Smart Meters

TJExcalibur

TJExcalibur

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Bulb, my energy supplier, good prices and 1st class customer service suggests I install smart meters, I see no reason not too but SWIMBO thinks they are rubbish and spy on you. But then it is me that crawls under the stairs and into the porch cupboard to read the meters. Plus they also send a meter reader now and then to check. Any views.
 
TJExcalibur said:
Bulb, my energy supplier, good prices and 1st class customer service suggests I install smart meters, I see no reason not too but SWIMBO thinks they are rubbish and spy on you. But then it is me that crawls under the stairs and into the porch cupboard to read the meters. Plus they also send a meter reader now and then to check. Any views.
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I use Bulb, but still have to read the electric and gas meters, as my previous supplier British Gas provided me with the first generation smart meter, which is incompatible with Bulb.
I haven't had any information from Bulb about any compatible meter they could supply yet.
 
I'm not so much concerned about them spying on me, it's the possibility that in the future they could decide to control my supply of energy through the smart meter that stops me from letting them be fitted.
 
TJExcalibur said:
Bulb, my energy supplier, good prices and 1st class customer service suggests I install smart meters, I see no reason not too but SWIMBO thinks they are rubbish and spy on you. But then it is me that crawls under the stairs and into the porch cupboard to read the meters. Plus they also send a meter reader now and then to check. Any views.
Click to expand...
Your SWIMBO is partly right.

From what is currently being proposed, smart meter intelligence, prioritising and potential override protocol - Hello Dave - is still being assessed and could lead to everything previously installed getting ripped out, so much for environmentally friendly devices.

www.thisismoney.co.uk

Emergency measures could allow networks to switch off household power

A series of backdoor 'modifications' to the Smart Energy Code have been proposed by officials and look set to pass into law by next spring.
www.thisismoney.co.uk www.thisismoney.co.uk


A report from Which , which is somewhat out of date since is doesn't mention the above threat.

www.which.co.uk

Smart meter problems and how to solve them - Which?

Read our tips on how to fix the most common smart meter problems owners tell us about
www.which.co.uk www.which.co.uk

Of importance to myself is the bit about DCC, I don't want to have yet another wifi device spraying harmonics around the property 24/7.

I'm not going to approve the fitting of one here and will object if it ever becomes compulsory (which the blurb I have in the first promotion said it was never going to be).
Additionally our gas meter outside, plus the cupboard under the stairs where the leccy box is has no access unless I dismantle the small doorframe, which I am not going to do unless the supplier agrees to cover the work and redecorating.
 
No doubt they'll be used to tax the charging of electric cars once they become more common and the revenue from petrol & diesel falls.

I also noticed they stopped claiming smart meters would cut your energy bill, I wonder how much energy a 'smart' meter actually consumes.
 
Scottish Power finally got around to offering me one then promptly cancelled the appointment - and the reschedule appointment. No explanation. No apology.
 
ozumo said:
No doubt they'll be used to tax the charging of electric cars once they become more common and the revenue from petrol & diesel falls.

I also noticed they stopped claiming smart meters would cut your energy bill, I wonder how much energy a 'smart' meter actually consumes.
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Yes, there is some documentation out on the WWW that goes into depth on what the meters currently can, and may in future be able to detect is connected using device protocol, not unlike DiSEqC.
Cars, and I suspect home use of industrial tools that suck more of the 'j leccy' will come under scrutiny, allowing the supplier to charge accordngly.

I believe the next generation of meter will also act as a gateway/gatekeeper to filter out same phase interference (every third home) back into the road, any unknown generator can then be narrowed down to a single property - or specific device - rather than sending out the man in the van to knock on more than one door. That is if the meter hasn't disabled the supply in the first place and placed the occupants under house arrest.
 
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We're with SSE and they're constantly trying to get me to have them installed, obviously means they don't have to employ reading staff, but also is a great tool for finding out where they can apply premium rates in the future.
 
rolfw said:
We're with SSE and they're constantly trying to get me to have them installed, obviously means they don't have to employ reading staff, but also is a great tool for finding out where they can apply premium rates in the future.
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I have a smart meter and hourly billing. Can see past days usage by the hour on the website.
Could chose to use power when it's cheapest but in fact don't bother.
 
Mine was installed by British Gas nine years ago this month, and has always been dumb in the sense that nothing apart from a provided remote monitor handset functioned, just an ability to take readings from the meter as with the old one. I changed energy provider from BG to Bulb in 2019, and I then lost the use of the handset, with which at least up until then I could check and track my energy usage.

Apparently as a first generation meter, it's due to be 'smarted up' by Bulb by the end of April this year, but Bulb haven't notified me
of this fact yet.

Incidentally, British Gas didn't ask whether I wanted a smart meter, a date convenient to me was agreed on and the installation was carried out on both electric and gas meters.

Smart Meter.JPG

BG Monitor Handset.JPG
 
Our new (rented) place that we moved into 3 years ago has a smart meter. No problems with it. There was a remote monitoring thing which immediately got chucked up on top of a cupboard out of the way.
 
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