There is no possible way a smart meter can save you money
They can and do. Our estimates from our provider are always higher than actual. I have stomached a few OTT bills as a result of not having one. Obviously when you eventually submit your readings they come down again, but never a nice surprise.
Automatic meter readings. You get one meter for gas and one for electricity – they'll usually go where your existing meters are. They then send your usage information automatically to suppliers, so no more scrabbling around in dark cupboards or garages to read them.
No more estimated bills. As your meters send your usage directly to your supplier, you should only pay for what you use. With a standard meter, you're often charged monthly based on estimated use and you send in a meter reading every few months to get an exact bill.
In-home display showing usage in pounds and pence. Everyone who gets smart meters will also be offered an 'in-home display' – a real game-changer. It's a small gadget that communicates wirelessly with your smart meters, monitoring what energy you're using and showing you how much it costs, in near real time. It gives readings in pounds and pence, and kilowatt hours (kWh), so it can help you identify where you can cut back.
And none of that reduces the amount of energy I am using
in fact, I would need to charge a small gadget to communicate with said meter and therefore use more energy.
The automated readings are not the only benefit of Smart meters. Seeing the up to the minute cost of energy at any point in the day is very useful. During the recent cold spell our smart meter monitor in the kitchen was showing energy costs were just under £7 per day on average. At the moment it is about £4.50. And it is useful to know what appliances use the most energy. When anyone has a shower the monitor shows red. When the electric kettle or toaster is used it shows amber. The rest of the time it shows green. When the monitor shows amber when none of these appliances are being used I rush around the house trying to find what is using the extra energy. A couple of times it turned out to be my partner’s work laptop. When the power lead was removed the smart meter monitor went back to green. I don’t know if the laptop was in the middle of a major update but I still can’t believe a laptop would use that much energy.
There is no possible way a smart meter can save you money
They can and do. Our estimates from our provider are always higher than actual. I have stomached a few OTT bills as a result of not having one. Obviously when you eventually submit your readings they come down again, but never a nice surprise.
Automatic meter readings. You get one meter for gas and one for electricity – they'll usually go where your existing meters are. They then send your usage information automatically to suppliers, so no more scrabbling around in dark cupboards or garages to read them.
No more estimated bills. As your meters send your usage directly to your supplier, you should only pay for what you use. With a standard meter, you're often charged monthly based on estimated use and you send in a meter reading every few months to get an exact bill.
In-home display showing usage in pounds and pence. Everyone who gets smart meters will also be offered an 'in-home display' – a real game-changer. It's a small gadget that communicates wirelessly with your smart meters, monitoring what energy you're using and showing you how much it costs, in near real time. It gives readings in pounds and pence, and kilowatt hours (kWh), so it can help you identify where you can cut back.
And none of that reduces the amount of energy I am using
in fact, I would need to charge a small gadget to communicate with said meter and therefore use more energy.
Sometimes when I see the daily usage is going to be well above average I turn off the central heating and tell my partner to put on another layer. She loves being told to do that!
A couple of times it turned out to be my partner’s work laptop. When the power lead was removed the smart meter monitor went back to green. I don’t know if the laptop was in the middle of a major update but I still can’t believe a laptop would use that much energy.
"A laptop typically uses about 50 watts of electricity, the equivalent of 0.05 kWh. This means that if a laptop is on for eight hours a day, it will cost 5p a day to run the laptop (based on an average energy unit cost of 12.5 p/kWh)".
Just something I randomly found on Google. Many modern laptops typically use about 15 watts per hour with economy low power processors, I believe.
The automated readings are not the only benefit of Smart meters. Seeing the up to the minute cost of energy at any point in the day is very useful. During the recent cold spell our smart meter monitor in the kitchen was showing energy costs were just under £7 per day on average. At the moment it is about £4.50. And it is useful to know what appliances use the most energy. When anyone has a shower the monitor shows red. When the electric kettle or toaster is used it shows amber. The rest of the time it shows green. When the monitor shows amber when none of these appliances are being used I rush around the house trying to find what is using the extra energy. A couple of times it turned out to be my partner’s work laptop. When the power lead was removed the smart meter monitor went back to green. I don’t know if the laptop was in the middle of a major update but I still can’t believe a laptop would use that much energy.
So when I use something such as a toaster or kettle, my energy usage increases eh.
Bizarrely, I absolutely loved having it, and it helped me understand more how much making changes could reduce my energy.
If you actually want to change and save money, I think they are great to be honest.
