That's not exactly new, it's pretty easy to analyse power usage guy at work recons it would be pretty easy to be able to know what program someone is watching on TV.
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Smart Meter installation warning!
- Thread starter YoungBlood
- Start date
Should have also heard that it's a load of rubbish doesn't lock you to anyone still free to change as and when you want.
Had a British Gas one for a while and no issues at all.
Spent a bit of time on the first day turning everything off, then hunting round for what was still on, then turning things on one at a time so you could see how much power they used.
Was a bit of an eye opener seeing what power things used even in standby but also how little some things used when on.
Not sure it will save money but it does offer more information on your energy usage, what you do with the info is up to you but I'd rather have it than not.
Spent a bit of time on the first day turning everything off, then hunting round for what was still on, then turning things on one at a time so you could see how much power they used.
Was a bit of an eye opener seeing what power things used even in standby but also how little some things used when on.
Not sure it will save money but it does offer more information on your energy usage, what you do with the info is up to you but I'd rather have it than not.
Soldato
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Biggest problem I've had with our smart meter is the reception on the handheld display is awful and it constantly beeps at me when it loses connection to the meter. It's annoying as ****, so much so I just don't use the display any more.
Soldato
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At our house we have a British Gas one, works well enough and was handy when giving meter readings when we first moved in. They seem to read it once a month and as a result I'm £186 in credit, which is nice to know I'm using less than I pay for as the colder months approach. My parents however, have a smart meter from SSE, its useless, it barely has any signal despite being a few metres from the meter and I don't think they've ever taken a reading from it.
Aye, sadly until the government wake up and enforce a standard, steer clear is the advice I'd give.
Soldato
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Its worth pointing out that even tho there is no standard, my meter was fitted by SSE and saisnburys/british gas can still get automated reading from it so no downside there.
Soldato
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Don't you have to take a day off work to be present while they fit it? E-on has been emailing/phoning me to make an appointment.
I was going to post that I can't believe there isn't a standard, but sadly I can. The usual half-**** job.
Soldato
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I don't think I did as my wife doesn't work Monday's or Tuesday's.
Associate
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as soon as we had a smart meter fitted economy 7 ended
Caporegime
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they are going to try and force me onto one as I have solar panels and my meter goes backwards when they produce electricity I don't use.
they also pay me an FIT. so I'm essentially getting paid for the electricity I produce two times over.
the installer told me to try and hold off for as long as possible but I'm sure they will just withdraw my FIT until a smart meter is in place.
they also pay me an FIT. so I'm essentially getting paid for the electricity I produce two times over.
the installer told me to try and hold off for as long as possible but I'm sure they will just withdraw my FIT until a smart meter is in place.
This can happen with any meter change to be honest, not just changing from normal meter to start meter.
Just thought I'd share our experience with other users here just in case they experience the same thing as us and apologies for the long post.
In January we had an email from our provider (First Utility) that we could have smart meters installed. Although we are sticklers for providing monthly readings, being able to look at our usage in cost every day and not having to remember to submit seemed appealing and being a tech addict....why not!
So I logged on and arranged the date / time for the installation to take place, the process was very smooth and we were given a date of around mid April. The installation occurred on the day and time advertised with no issues and we were given a nice little screen showing our real time usage, daily cost etc etc.
It's at this point is when the problems start. Our first bill landed in my inbox after the installation, some 3 weeks after the installation which stated the below:
Now you can imagine the reaction initially regarding a £3600 bill and given we were providing a reading every month on the same date I couldn't understand what had gone wrong. I obviously called First Utility who immediately raised a 'Case' as they call it, they held my DD payments at the same level and were very clear about the timelines upon which such complaints operate within.
After investigation it turned out that the meter company (who operate completely independent of energy suppliers) had not updated their records and failed to register us as having smart meters installed, so the billing system had automatically calculated the usage from our old meters to the new meters which both obviously started at 0 as if it was the same meters.
Fortunately for me, my wife in her wisdom had gone and submitted a meter reading on the morning of meter swap, this helped massively in aiding a quick resolution
After various update calls to me from First Utility it took around 10 weeks to get my bill corrected and I have to say the First Utility were absolutely brilliant throughout, I never had to chase them once and always called when they said they would.
