Smart meters for energy

[A380]

Sort of. But to replace the baseload supplied by nuclear that was shut down in the wake of fukushima, Germany has built some new coal plant.

This wasn’t their finest hour either:

German energy secretary backs forest clearance to build coal mine

 

[equationgirl]

This wasn’t their finest hour either:

German energy secretary backs forest clearance to build coal mine

Indeed.

 

[Poi E]

Smart meters do not provide energy. Fact. Don't let them rip you off!

 

[bellaozzydog]

I just got an eleccy bill for 688 quid. For over the summer.

I need to challenge it i reckon

 

[Poi E]

Tell them the quality of their electricity has been shit lately and you want a discount. It's a competitive market so they should listen to the consumer. You might get shinier electricity elsewhere, otherwise.

 

[A380]

Tell them the quality of their electricity has been shit lately and you want a discount. It's a competitive market so they should listen to the consumer. You might get shinier electricity elsewhere, otherwise.

Say no to electricity that isn’t mint flavoured.

 

[Teaboy]

I just got an eleccy bill for 688 quid. For over the summer.

I need to challenge it i reckon

I'd say so. My combined gas and electric bill for the whole year is about that. Maybe you left the oven on all summer?

 

[bellaozzydog]

I just got an eleccy bill for 688 quid. For over the summer.

I need to challenge it i reckon

UPDATE

Got online to EDF and asked for clarification. I had receipts for paying through out the billing year why ws I getting an epic bill on top.

Oops sorry sir, we will take that balance/bill off the books it was a mistake

I owe zero

Just like that, I would probably have just paid that and got on with life if I wasn't trying to budget and balance my books for the accountant/tax return

FUCKERS

 

[cybershot]

Just 1.2% of smart meters will definitely stay smart when you switch

 

[discobastard]

Just 1.2% of smart meters will definitely stay smart when you switch

Actually around 30% of SMETS1 meters will let you switch, so its a *bit* of a deceptive headline. But still, a shambles.

The biggest mistake in all of this was putting the obligation on the suppliers to roll them out. Firstly it means they have to persuade everybody, and nobody trusts them. Secondly, it means they all got obsessed with hanging products off the back of it that may not be compatible across suppliers. Thirdly, having 20+ different organisations installing them is just crazy.

What they should have done is just have the regional distributors install them as a compulsory infrastructure upgrade. It would have been cleaner and simpler and people would have been far more likely to just accept it.

Giving it to the retailers does however provide the Government with somebody to blame, so I can see why they did it. Stupendous waste of money, albeit we do need a smart infrastructure.

 

[nogojones]

Exactly.

I must confess that I don't think the profession of electrician covers itself in glory a lot of the time. There seems to be a level of fear mongering around the subject that you don't get with the other trades to nearly the same extent. And yes, I know that the potential dangers of electricity are manifest and can be serious, but that doesn't excuse this kind of bullshit.

And I've seen too many supposedly-professional electrical installations where silly corners have been cut, or (conversely) expensive solutions installed to have a great deal of faith in the profession's integrity overall. I know there are good electricians, and I've even worked with a few, but it seems to be rather more generously provisioned with cowboys than is ideal...

All the ones I know are too busy installing growrooms and diverting supply to do any normal domestic work.

 

[two sheds]

The reason for the Cornish site was that it was so far from any big plant in the past ( the Nuclear plant at Hinckley was I think the nearest) so the system needed something down there. As the reactive power effects, unlike energy, are distance limited ( 50 /60 miles?)

When you say they're distance limited do you mean you don't get E leading I on the network the further away you get from an inductive load? Because the resistance of the lines starts to dominate and/or there are capacitive loads too perhaps?

And I don't understand why you'd have a power station compensating for reactive power in Cornwall if the reactive power effects are distance limited.

 

[gentlegreen]

NPower won't stop tesxting me - I just had one offering entry into a draw.
I think I'll wait for a proper bribe.

 

[teuchter]

Anyone got a SMET2 meter yet? Or have none actually appeared anywhere yet?

 

[skyscraper101]

I need to change my energy supplier. Whats the consensus on these. Don't get one? Is that the verdict? I heard they go dumb if you switch supplier and only save about £11 on average? Am I missing anything else?

 

[teuchter]

I need to change my energy supplier. Whats the consensus on these. Don't get one? Is that the verdict? I heard they go dumb if you switch supplier and only save about £11 on average? Am I missing anything else?

The types of meter that have been installed so far mostly have been the type that go dumb. Supposedly the 'SMET2' ones won't. (Hence my question above)

 

[JJ50]

We have a smart meter, our energy supplier insists on them. My husband understands it, which is more than I do and make graphs of our energy use on a daily basis.