And that's just on the display side of things, I know that I would be happier if I had an elderly relative if they had a smart meter, as I know there have been a few people who rob houses claiming to be people who read meters.
Given that it gives you more accurate bills as well, I don't see why people are so against them!
One of our electricians who has been with us a couple of years worked for southern electric. He never had and won't have one fitted into his house....he said they are unreliable and the technology isn't quite there yet....think that covers it for me.
Bizarrely, I absolutely loved having it, and it helped me understand more how much making changes could reduce my energy.
If you actually want to change and save money, I think they are great to be honest.
And that's just on the display side of things, I know that I would be happier if I had an elderly relative if they had a smart meter, as I know there have been a few people who rob houses claiming to be people who read meters.
Given that it gives you more accurate bills as well, I don't see why people are so against them!
Because they are marketed as saving you money, but they cannot actually do that.
One of our electricians who has been with us a couple of years worked for southern electric. He never had and won't have one fitted into his house....he said they are unreliable and the technology isn't quite there yet....think that covers it for me.
I had one in a house I was renting a couple of years ago, I used to get quarterly phone calls from the energy supplier asking for a meter reading and when I challenged them saying a smart meter is fitted why do you need a reading she said the same, accuracy issues.
When I gave up the property to move into our current home they DEMANDED a meter reading rather than using the smart meter as it was my last bill and needed to be settled in full.
Moved into a rented property 15 months ago that has smart meters. I'm with BG & they send me quarterly (maybe 6 monthly) statements & one time the Gas figures were all estimated & the next one the electricity was estimated. No help at all. I look at the little gadget that tells me what usage we're doing & all that I can tell you us that last week (when it was frezing) we used more. Apart from that most months are fairly constant when looking at the bar chart thingy. A bit more usage last March when lockdown started (kids at home all day & on their games / phones) but nothing I couldn't work out myself. Payment of £104pm set up Nov 19 is still bang on what we use so the smart meter is not saving me money as far as I can see & still check the meters every 6 months when the statements come in showing estimates.
Bizarrely, I absolutely loved having it, and it helped me understand more how much making changes could reduce my energy.
If you actually want to change and save money, I think they are great to be honest.
And that's just on the display side of things, I know that I would be happier if I had an elderly relative if they had a smart meter, as I know there have been a few people who rob houses claiming to be people who read meters.
Given that it gives you more accurate bills as well, I don't see why people are so against them!
Because they are marketed as saving you money, but they cannot actually do that.
Well they don't magically make your wife turn the thermostat down from 24 to 20 do they?
What they do do, is give you the data to make an informed decision about how you use energy.
They saved me money. Having said that though, then the bastard stopped working!
The energy company are given monthly readings on line.
The energy company takes a monthly direct debit.
Every year they review the amount of energy used and adjust the direct debit accordingly.
Having two twenty somethings away at University this year, those direct debits have reduced by nearly 30%.
I review my energy companies prices annually and switch if necessary.
Smart meters are just a complete waste of resources for the Government and the energy companies. if they didn't have to purchase them and then pay to install them I suspect energy prices could come down by about 5%.
Bizarrely, I absolutely loved having it, and it helped me understand more how much making changes could reduce my energy.
If you actually want to change and save money, I think they are great to be honest.
And that's just on the display side of things, I know that I would be happier if I had an elderly relative if they had a smart meter, as I know there have been a few people who rob houses claiming to be people who read meters.
Given that it gives you more accurate bills as well, I don't see why people are so against them!
Because they are marketed as saving you money, but they cannot actually do that.
Well they don't magically make your wife turn the thermostat down from 24 to 20 do they?
What they do do, is give you the data to make an informed decision about how you use energy.
They saved me money. Having said that though, then the bastard stopped working!
What informed decision about how I use energy?
I dont leave the vacuum cleaner on upstairs all day because I like a bit of background white noise. I use the vacuum when I want to clean the floor. The meter wouldn't change that.
A smart meter cannot save me money in any possible way.
My mum is 90 years old and a smart meter saves having her get down on her hands and knees to look under the stairs and try and read her meter. It does have certain uses
Bizarrely, I absolutely loved having it, and it helped me understand more how much making changes could reduce my energy.
If you actually want to change and save money, I think they are great to be honest.
And that's just on the display side of things, I know that I would be happier if I had an elderly relative if they had a smart meter, as I know there have been a few people who rob houses claiming to be people who read meters.
Given that it gives you more accurate bills as well, I don't see why people are so against them!
Because they are marketed as saving you money, but they cannot actually do that.
