Smart meter rollout

Just turn stuff off at the wall, it'll use tumble dryer in emergencies and don't overfill the kettle.. pretty simple really if you want to save power.

That said, there's nothing common about sense. No doubt the cost of these things will be added to your bill, along with a cheeky profit margin all in the name of helping the customer.

More infuriatingly I was given one a few years back, and I don't know if the technology has improved but I could never get it to work properly.

Just another power company con, milk the customer a little bit more and show the authorities they are being fair at the same time.. It's a win win for the big 6.
 
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And as for Angela Knight, that witch should be nailed to a cross and burned, she used to be a bank criminal apologist, now it seems she's transitioned the dark art to energy company criminal apologist.
 
More like to stop people sticking £15 devices to the side of the old style meters and slowing down the wheel. Saving energy bah! I think it is a move to both combat theft and also leave it so they can fire the meter reading people.


Either way more profits for the pigs.
 
The smaller members of the big six already spend about £100m a year on meter replacement and maintenance. Smart meter costs are already factored in to your bills. One advantage will be the end of estimated bills and supposedly and end to significant under or over charging on DD.

The system works on a subset of the GSM mobile network run by a regulated monopoly. Ultimately they'll be able tell your appliances to shed load as part of demand side control of the grid.
 
Rofflay said:
More like to stop people sticking £15 devices to the side of the old style meters and slowing down the wheel. Saving energy bah! I think it is a move to both combat theft and also leave it so they can fire the meter reading people.


Either way more profits for the pigs.
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I'd be surprised if most properties haven't been upgraded to digital meters by now, mime was done about 3 years ago.

Also if you were going to steal electricity, you tap into the supply before the meter.

I agree with the second half of of your comment though.
 
PlacidCasual said:
The smaller members of the big six already spend about £100m a year on meter replacement and maintenance. Smart meter costs are already factored in to your bills. One advantage will be the end of estimated bills and supposedly and end to significant under or over charging on DD.

The system works on a subset of the GSM mobile network run by a regulated monopoly. Ultimately they'll be able tell your appliances to shed load as part of demand side control of the grid.
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It's a moot point, I've never paid by DD, and I receive quarterly estimated bills which I correct with meter readings.
 
For those thinking of the cost of the smart meter, consider that all electrical and gas meters have to be replaced periodically.
The cost of replacing a meter isn't going to vary much if it's a traditional meter, or a "smart one", as the bulk of the meter will be the same either way (probably just the "smart" part bolted onto an existing design), and once you go for the cost of a "dumb" meter plus the cost of fitting it, the price difference to the supplier between the two choices is going to be fairly small.
Especially when you consider that such meters should be saving the companies money on the meter readings (especially for internal meters where they might have to send someone out multiple times to get someone in), and on cutting down fraud (it's much harder to do a periodic bypass on a meter that might be reporting in every week, as opposed to 3-6 times a year when a guy comes round to read it).

With regards to fraud/security, if there is any query the meter itself will almost certainly maintain it's own record of how much has been used (as the wireless connection isn't reliable if the meter is in say a basement), and IIRC they're using something like a mobile phone data connection so it's going to be something like as secure as your mobile phone.
 
They not getting in period. :mad:

We own the house we pay our bills, so no I am not
having a smart snooping meter in my house and I am not paying for the
privilege either.

To me it is just another way to snoop and is also open to hacking and all kinds abuse.
 
One of my friends said proudly the other day that they were about £300 in credit, that's £300 earning a power company interest or available for investment.

Now multiply that by all their customers who are in credit and we are suddenly talking about a lot of money.. What gives these companies the right to exploit unknowing customers in this way?
 
Werewolf said:
For those thinking of the cost of the smart meter, consider that all electrical and gas meters have to be replaced periodically.
The cost of replacing a meter isn't going to vary much if it's a traditional meter, or a "smart one", as the bulk of the meter will be the same either way (probably just the "smart" part bolted onto an existing design), and once you go for the cost of a "dumb" meter plus the cost of fitting it, the price difference to the supplier between the two choices is going to be fairly small.
Especially when you consider that such meters should be saving the companies money on the meter readings (especially for internal meters where they might have to send someone out multiple times to get someone in), and on cutting down fraud (it's much harder to do a periodic bypass on a meter that might be reporting in every week, as opposed to 3-6 times a year when a guy comes round to read it).