So to sum up when having smart meters installed:
- Submit meter readings on the day of installation
- Don't panic if it goes wrong and you get landed with a massive bill
- Know that they have 90 days to get the bill corrected
Hopefully someone will find this useful!
If your meter is going backwards it needs replacing as your usage and fit will not be calculated correctly.
Caporegime
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I already have a separate generation meter as well as the inverter keeping a track of it.
The generation meter is only recording generation, not export. Traditionally they would assume that in a doemstic environment, 50% of the generation has been exported, but that was a short term compromise to get the whole solar PV scheme of the ground properly, it was always intended to meter it properly at a later date.
Your feed in tarrif will comprise a per unit rate for everything you generate (to encourage you to have them installed in the first place, it could be as high as 43p! depending on when you had it installed) you also get a separate rate for everything you give back to the grid (which is likely to be less than you have to pay the grid to buy it from them). Then of course for every unit you inport from the grid, you have a unit charge the same as the rest of us
The problem with your meter running backwards, is if for every unit you take from the grid, you pay them x, and for every unit you give back they give you 0.8x, with the counter running backwards, it simply looks like you have used less from the grid, than you have, they don't know how much has gone each way. The generation meter doesn't help as they are prepared to base how much they pay you for exporting on the basis of 50% of total generation, but not your main electricity charge (which has to be accurate)
So they are required to change your meter, the good news, is that it does not have to be a smart meter, many of the later mechanical meters had a backstop so it wouldn't turn backwards, so it would correctly log the import and ignore the export. All the later digital meters AFAIK do this too, a popular model displays "rEd" (reverse energy detected" when this happens and doesn't decrease the register.
I do not know if there is such a thing as an import/export meter for domestic available which does not have smart meter capability, there is no reason one could not exist, but I would expect they wouldn't be widely available as they want to encourage smart meter take up.
So, they can insist on changing your meter to one that doesnt run backwards (and indeed they should), but you can insist that it is not a smart meter (and there are possibly good reasons why you should), but if you do do, its unlikely they would be able to fit one with an export register (unlikely to be an issue to you, unless you thing you are exporting more than 50% of whats generated)
Your feed in tarrif will comprise a per unit rate for everything you generate (to encourage you to have them installed in the first place, it could be as high as 43p! depending on when you had it installed) you also get a separate rate for everything you give back to the grid (which is likely to be less than you have to pay the grid to buy it from them). Then of course for every unit you inport from the grid, you have a unit charge the same as the rest of us
The problem with your meter running backwards, is if for every unit you take from the grid, you pay them x, and for every unit you give back they give you 0.8x, with the counter running backwards, it simply looks like you have used less from the grid, than you have, they don't know how much has gone each way. The generation meter doesn't help as they are prepared to base how much they pay you for exporting on the basis of 50% of total generation, but not your main electricity charge (which has to be accurate)
So they are required to change your meter, the good news, is that it does not have to be a smart meter, many of the later mechanical meters had a backstop so it wouldn't turn backwards, so it would correctly log the import and ignore the export. All the later digital meters AFAIK do this too, a popular model displays "rEd" (reverse energy detected" when this happens and doesn't decrease the register.
I do not know if there is such a thing as an import/export meter for domestic available which does not have smart meter capability, there is no reason one could not exist, but I would expect they wouldn't be widely available as they want to encourage smart meter take up.
So, they can insist on changing your meter to one that doesnt run backwards (and indeed they should), but you can insist that it is not a smart meter (and there are possibly good reasons why you should), but if you do do, its unlikely they would be able to fit one with an export register (unlikely to be an issue to you, unless you thing you are exporting more than 50% of whats generated)
The problem is that people wouldn't like that. They'd complain that it isn't fair that boiling a kettle at 7pm is more than at 3am.
I have has a smart meter for nearly 2 years now. So much less hassle and can easily spot when something has started sapping electricity. Also because you see daily readings on the portable device it can encourage you to get your daily consumption down.
You going to pay to have it replaced with a dumb meter?
What would be the point in getting it removed?