Well they don't magically make your wife turn the thermostat down from 24 to 20 do they?
What they do do, is give you the data to make an informed decision about how you use energy.
They saved me money. Having said that though, then the bastard stopped working!
What informed decision about how I use energy?
I dont leave the vacuum cleaner on upstairs all day because I like a bit of background white noise. I use the vacuum when I want to clean the floor. The meter wouldn't change that.
A smart meter cannot save me money in any possible way.
That's fair enough. I personally saw a material difference in changing the way that I phased my heating usage, as well as hot water hours for my boiler etc.
If you are a data nerd like I am, it really can help.
I received a couple of letters from NPower advising my meter was past its sell by date & had to be replaced. I assumed that it would be a smart meter as they had been sending me letters to say they were installing them in my area. (I didn't want one) When I phoned for an appointment they asked if my meter was in or outdoors As it's outdoors they said I can't have a smart meter.
Your supplier is completely misinformed. When my house was extended the new meters and supply was located to outside. I have had 2 smart meters ,one 1st generation that can't relocate to new suppliers and a 2nd generation which I am told can be.
Thanks I sent this info to e-on next who have just taken over npower & they said they didn't give a fuck & I still couldn't have a smart meter outside.
I also think some tariffs are only available if you agree to have a smart meter. So can be more expensive not too. But in any event costs nothing to have if installed so no obvious reason to object.
Prefer the old style meters where if you put a magnet on the side it slows down the speed of the spinning discs.
I remember the old pay meters that my mum had when I was a kid - with supplies of two bob bits kept on top of the meter for when it ran out!
When it was emptied there used to be a rebate and the collector worked it out and left piles of coins on the kitchen table, I always knew my pocket money would be good that week!!
Those were the days, we would be watching tv and the power would go off and my mum or dad would say quick, put a shilling in the meter..not so easy when it was night time and dark, you had to find the slot, put the coin in, and turn the key a couple of times
Was talked into a smart meter two suppliers ago. It hasn't worked since... Despite the current supplier asking for the serial number and assuring me it would work... My conclusion: a waste of time.
Been a BG customer for over 40 years, never been in debt as we used to give readings and would pay for what we used. We had smart meters installed when the children moved out from our last house, Gen 1, no issue paid monthly no issue, average joint bill £65 a month. Moved , and kept BG , had smart meters installed, all okay till a outage, then the smart meters were not working with the monitor, changed to Gen 2, the installer could not get the monitor to work, this lasted 6 months estimated bills, sent in readings.BG went into meltdown from last March till July, then in August got second lot of new metres, with a new monitor and they now work. Personally think if the installer knows his job, then things can work, the website had its issues, which had been working perfectly okay till late late last year, now have to use the 'BG Ap' to get readings, but for some reason, despite about 8 phone calls ( no easy task in itself) to ask them to bill me monthly, they bill me quarterly? came in Christmas eve: £480, this was despite paying £120, and getting £80 compensation from the energy ombudsmen. In January, got no bill asked to pay monthly, agreed on £127 a month. I am on fixed price tarrif, but BG Seem to offer few different tarrifs, my contract comes up for renewal so going to leave BG, probably going to Octopus. I also have a 'Home care agreement for electrics and central heating, that despite endless phone calls seems to going up at 25% per year. Call out charge now £60. An annual service around here by a Gas safe engineer is £60. The boiler is about 11 years old. Personally, I feel I am being taken as a mug, you would think loyalty would count for something, but afraid BG have failed to provide a fit for purpose service, despite being on the 'vulnerable list' due to a medical condition.Obviously being an OAP counts for sod all these days. Yes energy costs have risen, and will be rising. If I can swap suppliers without a smart meter, I would prefer it to be honest, all we want to do is pay as I go, on a reasonable tarrif, obviously such stupid reasoning has no place in the modern business world of energy companies.
Would you believe it - Scottish Power actually rang me tonight, beginning the call "This is Scottish Power, I'm ringing to arrange the installation of your Smart meter". The call didn't last long!
Was talked into a smart meter two suppliers ago. It hasn't worked since... Despite the current supplier asking for the serial number and assuring me it would work... My conclusion: a waste of time.
Well, well, well 3rd supplier lucky! I was transferred to Shell Energy last year when my previous supplier went bust and out of the blue I got an email from Shell yesterday saying they'd got the smart meter working!
Was talked into a smart meter two suppliers ago. It hasn't worked since... Despite the current supplier asking for the serial number and assuring me it would work... My conclusion: a waste of time.
