Should I get a smart meter?
- Thread starter Guineveretoo
- Start date
Elpenor
a clown’s heart and a mandolin
Pretty sure my smart meter doesn’t actually submit figures to my provider - I still have to do that myself. Not that they’ve actually billed me for gas for months despite me submitting regular readings via their app.
The monitor thing is good, I’ll give it that
The monitor thing is good, I’ll give it that
moonsi til
worked it out now!
You don’t need to be PAYG with a smart meter you can pay by DD monthly or when bill comes quarterly. I inherited 2 PAYG meters that I had changed to smart meters. The supply costs are the same as normal so not inflated PAYG rates. My gas is on DD monthly & my electric still on PAYG via an app. I think I would be better off doing that the other way round so I’m going to check my gas credit once we reach summer & by then it will be full 12 months of paying set amount which of course has increased.
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
In France you can get the éco-prêt à taux zéro up to €30,000. The payback period on solar panels is about 8 years implying an annualised rate of return of about 9.5%. The French government are lending you money at 0% that you can invest with almost zero risk at 9.5%. So it's financial madness not to do it.
scalyboy
They’re taking the piss now
Based on my experience I’d not recommend getting a smart meter - engineer came round yesterday morning, installed meters for gas and electric, then told me he’s obliged to cut off my gas supply because my boiler flue is ‘at risk’. Said it should be boxed in, with inspection flaps, two carbon monoxide detector / alarms, yadda yadda.
Phoned round a few plumbers who were all busy this week but said I was looking at £600 + VAT. A lot of them said they wouldn’t do the boxing-in as it’s a carpentry job. So I was becoming resigned to no heating or hot water till next week.
Fortunately I got hold of a plumber & builder this morning who came round, uncapped my gas, serviced the boiler, ran some checks on it (it’s still OK) etc…£228 inc VAT.
He says he’s been getting a lot of calls like mine, people who’ve had their supply cut off - and that the smart meter fitters don’t know the current legal requirements or regs and are unnecessarily cutting off the gas. Charlatans!
Imagine if I’d been a pensioner or housebound…
Phoned round a few plumbers who were all busy this week but said I was looking at £600 + VAT. A lot of them said they wouldn’t do the boxing-in as it’s a carpentry job. So I was becoming resigned to no heating or hot water till next week.
Fortunately I got hold of a plumber & builder this morning who came round, uncapped my gas, serviced the boiler, ran some checks on it (it’s still OK) etc…£228 inc VAT.
He says he’s been getting a lot of calls like mine, people who’ve had their supply cut off - and that the smart meter fitters don’t know the current legal requirements or regs and are unnecessarily cutting off the gas. Charlatans!
Imagine if I’d been a pensioner or housebound…
Last edited:
Guineveretoo
Mostly bewildered
Blimey. Not had that yet.
Sasaferrato
Super Refuser!
Don't you have to short the neutral as well, and will the earth still work?
Callie
Pivoting
EDF have done the same to me. Fuckers.
Puddy_Tat
happy mew year
octopus (i'm with them via co-op energy) have contacted and said my meters are past their sell-by date (or whatever it is) and they need to fit new (smart) meters
i still don't entirely trust smart meters
do i have to go along with this, or will they just shut up if i ignore it? (or will they cut me off if i do?)
i still don't entirely trust smart meters
do i have to go along with this, or will they just shut up if i ignore it? (or will they cut me off if i do?)
scalyboy
They’re taking the piss now
Don't let them install one if you can possibly avoid it. They are the Devil's work; I posted upthread about my supplier's incompetent nonsense; I naively allowed them to install one, it left me over £100 out of pocket after the damn fool who installed it capped off my gas supply for no good reason, and I had to get a genuine Corgi qualified feller to uncap me. And if I'd listened to the smart meter charlatan's balderdash about how my flue should be boxed in, it would've cost me hundreds. I don't know why I didn't demand they repay me, I think it was because I had the genuine bloke do my annual boiler service at the same timeoctopus (i'm with them via co-op energy) have contacted and said my meters are past their sell-by date (or whatever it is) and they need to fit new (smart) meters
i still don't entirely trust smart meters
do i have to go along with this, or will they just shut up if i ignore it? (or will they cut me off if i do?)
Last edited:
scalyboy
They’re taking the piss now
Tell them you're a strict Muslim, Orthodox Jewish, or a devout Catholic, and that smart meters are considered haram, trayf or grounds for excommunication. Better still, all three.octopus (i'm with them via co-op energy) have contacted and said my meters are past their sell-by date (or whatever it is) and they need to fit new (smart) meters
i still don't entirely trust smart meters
do i have to go along with this, or will they just shut up if i ignore it? (or will they cut me off if i do?)
philosophical
Well-Known Member
octopus (i'm with them via co-op energy) have contacted and said my meters are past their sell-by date (or whatever it is) and they need to fit new (smart) meters
i still don't entirely trust smart meters
do i have to go along with this, or will they just shut up if i ignore it? (or will they cut me off if i do?)
