[fishini]

Two weeks ago I received the usual letter from my energy supplier telling me my 5 year old meters are obsolete and I need to have smart meters fitted. I decided to talk to my friend who works for EON fitting these meters asking for advice as to whether I should have them or not. His answer to me was that even though he fits them he would never have one himself. He informed me that my supplier would phone to make an appointment to fit them. Which they duly have done today. He gave me a list of questions to ask. Here are the answers given.

Q Do they cost me money to run them?
A Yes a little as they run on your electricity ( my friend tells me about £10/year)
Q Do they save me money?
A Yes
Q How?
A You only pay for what you use
Q Is that not how normal meters work?
A Yes
Q Do they use telephone mobile signal?
A Yes
Q What if your coverage is poor?
A They go into dumb mode and you have to take your own readings
Q Can they be hacked?
A The risk is small
Q So they can then?
A Yes I suppose so
Q Is there an increase in tariff to pay for these meters?
A No (friend tells me your tariff will increase by 1%)
Q Will my tariff change according to my usage at peak usage?
A The facility to do so is there (friend says it does)
Q Are they compulsory?
A No but they will be in 2020? (friend says this is a total myth as it is 2020 when the issue is to be debated in parliament and has to be passed into law before they become
compulsory
Q Can I switch suppliers?
A Yes but you will need a new smart meter
Q Is there a cost to doing this?
A Yes a one off payment each time you switch
Q Does my meters really need changing?
A Our records say yes
Q Then can I please have non smart meters fitted?
A Yes of course you can

You take your pick

[moondog]

fishini, on 23 November 2017 - 06:36 PM, said:

Two weeks ago I received the usual letter from my energy supplier telling me my 5 year old meters are obsolete and I need to have smart meters fitted. I decided to talk to my friend who works for EON fitting these meters asking for advice as to whether I should have them or not. His answer to me was that even though he fits them he would never have one himself. He informed me that my supplier would phone to make an appointment to fit them. Which they duly have done today. He gave me a list of questions to ask. Here are the answers given.

Q Do they cost me money to run them?
A Yes a little as they run on your electricity ( my friend tells me about £10/year)
Q Do they save me money?
A Yes
Q How?
A You only pay for what you use
Q Is that not how normal meters work?
A Yes
Q Do they use telephone mobile signal?
A Yes
Q What if your coverage is poor?
A They go into dumb mode and you have to take your own readings
Q Can they be hacked?
A The risk is small
Q So they can then?
A Yes I suppose so
Q Is there an increase in tariff to pay for these meters?
A No (friend tells me your tariff will increase by 1%)
Q Will my tariff change according to my usage at peak usage?
A The facility to do so is there (friend says it does)
Q Are they compulsory?
A No but they will be in 2020? (friend says this is a total myth as it is 2020 when the issue is to be debated in parliament and has to be passed into law before they become
compulsory
Q Can I switch suppliers?
A Yes but you will need a new smart meter
Q Is there a cost to doing this?
A Yes a one off payment each time you switch
Q Does my meters really need changing?
A Our records say yes
Q Then can I please have non smart meters fitted?
A Yes of course you can

You take your pick

They cost 80p a year in electric to run not £10. There are no negatives about them you simply see in live monetary terms how much fuel are using

[Mr Mercury]

Ours has been fitted about 2 months and it's actually quite good to see where the money goes, they appear to be very accurate and, to me at least, are beneficial, if only to rollock people when they spend too much time in the shower!
I must admit though I didn't realise if I switched supplier I'd have to change the smart meter as well, is that the meter or just the monitor?
Finally my mum and dad had an appointment but the bloke said he couldn't fit it due to a poor signal, which was strange because they have no problems with their mobiles!

[valemadness]

You do not need to have new meters fitted if you change suppliers, I've got smart meters fitted and have changed supplier but not had to change meters

[valemadness]

Mr Mercury, on 23 November 2017 - 06:56 PM, said:

Ours has been fitted about 2 months and it's actually quite good to see where the money goes, they appear to be very accurate and, to me at least, are beneficial, if only to rollock people when they spend too much time in the shower!
I must admit though I didn't realise if I switched supplier I'd have to change the smart meter as well, is that the meter or just the monitor?
Finally my mum and dad had an appointment but the bloke said he couldn't fit it due to a poor signal, which was strange because they have no problems with their mobiles!

I know someone a couple of streets away from me that had that issue, they were told that they run on ee which has a really rubbish reception in Carr vale.

[moondog]

valemadness, on 23 November 2017 - 07:26 PM, said:

You do not need to have new meters fitted if you change suppliers, I've got smart meters fitted and have changed supplier but not had to change meters

I agree it seems to me the meters are identical whatever supplier you have, even if you do have to swap as they are free there's no loss

[fishini]

The answers to the questions were given to me today by EON my supplier. Their actual answers alone make me wary
So I will not be having one. I can't comment personally on them but I do take the word of my good friend who actually works for EON over the 'facts' posted by the suppliers. Him refusing to have one says it all for me. Fact some suppliers charge for switching. As for slight increases on tariffs this is also fact. Would you really notice a 1% increase in your tariff? Who do you think is covering the £11 billion cost of the scheme? The suppliers? The government? Or the consumers? Go on take a guess.

[Westbars Spireite]

I'm struggling to see how I, as a consumer, benefit from it.

[Johnnyspireite7]

Apparently we can't have a smart meter fitted as we are Electric only and have Economy 7 still!

[hilly81]

Johnnyspireite7, on 24 November 2017 - 10:46 AM, said:

Apparently we can't have a smart meter fitted as we are Electric only and have Economy 7 still!