Well, well, well 3rd supplier lucky! I was transferred to Shell Energy last year when my previous supplier went bust and out of the blue I got an email from Shell yesterday saying they'd got the smart meter working!
I had the same thing a month or so ago. Jan bill was £127, took 87 last month, checked my account and I was £150 in debit. Not sure what’s going on as they said I would pay as much as I use. Will wait to see next month.
Hi, as I have had two smart meters I have some experience in this.
Firstly, make sure you have a second generation smart meter...
Being keen on gadgets I had one when they first came out. I was with British Gas ....
When I changed supplier as I do when better options occur the meter packed up working.
The next supplier , Green Star could not or did not want to supply a meter .
My present supplier , Octopus supplies 2and generation meter. This they tell me is transferable.
Each time I had a smart meter I had new gas and electric meters . The reason is the measurement meters have to be able to link to the smart meter.
So having two smart meters has cost a good deal of government funding.
If this strikes you as bad planning because the first generation meter would not transfer then you are not alone. Government screw up comes to mind.
Whether it actually helps you save money a lot of is open to conjecture. A better way is a smart mobile temperature regulator you can take into any room and each radiator having a flow regulator is more effective.
Make sure you get a 2nd generation meter.
I fund it useful as I can see what I use as I use it and the cost.
The government is compounding its idiocy by stipulating that companies must fit these devices and have set targets.
It is not called the stupid party without good reason.
Smart meter just on your electric? Have you had one for gas supply too?
Question for anybody: Occurs to me that a smart meter needs a power supply, it's an electronic gadget after all and probably broadcasts on a cellular phone network. There's no electricity supply anywhere near the gas main or meter on this property Having an electrical gadget with power supply near a gas main seems to be explosively idiotic. Am I missing something?
Hi, as I have had two smart meters I have some experience in this.
Firstly, make sure you have a second generation smart meter...
Being keen on gadgets I had one when they first came out. I was with British Gas ....
When I changed supplier as I do when better options occur the meter packed up working.
The next supplier , Green Star could not or did not want to supply a meter .
My present supplier , Octopus supplies 2and generation meter. This they tell me is transferable.
Each time I had a smart meter I had new gas and electric meters . The reason is the measurement meters have to be able to link to the smart meter.
So having two smart meters has cost a good deal of government funding.
If this strikes you as bad planning because the first generation meter would not transfer then you are not alone. Government screw up comes to mind.
Whether it actually helps you save money a lot of is open to conjecture. A better way is a smart mobile temperature regulator you can take into any room and each radiator having a flow regulator is more effective.
Make sure you get a 2nd generation meter.
I fund it useful as I can see what I use as I use it and the cost.
The government is compounding its idiocy by stipulating that companies must fit these devices and have set targets.
It is not called the stupid party without good reason.
Smart meter just on your electric? Have you had one for gas supply too?
Question for anybody: Occurs to me that a smart meter needs a power supply, it's an electronic gadget after all and probably broadcasts on a cellular phone network. There's no electricity supply anywhere near the gas main or meter on this property Having an electrical gadget with power supply near a gas main seems to be explosively idiotic. Am I missing something?
The gas valves and connections around your gas meter are just as safe as those inside your home providing they have been installed correctly by gas safe engineers.
When you consider you have a naked flame in the gas oven or on the gas hob a small electrical gadget next to the incoming main is fine.
Was talked into a smart meter two suppliers ago. It hasn't worked since... Despite the current supplier asking for the serial number and assuring me it would work... My conclusion: a waste of time.
Well, well, well 3rd supplier lucky! I was transferred to Shell Energy last year when my previous supplier went bust and out of the blue I got an email from Shell yesterday saying they'd got the smart meter working!
Sounds like they might finally be updating the SMETS1 meters. I know a lot of people don't like them but I found it really useful and was disappointed when it stopped working after changing supplier.
Hi, as I have had two smart meters I have some experience in this.
Firstly, make sure you have a second generation smart meter...
Being keen on gadgets I had one when they first came out. I was with British Gas ....
When I changed supplier as I do when better options occur the meter packed up working.
The next supplier , Green Star could not or did not want to supply a meter .
My present supplier , Octopus supplies 2and generation meter. This they tell me is transferable.
Each time I had a smart meter I had new gas and electric meters . The reason is the measurement meters have to be able to link to the smart meter.
So having two smart meters has cost a good deal of government funding.
If this strikes you as bad planning because the first generation meter would not transfer then you are not alone. Government screw up comes to mind.