How about the infallible Horizon technology?
Ask them for the evidence they have about your particular meter.
Date of installation, make, serial number, location and so on if they know that much about it!
I get this all the time from British Gas and ignore them.
You have to clear out your under stairs cupboard for them! Oh yeah? With my bad back?
If a smart meter offered a way of buying cheap energy at certain times of the day, then things will look different.
I don’t trust them, or the energy companies.
magneze
🎧
Sounds like bollocks.octopus (i'm with them via co-op energy) have contacted and said my meters are past their sell-by date (or whatever it is) and they need to fit new (smart) meters
i still don't entirely trust smart meters
do i have to go along with this, or will they just shut up if i ignore it? (or will they cut me off if i do?)
scalyboy
They’re taking the piss now
I just re-read my post from last year, outrageous, I'm amazed I didn't complain at the time - but I have done just now.
I had to pay £228 to have my gas uncapped and have the boiler serviced, and given that the average cost of a service is £100, I said you owe me £128; however I will settle for £100 as the genuine CORGI bloke installed a carbon monoxide detector.
What really boils my fluids is that my electricity account is currently £186 in credit, so the idea that smart meters give an accurate snapshot of usage is bollocks... they recently emailed me to say they were reducing my electricity DDs, hoo-ray, but get this - they are increasing my gas DDs from £14 to £20 a month... because obviously I will use more heating in spring than I had been in the freezing winter. Utter, utter charlatans.
I had to pay £228 to have my gas uncapped and have the boiler serviced, and given that the average cost of a service is £100, I said you owe me £128; however I will settle for £100 as the genuine CORGI bloke installed a carbon monoxide detector.
What really boils my fluids is that my electricity account is currently £186 in credit, so the idea that smart meters give an accurate snapshot of usage is bollocks... they recently emailed me to say they were reducing my electricity DDs, hoo-ray, but get this - they are increasing my gas DDs from £14 to £20 a month... because obviously I will use more heating in spring than I had been in the freezing winter. Utter, utter charlatans.
Puddy_Tat
happy mew year
is it just chance that it's not been as cold this month? or have you changed what you do because of it? or did you get a discount or something for going on to one?
that's part of my thought process.
could try. i've been here for just over 20 years now. i have a vague idea that maybe one of the meters did get changed after i'd been here a year or so, but not sure i'd have anything that proves it.
more likely they will make it more expensive at certain times of the day if they feel like it. which is one reason i don't want to do it (i mostly work from home now)
likewise.
WouldBe
Dislicksick
Sometimes there is a sticker on the meter that gives the date fitted.
They are usually changed every 20(?) years on so on safety grounds.
Not sure if this was posted?
Why 7 million UK smart meters will stop working and what it will mean
NewScientist. 27 October 2023
Why 7 million UK smart meters will stop working and what it will mean
NewScientist. 27 October 2023
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Why do they stop working? I get that they won't be "smart" and phone home, but assume you can still read the meter.
It says how much faith Octopus have in them, as they still ask us for manual readings from time to time. And I still can't pay for the amount I use by direct debit, which seems to miss the point slightly.
It says how much faith Octopus have in them, as they still ask us for manual readings from time to time. And I still can't pay for the amount I use by direct debit, which seems to miss the point slightly.
magneze
🎧
Do smart meters allow energy companies to cut you off remotely? - Full Fact
While smart meters do mean energy companies can cut off your supply without going to court for a permit to enter your home, they should only cut you off after taking other steps to help you pay your d
fullfact.org
So ... yeah ... bad idea.
WouldBe
Dislicksick
So will the smart meters, they will just become dumb meters and not be able to phone home.Lol. Whereas all the dumb meters will keep going.
magneze
🎧
Some more good advice here: Getting a smart meter installed
WouldBe
Dislicksick
Of course if the dumb meter is outside they don't need to enter your home so presumably don't need a court order to cut you off.Do smart meters allow energy companies to cut you off remotely? - Full Fact
While smart meters do mean energy companies can cut off your supply without going to court for a permit to enter your home, they should only cut you off after taking other steps to help you pay your d
So ... yeah ... bad idea.
magneze
🎧
You might be right, but the article says they won't work and that 3 million already don't work. Which seems ... incredible and somewhat typical.
magneze
🎧
Still more hassle than doing it all remotely.Of course if the dumb meter is outside they don't need to enter your home so presumably don't need a court order to cut you off.
Similar threads
