomed detached house) - they are offering two fixed tariffs and one flexible - the fixed are priced at £225 and £257 per month and the flexible at £144 per month. I am a member of the Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert energy club, and having entered my details - against all suppliers the result was that my Octopus offers could not be beaten. It did say there were cheaper deals around, but no guarantee those suppliers would survive!  So it looks like an interesting year.

Last time I looked (a few months ago) the ML MSE Club had been suspended because of the current situation and not had an email telling me different yet, we were transferred from Pure Planet to Shell Energy when PP went bust just before Christmas.

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, Bulleidboy100 said:

@ class 27 - My meters were not changed when I changed supplier. Is this a Scottish thing?

No, we have been with four different suppliers over 6 six years and still have the same (now faulty gas meter) meters.

[Reorte]

9 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

There really is no need to be frightened of new technology, it almost always is more reliable than that it replaces and more efficient. But let’s not get into that here 

Don't confuse dislike (loathing even) with fright!

 

Quote

As to the tumble dryer unfortunately we have a 93 year old infirm (read incontinent) Mother to look after, so washing machine and tumble dryer get used at least once a day if not more.

Things like that are always an important consideration, one too often missed by people who say "everyone should..." Too often they aim for 100% change when 80% would have pretty much the same effect and be much, much easier.

[boxbrownie]

4 minutes ago, Reorte said:

Don't confuse dislike (loathing even) with fright!

Now that’s quite a different thing altogether.

[Bulleidboy100]

@ boxbrownie  - I think the MSE site is now open - there is a banner at the top which states:

 

Emergency energy crisis update - switching will still not work for most people.

Energy prices are still at record highs, due to the explosion in wholesale energy prices (those firms pay). That means, most people should still DO NOTHING. Yet in April, the energy price cap, which most people are on, is predicted to rise by a sickening 51%. That means, as we get closer to that date, the less time and therefore benefit remains on the current lower price cap. We crunched the numbers and found that, if you’re offered a fix that’s no more than 40% more expensive than your current price-capped tariff, it’s worth considering – especially if you value price certainty. Most open-market deals are still much more than this (though a few existing customer deals come close), but feel free to do a comparison to check. See Martin's Is it worth ditching the price cap for a fix? analysis for more.

[Reorte]

9 minutes ago, Bulleidboy100 said:

@ boxbrownie  - I think the MSE site is now open - there is a banner at the top which states:

 

Have  I been here too long - my first thought was "What's this got to do with Model Signal Engineering?"

[Bulleidboy100]

Sorry, but I thought the whole thread was to do with energy Smart Meters?

[Reorte]

21 minutes ago, Bulleidboy100 said:

Sorry, but I thought the whole thread was to do with energy Smart Meters?

I meant that's just the first thing I think of if I see "MSE" on RMWeb

[boxbrownie]

5 hours ago, Reorte said:

Have  I been here too long - my first thought was "What's this got to do with Model Signal Engineering?"

Why do we need model signal engineering using a Smart Meter? 

[SamThomas]

On 10/08/2018 at 01:19, duncan said:

The large halogen lights we had in the warehouse (500W) gave out a lot of heat, from the bulb & the control gear.  The gear was estimated to consume about 10% of the power.

Halogen "bulbs" neither use or require control gear.

[SamThomas]

On 12/08/2018 at 17:45, melmerby said:

We are 6th in the world for manufacture, although all the top ten manufacturers were non UK*

We are also 6th in the world for installed capacity

China is 1st, US 2nd and Germany 3rd (with 3 x the capacity of the UK)

If those quoted figures were reconfigured to reflect installed capacity compared to land mass/population the UK would be a lot higher in the ratings.

[Jonboy]

13 hours ago, SamThomas said:

Halogen "bulbs" neither use or require control gear.

Bit late on the quote there Sam, and Halogens don’t, but the Sodium lamps still in use in many warehouses do (and benefit from a 10-20 year plus lifespan in the warehouse I managed until recently, useful at 8 metres up!)

[SamThomas]

1 hour ago, Jonboy said:

Bit late on the quote there Sam, and Halogens don’t, but the Sodium lamps still in use in many warehouses do (and benefit from a 10-20 year plus lifespan in the warehouse I managed until recently, useful at 8 metres up!)

I know but I've only just started reading the thread from the beginning.

[melmerby]

16 hours ago, SamThomas said:

If those quoted figures were reconfigured to reflect installed capacity compared to land mass/population the UK would be a lot higher in the ratings.

42nd for installed capacity per capita in 2020.

We are accelerating somewhat though but others are accelerating more.

 

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/renewable-electricity-per-capita?tab=table

[SamThomas]

3 hours ago, melmerby said:

42nd for installed capacity per capita in 2020.

We are accelerating somewhat though but others are accelerating more.

 

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/renewable-electricity-per-capita?tab=table

Thanks, I stand corrected.