Whether it actually helps you save money a lot of is open to conjecture. A better way is a smart mobile temperature regulator you can take into any room and each radiator having a flow regulator is more effective.
Make sure you get a 2nd generation meter.
I fund it useful as I can see what I use as I use it and the cost.
The government is compounding its idiocy by stipulating that companies must fit these devices and have set targets.
It is not called the stupid party without good reason.
Smart meter just on your electric? Have you had one for gas supply too?
Question for anybody: Occurs to me that a smart meter needs a power supply, it's an electronic gadget after all and probably broadcasts on a cellular phone network. There's no electricity supply anywhere near the gas main or meter on this property Having an electrical gadget with power supply near a gas main seems to be explosively idiotic. Am I missing something?
The smart meter itself does not use a power supply.
What you're thinking of is the IHD in home display which is separate from the meter itself and not even a requirement to have. It's a visual to give you an indication of how much energy and money you're consuming.
Comments
in fact, I would need to charge a small gadget to communicate with said meter and therefore use more energy.
This means that if a laptop is on for eight hours a day, it will cost 5p a day to run the laptop (based on an average energy unit cost of 12.5 p/kWh)".
Just something I randomly found on Google.
Many modern laptops typically use about 15 watts per hour with economy low power processors, I believe.
Crafty buggers
I haven't got one.
That is all.
If you actually want to change and save money, I think they are great to be honest.
And that's just on the display side of things, I know that I would be happier if I had an elderly relative if they had a smart meter, as I know there have been a few people who rob houses claiming to be people who read meters.
Given that it gives you more accurate bills as well, I don't see why people are so against them!
When I gave up the property to move into our current home they DEMANDED a meter reading rather than using the smart meter as it was my last bill and needed to be settled in full.
Clearly they had no faith in their product.
What they do do, is give you the data to make an informed decision about how you use energy.
They saved me money. Having said that though, then the bastard stopped working!
The energy company are given monthly readings on line.
The energy company takes a monthly direct debit.
Every year they review the amount of energy used and adjust the direct debit accordingly.
Having two twenty somethings away at University this year, those direct debits have reduced by nearly 30%.
I review my energy companies prices annually and switch if necessary.
Smart meters are just a complete waste of resources for the Government and the energy companies. if they didn't have to purchase them and then pay to install them I suspect energy prices could come down by about 5%.
I dont leave the vacuum cleaner on upstairs all day because I like a bit of background white noise.
I use the vacuum when I want to clean the floor.
The meter wouldn't change that.
A smart meter cannot save me money in any possible way.
It does have certain uses
If you are a data nerd like I am, it really can help.
You have to actually embrace it and want to change in order to see the results.
Personally think if the installer knows his job, then things can work, the website had its issues, which had been working perfectly okay till late late last year, now have to use the 'BG Ap' to get readings, but for some reason, despite about 8 phone calls ( no easy task in itself) to ask them to bill me monthly, they bill me quarterly? came in Christmas eve: £480, this was despite paying £120, and getting £80 compensation from the energy ombudsmen. In January, got no bill asked to pay monthly, agreed on £127 a month. I am on fixed price tarrif, but BG Seem to offer few different tarrifs, my contract comes up for renewal so going to leave BG, probably going to Octopus.
I also have a 'Home care agreement for electrics and central heating, that despite endless phone calls seems to going up at 25% per year. Call out charge now £60. An annual service around here by a Gas safe engineer is £60. The boiler is about 11 years old.
Personally, I feel I am being taken as a mug, you would think loyalty would count for something, but afraid BG have failed to provide a fit for purpose service, despite being on the 'vulnerable list' due to a medical condition.Obviously being an OAP counts for sod all these days. Yes energy costs have risen, and will be rising. If I can swap suppliers without a smart meter, I would prefer it to be honest, all we want to do is pay as I go, on a reasonable tarrif, obviously such stupid reasoning has no place in the modern business world of energy companies.
Question for anybody:
Occurs to me that a smart meter needs a power supply, it's an electronic gadget after all and probably broadcasts on a cellular phone network.
There's no electricity supply anywhere near the gas main or meter on this property
Having an electrical gadget with power supply near a gas main seems to be explosively idiotic.
Am I missing something?
When you consider you have a naked flame in the gas oven or on the gas hob a small electrical gadget next to the incoming main is fine.
What you're thinking of is the IHD in home display which is separate from the meter itself and not even a requirement to have. It's a visual to give you an indication of how much energy and money you're consuming.