We had BG come out when we got the keys to our house in April. They couldn't fit smart meters as there wasnt enough space in our electric box. We are now on the waiting list for when they release smaller equipment. Was a bit miffed as at the time BG offered a tariff with free electricity on either Saturday or Sunday between certain times which would have been great for us.

The smart meters we had in our last house were pretty useful to be honest. Highlighted, particularly to the wife, what used a lot of electric. I would say that awareness lowered our usage slightly.

We have Hive installed now. I would recommend replacing an older thermostat with the Hive or similar system. Very useful.

[Town_Fan]

SSE want us to have a smart meter, have not replied precisely for the previous reasons outlined by Fishi.

[The Earl of Chesterfield]

I work for npower.

What 'Fishini's' EON mate's told him is largely accurate.

Smart meters are a gimmick. If you want a cup of tea, you have one. If you're cold you put the heating on. If you're mucky you have a shower...

..FU**ING GET IN THERE!!!!!

>Ahem<

Sorry, but Rowley's just given us the lead against the Scabs.

Anyway, where was I.

Ah yes, the point is it makes no difference if you can see the pennies you spend 'cos you're gonna spend most of 'em anyroad. Then whilst it's true there's no upfront cost the Government ain't gonna pay for 'em, the big energy firms ain't gonna pay for 'em, so who d'y'think's gonna pay for 'em in the long run?

Yeah, that's right.

It's also true that many areas haven't got the necessary signal coverage. Just as it's true some company's software systems aren't compatible with others. On the other hand it's not necessarily true you'll need new meters every time you switch providers.

There's no statutory time limit on a meter. I encounter ones decades old yet still doing their job properly on a daily basis. Most importantly there's absolutely no law saying you have to change.

Bo**ocks. They've equalised.

Look; a conventional gas meter is basically a flow-wheel connected to a counter. That's it. Not much can go wrong. But as soon as you start complicating things there's more that might go wrong. Then add microwave emitters, computer programmes and the inevitable hacking (in America crooks are monitoring usage to see when customers are out, for example) and it all starts to get complicated. Don't forget the human factor, either. Most problems with metering stem from folk inputting the wrong numbers. Then once they're on record they're reluctant to admit being wrong.

Bottom line is customers will be no better off but the companies will put thousands of readers out of work.

This post has been edited by MDCCCLXVI: 25 November 2017 - 01:40 PM

[Siberian Spireite]

EOn fitted a smart meter in my house about three years ago and when I changed supplier it became useless in terms of automatically transmitting readings . I even moved back to EOn later on and it was still useless then. It does still show my electricity usage if I want to look but has not changed our consumption habits .

My most recent supplier rang last week to try to get me to install their own smart meter but I asked about the concerns I had read about the strength of the microwave signal and the risk to my family . They ended the conversation so quickly that I wondered if they were on commission and needed to try and get the next person signed up instead .

My main concern is the signals this thing emits- is it safe ?

[JonB]

If it’s working on the phone network then presumably the signal is no different to a mobile phone when sending readings back. In terms of link to the display in the house I suspect it’s no different to Wi-fi or something like that.

[fishini]

JonB, on 25 November 2017 - 10:49 PM, said:

If it’s working on the phone network then presumably the signal is no different to a mobile phone when sending readings back. In terms of link to the display in the house I suspect it’s no different to Wi-fi or something like that.

My friend says they emit signal fars stronger than normal mobile or wi fi signals and it's constantly emitting 24 hours a day 365 days a year

[Denny]

fish - did a quick google, looks like it's about the same as a wifi router. ( and probably outside at that, so further away and less R/F signal will come your way)
Also, it won't be 24/7 sending data. it'll send data in small bursts every so often, so a couple of seconds say once per hour would be more than enough.

[JonB]

I’ve no real knowledge of them but this is how I’d assumed they’d work...just short bursts of data now and then for the display in the house and probably even less infrequent for readings back to the supplier. Probably far more stuff already being used that’s more of a worry if you’re so inclined.

[fishini]

Denny, on 27 November 2017 - 03:41 PM, said:

fish - did a quick google, looks like it's about the same as a wifi router. ( and probably outside at that, so further away and less R/F signal will come your way)
Also, it won't be 24/7 sending data. it'll send data in small bursts every so often, so a couple of seconds say once per hour would be more than enough.

Only going on what my friend who works for EON and fits these devices says. I am more inclined to believe him than information gifted by the suppliers and energy companies. Whats-more this is not my biggest concern. I cannot see what I would get out of these devices. I will still use the amount of energy that I need to no more no less. The only people to benefit are the energy companies. I will not be party to contributing to their massive profit margins anymore than I need to. How many meter readers will lose their jobs? There are no benefits to the consumers. I will not be having one. I think Germany has scrapped their scheme on costs grounds alone

[Paul stanley]

I got a letter today from eon asking me for to ring them to make an appointment to get one fitted. Did not seem to state it was optional. They are probably generic letters sent without them knowing the ins and outs of the property. I live in a block of flats and rent my place so surely its not my decession. The metres for all the flats are in a cupboard and even if i owned the flat it may still be down to the property management firm who look after the areas outside my front door

[moondog]

fishini, on 27 November 2017 - 07:21 PM, said:

Only going on what my friend who works for EON and fits these devices says. I am more inclined to believe him than information gifted by the suppliers and energy companies. Whats-more this is not my biggest concern. I cannot see what I would get out of these devices. I will still use the amount of energy that I need to no more no less. The only people to benefit are the energy companies. I will not be party to contributing to their massive profit margins anymore than I need to. How many meter readers will lose their jobs? There are no benefits to the consumers. I will not be having one. I think Germany has scrapped their scheme on costs grounds alone

Surely without meter readers the costs come down, IF the savings are passed onto customers you will benefit