With regards to fraud/security, if there is any query the meter itself will almost certainly maintain it's own record of how much has been used (as the wireless connection isn't reliable if the meter is in say a basement), and IIRC they're using something like a mobile phone data connection so it's going to be something like as secure as your mobile phone.
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The cost might be small but it's one you and I will pay.. Not the energy suppliers.. There will be no consumer choice, I imagine there will be profit built in somewhere, but with no transparency I can only speculate.
 
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I hate utility companies they are a rip off.

Water, Gas and Electricity are a law to themselves, B`stards the lot of them. :mad::mad:
 
itchy said:
They not getting in period. :mad:

We own the house we pay our bills, so no I am not
having a smart snooping meter in my house and I am not paying for the
privilege either.

To me it is just another way to snoop and is also open to hacking and all kinds abuse.
Click to expand...

If you refuse to allow the gas or electric board access to your house to replace or check on a meter you can fully expect one result.
I hope you have a generator handy, as they will cut your supply off if you refuse to allow them to maintain their equipment to the currently required standard (or even just inspect it).
 
Werewolf said:
If you refuse to allow the gas or electric board access to your house to replace or check on a meter you can fully expect one result.
I hope you have a generator handy, as they will cut your supply off if you refuse to allow them to maintain their equipment to the currently required standard (or even just inspect it).
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Quite right but you can still refuse to have it replaced by a smart meter. I believe you're still allowed to request a "dumb meter". You just can't refuse them access to the meters. (I thought they were all on the outside anyway :confused:).
 
Stupid smart meters. I found out recently at work that although we will all soon be required to have these smart meters, government projects are being built without them, projects that will finish when they are required, and then they'll have to get rid of the old meters and replace them with the smart meters. Absolutely mad!
 
Werewolf said:
If you refuse to allow the gas or electric board access to your house to replace or check on a meter you can fully expect one result.
I hope you have a generator handy, as they will cut your supply off if you refuse to allow them to maintain their equipment to the currently required standard (or even just inspect it).
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This they can do and have my full cooperation, but if said equipment
is not faulty or entrance is taking a reading, then no they not getting in.

They can come in and replace the meter so long it is an analog meter.

I can see it now 2years time hacking devices for smart meters, cut your energy bills etc. I might incorporate a faraday cage in my next meter cupboard design, that will get there heads scratching! :p
 
itchy said:
I hate utility companies they are a rip off.

Water, Gas and Electricity are a law to themselves, B`stards the lot of them. :mad::mad:
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Water is not so bad for me, since I had a massive argument with my supplier I finally got them to put a meter in, and as a single man in a 2 bed house, my water bills have dropped from £30 a month to about £30 a quarter.

The argument got quite heated though (no pun intended) I had to resort to telling them I would go to jail before I paid them another penny unless the put a meter in (was paying a fixed monthly charge before).
 
dirtychinchilla said:
Stupid smart meters. I found out recently at work that although we will all soon be required to have these smart meters, government projects are being built without them, projects that will finish when they are required, and then they'll have to get rid of the old meters and replace them with the smart meters. Absolutely mad!
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I have no issues with pay as you go, accurate smart meters, ASSUMING they are reliable, but with the lack of transparency to the technology, and power companies track records for customer exploitation and border line criminality, in fact actual criminality with all the miss selling scandals and aggressive 'debt' collection, I remain, how can I put this politely.. Slightly sceptical!
 
mattyfez said:
Water is not so bad for me, since I had a massive argument with my supplier I finally got them to put a meter in, and as a single man in a 2 bed house, my water bills have dropped from £30 a month to about £30 a quarter.

The argument got quite heated though (no pun intended) I had to resort to telling them I would go to jail before I paid them another penny unless the put a meter in (was paying a fixed monthly charge before).
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Water piffft!

We have 3 bed house 2 adults one child water has gone from £28 a month
5 years ago to £44 a month now! :eek:

Who on this forum has had a 50%+ pay rise in the past 5 years? :confused:

The waterboard has! :mad:
 
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