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Old 4th November 2020, 23:49   #1
Simondi
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Default Smart meters

So Smart meters for gas & electricity. Are they any good and do they help to save money on energy bills?
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Old 5th November 2020, 00:42   #2
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No, the meters don't save you money. All they can do is display how much energy you're using at any given time and it's then up to you to change your usage habits to try and save money.
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Old 5th November 2020, 07:32   #3
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Apart from making you watch them all the time and dashing around turning stuff off, they automatically send your readings for billing purposes. Personally, I don't mind taking readings and submitting them online, so I don't have one.
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Old 5th November 2020, 07:59   #4
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After five appointments, and five no shows from my energy company to fit a Smartmeter, I don't want one. 40 hours of my life wasted sitting waiting for them to turn up, and no apologies for not doing so until I made my opinion on them known.

All I did get was a spotty youth in a white van, ( no signage written on it ), that was in a pretty diabolical condition, knocking on my door and just saying " gas meter".

I ain't having that. I'm not naming the company other than to say they have six letters, and no capital letter at the start of the name.
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Old 5th November 2020, 08:31   #5
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I have said it before but nothing can help tight fisted me save any more fuel/energy. I don't think it's wise for information on my useage and therefore my presence at home to be broadcast .
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Old 5th November 2020, 09:08   #6
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We have Gas & Electric smart meters fitted when we changed supplier, We don't save any money with them, We have good Wi-Fi here & get messages from the company on the tablet, They're read remotely so we never have to be at home to have them read any more.
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Old 5th November 2020, 12:33   #7
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Smart Meters.

Your point of view depends on your version of Smart. Gone are the meter readers and the huge wages bill for the energy suppliers.

So the need for the householder to lie prone across the hallway to screw their eyes up to read the numbers at floor level which some genius decided was the most convenient and accessible place to put it, in a place where every electrical cable in the house terminates, has no independent lighting, is about two foot square with a pair of step ladders and a Hoover and five coats hanging and has a master Off switch sticking out proud and waiting... So, ancient elbows and knobbly knees take a bashing. And the likelihood of clumsy Hoover users risking gas leaks when replacing tool in cupboard is ever present.

Then, following the destruction of the Boards on every High Street which were so convenient, the business ended up on line with no humans who could be understood when problems arose, the industry became 100 industries with 200 tariffs, and frequently went awol when needed. ‘Tariffs’ went from continuous to annual and grew in costs on the same basis.

Following destruction of manufacturing industry and the rebirth of unemployment growth, arrears became a problem. So some of those vulnerable meters, getting mysterious extra jump leads fitted by skint householders, became pre-pay on, of course, a non-credit basis and in advance. All was in the interests of competition of course.

Then the competition element was elbowed out in the favour of monopoly interests and the way was paved for Smart meters! Then the crude phoney advertising crept in. You could control your consumption by turning stuff Off! Like nobody knew that! So it was Power Saving (for the planet) and Price Saving (for the overdraft)! Er, no, it wasn’t. It was so the providers could cut costs and allegedly be competitive again. Er, no, that didn’t happen either.

Then there came the instant switch. You could transfer your account to another supplier with no fuss after a brief search and reap impressive savings, so increasing competitive pricing.

No again. All the suppliers have now been corralled into the ultimate aim, that of limiting choice again. You can now save hundreds of pounds if you switch rather than the relatively small amounts available before. Surprisingly, these big savings are only available if you install a smart meter! Smart? Yes, very.

Yes, you can adjust your costs by seeing how much you are using by then turning the TV, kettle, lights and heating and so many other essentials off. But the meter doesn’t do that. At least, not at the moment it doesn’t. You do it yourself.

So the Smart meter is smart? Yes indeed it is, too smart by half.

ps: the best job to get into these days? Tree feller. In readiness for the surge in sales of new age log-burners.
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Old 5th November 2020, 14:50   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wraymond View Post
Smart Meters ... So the need for the householder to lie prone across the hallway to screw their eyes up to read the numbers at floor level which some genius decided was the most convenient and accessible place to put it, in a place where every electrical cable in the house terminates, has no independent lighting, is about two foot square with a pair of step ladders and a Hoover and five coats hanging and has a master Off switch sticking out proud and waiting... So, ancient elbows and knobbly knees take a bashing. And the likelihood of clumsy Hoover users risking gas leaks when replacing tool in cupboard is ever present.
Ditto our gas meter. Installed by a contortionist to be read by one, of which I'm not. It was a big driving factor in my purchase of a modern smart mobile phone with a decent camera to ease the reading of the said meter. It is also invaluable when a dispute arises with a utility company, it is not so easy for it to pull your pants down when you can produce photographic evidence backed up by meta data.
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Old 5th November 2020, 16:13   #9
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We've had one for half a dozen years or so.

As has been said unless you take ages scrutinising it whenever you turn stuff on or off it makes absolutely no difference.

IMHO if I want to make a cuppa then I'll put the kettle on. The smart meter whizzy gadget will go ballistic but so what - I want a cuppa.

The current crop of TV adverts are, as far as I'm concerned, totally misleading. A meter in itself can't cut down your usage and therefore the bill. Only you can choose how/when to use electrical stuff but I suppose you may be better informed about just how much power your electrical appliances use and therefore how much they cost.
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Old 5th November 2020, 16:46   #10
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We had a smart meter fitted at our last rental property, the electric bill went from £20 per week to £180 per week!!

No hike in usage and this was at a time where I was working away from home 5 days a week, I queried the meter with the supplier several times only to be fobbed off.

It eventually went to court where I was ordered to pay the increased amount.

I’m still angry about this to this day.
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