 

[skyscraper101]

Is it just the big energy firms who give these out then? I was looking on MSE and all the best deals seem to be with small energy firms not the big 4 or whatever it is.

Edit. Also does anyone recommend any particular providers right now? I'm thinking to switch from Eon.

 

[teuchter]

If you are interested in 'green' tariffs try Bulb.

 

[gentlegreen]

Why do you want one ?

 

[discobastard]

Anyone got a SMET2 meter yet? Or have none actually appeared anywhere yet?

I asked Eon about them a couple months ago. They are trialling them but still fitting SMETS1 as standard

SMETS1 meters will get a firmware upgrade at some point to SMETS2 once the trials are complete as I understand it.

 

[discobastard]

We have a smart meter, our energy supplier insists on them. My husband understands it, which is more than I do and make graphs of our energy use on a daily basis.

They cannot ‘insist’ on them. But they can be very persistent in persuading you.

 

[cybershot]

Is it just the big energy firms who give these out then? I was looking on MSE and all the best deals seem to be with small energy firms not the big 4 or whatever it is.

Edit. Also does anyone recommend any particular providers right now? I'm thinking to switch from Eon.

Just go for whoever is cheapest on the MSE’s cheap energy club site. I’m with outfox the market. Who are a shower of shite when it comes to customer service and recently have made the news for plenty of bad decisions which have seen them lose tons of custom. However despite all this. Because I got on a good fixed deal from them in January 2018 means the next cheapest was £150pa more currently (the current fixed deal I’m on ends in September 2019, and god knows how much I’ll be paying by then. Just goes to show how ridiculous energy prices have gone up within 12 months)

If the company you’re with goes bust ofgeM appoint a replacement and then you can change again once you’re on the new supplier and you don’t lose your credits (or debts if that’s the case) so just go for whoever is cheapest is what I would say.

Fwiw I don’t have a smart reader and no energy supplier I’ve been with in the past 8 years have even tried to make me have one. Only one of the big six I’ve been with in that time is npower.

 

[skyscraper101]

Just go for whoever is cheapest on the MSE’s cheap energy club site. I’m with outfox the market. Who are a shower of shite when it comes to customer service and recently have made the news for plenty of bad decisions which have seen them lose tons of custom. However despite all this. Because I got on a good fixed deal from them in January 2018 means the next cheapest was £150pa more currently (the current fixed deal I’m on ends in September 2019, and god knows how much I’ll be paying by then. Just goes to show how ridiculous energy prices have gone up within 12 months)

If the company you’re with goes bust ofgeM appoint a replacement and then you can change again once you’re on the new supplier and you don’t lose your credits (or debts if that’s the case) so just go for whoever is cheapest is what I would say.

Fwiw I don’t have a smart reader and no energy supplier I’ve been with in the past 8 years have even tried to make me have one. Only one of the big six I’ve been with in that time is npower.

Cheers. It’s a total shambles all of it, plus trying to work out which company are the least conning bastards doesn’t make it any more fun. When I lived in LA it was one firm for everything (water and power) and there was none of this faffing around.

 

[teuchter]

Yup it's all a big waste of everyone's time. Basically you choose between remembering to waste a few hours of your life switching each year, and getting charged over the odds for not doing so.

 

[cybershot]

Cheers. It’s a total shambles all of it, plus trying to work out which company are the least conning bastards doesn’t make it any more fun. When I lived in LA it was one firm for everything (water and power) and there was none of this faffing around.

Made worse by the fact any joe bloggs has been able to set up an energy company. Many have gone under in the past 12 months and no doubt many more will before the end of winter after offering great tariffs and then not being able to afford the wholesale prices once they have gone up. Thankfully the whole changing supplier system that’s in place is pretty good meaning consumers don’t really need to give a shit who their supplier is.

Rules apparently have changed as of jan 1st meaning no Tom dick or Harry can set up a company without proofing they have sufficient funds in place.

Agree it’s all a load of bollocks. The amount of time I have to spend every year looking up if I’m on the best deal for utilities/insurance/tv/broadband/mobile etc.

Nationalise the fucking lot.

 

[gentlegreen]

NPower text me on a regular basis. The most recent text offered me the chance to win some electricity for signing up for a "smart" meter.

 

[a_chap]

Made worse by the fact any joe bloggs has been able to set up an energy company.

You know that setting up up a Supply company isn't just a case of registering a domain name and printing some letter headed paper. You do realise that, don't you?

 

[Pickman's model]

You know that setting up up a Supply company isn't just a case of registering a domain name and printing some letter headed paper. You do realise that, don't you?

Yeh you found that out the hard way

 

[cybershot]

You know that setting up up a Supply company isn't just a case of registering a domain name and printing some letter headed paper. You do realise that, don't you?

Obviously.