Smart Meter installation warning!

PiKe said:
They will eventually have to allow someone to read your meter because they will want to check you're not giving them artificially low readings.
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Apart from when we first moved in no one has ever been to read our meters. I just send mine monthly via the app. I keep a record myself as well, so even with a smart meter its not making anything easier for me.
 
Adam_151 said:
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)
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Point is it's best I pro-long the situation for as long as possible. Because I now get to effectively use all the electricity I generate because the meter goes backwards then forwards. I also get 50% export so I'm effectively using 100% and getting 50% exported at the same time. It's a win/win situation to be in.

I will try and keep this backwards running meter for as long as possible.

muon said:
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.
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How is it not fair? It costs them more in money and in resources to manage spikes in electricity. It's much more efficient if there is a balanced load 24/7 rather than spikes and then huge crashes through the night.

The UK has to import energy from France after eastenders finishes for example because of the rush of people going to boil the kettle. This huge 5 minute spike in energy means it's a hands on situation needing to be carefully monitored and controlled with France on standby to provide the additional power needed.

Start charging more in that 5 minute period after eastenders would help smooth the spike out. However they would then need to be fair in it's operation and offer significantly cheaper electricity during off peak periods. This is why something like energy and utilities needs to be nationalised so it's in the best interest of the people rather than shareholders.
 
I'm wondering if in the future let's say 90%+ of people have smart meters. They stop employing meter readers as their wages don't bring in enough to warrant additional income from the small number of readings.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
How is it not fair? It costs them more in money and in resources to manage spikes in electricity. It's much more efficient if there is a balanced load 24/7 rather than spikes and then huge crashes through the night.
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The daily mail will be the first to have an article about a poor old woman being charged loads to boil a kettle at normal hours.
 
How does importing energy work? Is there basically a meter at the French end and when we click a switch it sends it spinning? :p
 
muon said:
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.
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Then they can stick with a higher rate flat price.
Let the rest of us have access to super cheap electricity. As it's currently banned from the government.
 
I've had a smart meter install booked in every month since July. They either don't turn up to install it, or they cancel the day before. The great thing about this is that every time it happens I complain to Scottish Power and they pay me £30 as the cancelled appointment is a breach of their general standards. So far they've paid me £120 so it's already saving me money! :D
 
No one has read my electric meter for years. I think they only need to physically read them once every two years, but when you switch that time period probably gets reset. My gas meter is outside at the front but there is no road access, they have knocked on my door a few times to try and read it but I've been out. Not my fault they are too lazy to walk round to read it. Even if I was in they would be told to walk round, no dirty boots coming in here when it can be avoided.

I submit my readings myself online. 2 minute job.
 
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Even with a smart meter I would read them once a month so it saves me nothing just adds to already congested airwaves so nice as well avoid adding more interference.
 
robj20 said:
I keep track of my own usage always have.
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I am currently being trained by one of the big 6 power companies to install smart meters.

The idea behind smart meters is totally so you can monitor your own usage, it is done with the use of the In Home Device. As long as your meter can connect to the external network then the IHD will connect to the meter and show your usage with a break down right down to the current second! Over time the IHD will will be able to show you yearly monthly and weekly breakdowns of your usage. The one I will be installing has indicator on it to show when you are using a small/medium/large load. Both in KW Per Hour and by the £
 
BigBoy said:
I am currently being trained by one of the big 6 power companies to install smart meters.

The idea behind smart meters is totally so you can monitor your own usage, it is done with the use of the In Home Device. As long as your meter can connect to the external network then the IHD will connect to the meter and show your usage with a break down right down to the current second! Over time the IHD will will be able to show you yearly monthly and weekly breakdowns of your usage. The one I will be installing has indicator on it to show when you are using a small/medium/large load. Both in KW Per Hour and by the £
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Not interested in any of that. I monitor actual use ie KW per month also m3 for gas, and keep on eye on the suppliers conversion to kW for gas.

Plus if I used that device it would actually increase my usage by how ever much that uses a month.
 
robj20 said:
Not interested in any of that. I monitor actual use ie KW per month also m3 for gas, and keep on eye on the suppliers conversion to kW for gas.

Plus if I used that device it would actually increase my usage by how ever much that uses a month.
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Smart meters (I believe) take usage data every half hour so you can graph your usage on a daily basis if you want to, which is pretty useful no? You may find that every Saturday you have a huge spike for some reason because you have some rogue timer, you'd never see that in monthly data.

I find the display really useful - it's in my kitchen, I see it every time I leave the house, and can instantly tell if I've left something on based on the reading. I'm pretty sure that saves me more than the ~£1 it costs to run the display each year. In-fact, it makes me activity go around finding what's using all my power so it clearly works.
 
robj20 said:
Not interested in any of that. I monitor actual use ie KW per month also m3 for gas, and keep on eye on the suppliers conversion to kW for gas.

Plus if I used that device it would actually increase my usage by how ever much that uses a month.
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You're not really monitoring anything at all except how much energy you've used in an entire month, which isn't particularly useful information other than to give you an indication of what your bill will be.

Sounds like you're just being stubborn for the sake of it.
 
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