Associate
Or you stick a magnet on the side
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Any downsides to a smart meter?
- Thread starter Minstadave
- Start date
Soldato
Pretty sure that this thread has been answered now, and it's just going around in a loop.
Some people like them, some don't, some just have an irrational dislike.
Some people like them, some don't, some just have an irrational dislike.
What’s not clear from the headline 4 million number is the amount which are actually SMETS1 meter which are no longer linked to their original supplier and can’t be or haven’t yet been migrated to the DCC.
I’d hazard a guess that it’s most of them.
I’d hazard a guess that it’s most of them.
i Hate to tell you but this statement is just not true!
The engineers that work with and for me all work until 8pm every night of the week 9-5 saturdays and sundays when required.
It all depends on your suppler who they have working for them and the amount of utilisation in your area (i.e. how many installations in a day in the area).
For the South West North (Bristol, Bath, Cardiff, Swindon down to Taunton) region EDF (my employer) are massively underutilised to the point we are sending people home by 2pm as they don't have enough work.
The point is accuracy, in general the public want accurate bills not estimated, for 90% of the country the either cannot be arsed to read a meter or don't even know where it is!
Just because there is a limited few Smart meters that have become non smart over time why let that colour good judgement?
At EDF (my employer) we have a portfolio of 8million meters around 60% of that is smart, of the smart 1% are smart non functional due to geographic or signal issue, something that is completely out of anyone's control other than Telefonica and Arquiva (the network solution providers), realistically this is going to get worse after 2025 when the switch to 4g comms hubs starts. Another 1% of that have intermittent communications issues with a similar responsibility level. 0.25% of accutal failed installs i.e. the smart meter is not smart because of a failed asset i.e. comms hub failed or meter fault. Around 0.7% exists a set of smart gas meters that have chosen not to stay connected primarily because the battery has failed in the meter and the meter provider will not provide us (the supplier) the proprietary tool to open the meter access panel and replace the battery, these were a batch of around 6000 gas meters spread all across the country, a work in progress shall we say. Lastly we have the SMETS1 smart meters around 1.2million of these exist in our portfolio. we are actively seeking permission to change them to SMETS2 metes but that is decided by Ofgem/DCC or we the supplier will have to pay a fine for removing them early even if they are non functional.
Caporegime
I am happy to read the meter when needed. I am clearly not that 90%.
I can read it accurately. I have been able to tell the difference between 0-9 for a while now.
I know where it is.
I am happy with paying more for my trouble.
I am not trying to convince others not to get one.
They should stop asking me to get one.
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Soldato
They are never going to stop it is gov mandated change, suck it up, and once they've forced it upon you you could opt to pay less, but I am sure you'll cut your nose of to spite your face and stay on the most expensive tariff you can find.
Caporegime
They are never going to stop it is gov mandated change, suck it up, and once they've forced it upon you you could opt to pay less, but I am sure you'll cut your nose of to spite your face and stay on the most expensive tariff you can find.
They better get a warrant or risk breaking and entering.
Caporegime
SMS, when I was with Shell, failed me three times and AES, now I'm with Octopus, have failed me twice.
I only looked at the first page of Trust Pilot reviews for AES and all but a couple of the 1 star reviews are for cancelled appointments.
SMS appear to have far better reviews, so I may have just been incredibly lucky, but they refused to reschedule twice when I asked them for appointments after work. I've already told AES not to ring me again.
The only positive for AES over SMS is they haven't spammed me with constant phone calls after I told them not to bother me again, I literally blocked SMS on my phone because it turned in to harrasment.
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The government have made it the responsibility of the supplier to force customer into smart or face penalty. It's a ridiculous position to put the supplier in when it's a government led system.
SMS and AES are installation service providers, lots of so called provider have sprung up and employed the ones no one else wants so yeah I can feel your pain there
Caporegime
Make it illegal to own an old meter and I’ll comply with the law.
Soldato
I'll be replaced once it is due calibration... So you are stuffed regardless
Caporegime
Cross that bridge when I come to it. I am not going to volunteer, make time, wait at home for it.
Caporegime
My interactions with SMS made me think they're just a call centre on commission for getting customers to accept installations. Always polite, very pushy and very persistent. Not very knowledgeable though, second appointment was cancelled because my electric meter's over 8 foot, third appointment was booked without issue despite me mentioning that fact twice.SMS and AES are installation service providers, lots of so called provider have sprung up and employed the ones no one else wants so yeah I can feel your pain there
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It is already illegal to have an old meter, btw you don't own the meter...
Metering of all forms is covered under the weights and measures act, that's why they have calibration dates on older meters, and why they need replacement regularly.
Soldato
Got a smart meter booked in for next month. Means I'll be able to take advantage of octopus' tariffs.
Commissario
Now I’ve got a smart meter, I’ve signed up for the Octopus tracker.
It's a shame you've missed the bigger savings on prices (over the last year and more), but it'll still be worth it while energy prices are coming down. Nowhere near normal prices yet but better something than nothing.
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Did exactly this over the last couple of weeks.
Really nice of them, they've backdated my bill for this month to the date I requested the tracker, rather than the date I actually got switched over. Saving a significant amount per day now.