Smart meter farce

[Rilot]

Oh boy. I’ve just found myself in an utterly farcical situation.

My energy monitor has failed completely so I rang British Gas to see about getting a replacement. After 20 minutes on the phone we established the following:

Smart meters and energy monitors are completely separate entities
My smart meter was fitted by EON
My smart meter still works
British Gas will not replace my energy monitor because it was fitted by EON
A British Gas monitor wouldn’t work with my EOS smart meter anyway
British Gas won’t replace my smart meter and energy monitor because the smart meter part still works
British Gas won’t book me in as a new smart meter installation because I already have a smart meter.
I cannot pay British Gas to fit a new smart meter even if I wanted to

So, I call EON.

Who flat refuse to talk to me because I’m not an EON customer.

So, what was the point of all this smart meter, check your usage in real-time to save the planet stuff that has cost billions?

 

[Rilot]

I actually managed to fix the display. It has a little 3.7v 1S LiPo in it which was reading 0.02v. I swapped it with a spare I had from a little quadcopter and we're back in business.

This doesn't get around the fact that this is an utterly ridiculous situation. I mean, what is someone like my dad to do if his display packs in?

 

[Rilot]

I am actually quite keen on seeing the usage. It enabled me to see which appliances I have that cost the most to run.
All of the publicity around smart meters is all about having access to point-in-time usage stats. Without that, I don't see the point in them at all.

If all it is about is allowing the energy companies to get a better idea of your usage and not have to reply on estimated readings then why not advertise it as that? Why all the eco bull?