Smart meters - any good?

helpimcrap

helpimcrap

helpimcrap

Soldato
Joined
13 Jan 2004
Posts
12,779
Location
Leicestershire
Hi, what's so good about them?
What can they tell me that I cannot work out from a monthly direct debit and entering meter readings?
 
I think the novelty wears off really fast with most people. They certainly were sold on a lie. No one ever believed that they were going to save anyone money, they just introduce the possibility of different charging time-zones, better info for the supply companies, and of course you can be disconnected remotely. In other words all the improvements are the for the supply companies not the consumers.

Having said that, there are times when this benefits you. My company read the meter every day, which means that there is no guessing of the amount I used before and after any tariff change. No having to phone up the supply company on a friday afternoon with meter readings!

And with current prices, some people may constantly monitor their energy consumption. I know mine is always set to display electricity usage now and if I accidentality leave something on I can tell just from the consumption reading.
 
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Joxeon said:
The downside is that you can't submit inflated readings before a price rise comes in.
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Dammit, I've missed a trick lol. But I didn't want to put it in high because their websites were down and I couldn't risk them putting my direct debit up stupidly high. I've kept it low relatively speaking. Still twice as much but manageable and lower than they want to charge. I enter meter readings in through an app. I also have a spreadsheet that works it all out so I can stay on track.

I'm glad it's not just me that doesn't see the point in them as much as the importance is made out out. I know my tumble dryer, kettle, microwave and shower are expensive. I've always known that. I know gas is expensive which is why I turn central heating on sparingly and I've always bulk cooked then frozen it.

My last energy bill was £110 for the quarter. I have solar panels though which help because I do the majority through the day if I can. Hopefully the energy bill won't be too bad this time. Submitted other night before the rise.
 
I like having a smart meter personally, its nice never having to submit readings but it's really big advantage for us is seeing our usage in real time which has definitely saved us money.

We have solar so maybe it's different from others but being able to see how much electric we're generating and knowing that i can put the dishwasher or washing machine or whatever on for 'free' is a really big plus for us.

Then there's the fact it makes it so easy to see at a glance what parasitic drain you have, like if you've left the garage lights on or something or just go round your house and realise that 2nd tv upstairs was drawing 20watts when it's hardly used etc.

Most of my bonuses are admittedly just from the energy monitor not technically the smart meter but as it's all built into one unit i really like it.
 
We gave in last Tuesday and had one fitted basically because we now can't get down to where the meters are to get the readings.
I also used to get reminder after reminder before I did it.
The two blokes who fitted it said they would never have one in their house.
My two brother in laws worked for EON and said the same thing.

I have yet to actually look at the display.
 
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SpellowHouse said:
I think the novelty wears off really fast with most people. They certainly were sold on a lie. No one ever believed that they were going to save anyone money, they just introduce the possibility of different charging time-zones, better info for the supply companies, and of course you can be disconnected remotely. In other words all the improvements are the for the supply companies not the consumers.

Having said that, there are times when this benefits you. My company read the meter every day, which means that there is no guessing of the amount I used before and after any tariff change. No having to phone up the supply company on a friday afternoon with meter readings!

And with current prices, some people may constantly monitor their energy consumption. I know mine is always set to display electricity usage now and if I accidentality leave something on I can tell just from the consumption reading.
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This tbh. It’s all for the company’s benefit in that no one can under read their meter and the idea that people will save loads of money is nonsense. Sure it lets you check what’s happening and might make you realise things that can be turned off at the wall haven’t been but those savings will evaporate once you’ve made the mentality shift.
 
dLockers said:
I almost put the lottery on when my gas smart meter packed in before the last rise.
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I am going to put the lottery on again as my meter has been reporting an error the last 3 days. Just submitted todays reading as if it was taken 30th. Let's see if I get put in prison.
 
Was meant to be getting one fitted on Thursday but as it's above 8ft, tough.

Seems people are now scared of heights but they'll happily install one if I move the existing meter.

I won't be getting one now.
 
Smart meters are useful if you:
  • Don't want to bother taking meter readings manually anymore.
  • Want to see what is using your power/gas and when. I can see on Octopus site how much I am using in 30 min intervals, daily, weekly etc.
  • Want to get onto a Smart tariff like Octopus Go or Agile with EV/Solar/Battery storage etc.
If none of that interests you, then yes you don't really need them. Previous owners of my house had it installed, and once installed you can't remove it, so I may as well make the best of it.

Even without a smart meter I would recommend a manual reading at least once a month.

Being able to see current usage is handy because you can turn stuff off and see how that impacts power consumption from the IHD.
 
Bulb were pretty good with smart meters as it let you check out daily consumption. EON Next just show you a cumulative total. So providers + smart meter combo is key.
 
I had a water meter outside my house changed a few years ago. I guess they didn't note down the new numbers correctly because my next water bill came through for £25,000. Fortunately, somebody at South Eastern must have noticed that my house wasn't at the bottom of a small lake and fixed the error before they ever attempted to get that from my bank account.
 
How does billing work?

Do you still have a set direct debit every month or does it alter based on usage? I.e. low bills in summer, high bills in winter.
 
helpimcrap said:
How does billing work?

Do you still have a set direct debit every month or does it alter based on usage? I.e. low bills in summer, high bills in winter.
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Same as normal - set Direct Debit each month. The main perks are it enables things like "smart" tariffs e.g. Octopus Go Faster will give me 4 hours of cheap energy between a time I chose, or 5 hours of cheap energy for a slightly higher rate. This is great because I have an electric car and a tumble dryer with a delay end timer.

Freefaller said:
Can I jump in and ask a question...

Can a SMETS1 be upgraded to a SMETS2 remotely? Or do they need to be physically replaced?
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Binned AFAIK. SMETS1 was a real screw up.
 
They probably know exactly what your doing in your house from the smart meter readings and then they sell your data on to other companies.

lets face it, wouldn't be that hard for someone to model an AI with the various watts of a bunch of appliances etc and then have it try to work out what you're doing at various times of the day
 
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