Smart meter advice

PhilSAFC said:
I’ve just booked mine to be done anarl. Was not aware of this. No wonder they were so desperate to fit it. Probably be a cost for them to take the **** out.
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They run as normal old school energy meters if you switch supplier so, at worst, you end up back where you were before you had the smart meter fitted. The energy monitor gizmo isn't much use really beyond establishing that you use more energy on days when you're mostly at home and showing that the toaster uses less energy than the kettle.
 


Rusty said:
You wouldn’t have to have a smart meter installed by a new supplier but your existing smart meter would stop functioning as a smart meter and become a normal dumb credit meter. The new smets 2 meters are coming the beginning of next year so I would just wait till then as they will swap between suppliers.

They do work with solar panels. Only problem you would have is if you have a green electric meter as that measures import and export in one meter and the smart meter wouldn’t be able to measure your feed in for any payments you receive. But most setups just have a seperate meter for the panels.

You say your getting work done around the meter location what exactly?
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If it is installed where the old meter is, then I am having the floor up, to then fill it with concrete, to support a minimally listing ceiling.
 
Ben Gardner said:
Hey Stephen, I used to work for a big energy broker so I know a little.

No urgency and no massive savings from getting a smart meter. However, when you're within 6 months of your current contract ending, start shopping around for quotes etc. and see which (new) supplier will install one for nowt. Amazingly, you still have to read thing for them, but only once a year to sort of calibrate it.

We have solar PV panels which don't facilitate a smart meter because quite often your meter goes backwards, especially on sunny days when you generate leccy yourself.

If you can get a grant or funding for solar panels, you'll save much more than you ever would from just "keeping an eye on things" with a smart meter.

We get an annual rebate because of the Feed In Tariff and the leccy we generate. Last time, it was £350. We pay c. £55pm for electric, same for gas.

12 * £55 is £660pa minus the £350 means we pay less than HALF price over the year.

This comes from thinking ahead a little when using high-consuming items. If you're going to use the washer, the dryer or the dishwasher ... only use one at a time and do it when it's bright and sunny, or at least in the middle of the day.

Hope that helps, my friend :)
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The meters don’t need reading but they do need a 2 yearly safety inspection as part of ofgem guidelines. It has nothing to do with “calibration”. If your meter spins backwards when your panels are generating electricity then they were installed incorrectly as you should have a backstop meter as your main meter and a sub meter the reads any production from your panels.
 
HABA87 said:
I might cancel our fitting.

I want the cheapest energy, not a gadget that tells me how much it costs to watch Go Jetters.
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I never use it to monitor, I wanted it, as to update the energy company of my reads and we had an old electric clock meter, which was a nightmare to read.

I would make sure you are getting the best deal for you, then get them fitted. That way you have at least a couple of years grace.

to be honest, if you are getting a good deal now, "and" when that deal ends, you change tariff and do not go onto "standard" tariffs then there is not a lot of difference between companies.

There may be a differences but they all leapfrog each other as they update tariffs by one way or another.
 
Rusty said:
They would be installed like for like with your current meters. Is it the floor under the gas meter I take it?
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Yes, but it's in a lobby way. Have to get the floor up there, in the passage and the front room.
 
Arkle said:
They run as normal old school energy meters if you switch supplier so, at worst, you end up back where you were before you had the smart meter fitted. The energy monitor gizmo isn't much use really beyond establishing that you use more energy on days when you're mostly at home and showing that the toaster uses less energy than the kettle.
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soapster said:
as far as I am aware, any special deals may not apply if you change supplier as the new supplier may not be able to read your smart meter. I don't know why particularly, as it would revert to an ordinary meter, where reads would have to be sent in every 3 months or so
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There's two different takes in these posts.
It's very likely that when I take cashback into consideration I'll change suppliers in March.

If I'm not going to get the best deal shall I just cancel my fitting? Seems harsh to miss out on cheaper energy due to the actions of a multi billion pound corporation pulling my pipes.

Is there any documentation available confirming anything either way?
 
Beware if you have a burglar alarm. Came out to fit my smart meters a few weeks ago and fucked the burglar alarm. Currently going through complaints but I had to pay £85 for a new battery and to get the alarm reprogrammed.

Unsurprisingly, they are denying all responsibility.
 
HABA87 said:
There's two different takes in these posts.
It's very likely that when I take cashback into consideration I'll change suppliers in March.

If I'm not going to get the best deal shall I just cancel my fitting? Seems harsh to miss out on cheaper energy due to the actions of a multi billion pound corporation pulling my pipes.

Is there any documentation available confirming anything either way?
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The meter becomes the same as what you currently have if you swap supplier a new supplier would treat it no differently than a normal credit meter.
 
stephen cartwright said:
According to the rip off Britain show, once installed by your current supplier, if you change, there has to be an appointment made to get their smart meter out and your new supplier has to install their version.

Anyone had a smart meter installed had the above problems?
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Yep.

Exactly this.

British Gas insisted on putting one in.

I changed provider within 3 months - renderring the meter useless - I therefore have to do a monthly reading.

Idiotic.
 
Pop said:
Beware if you have a burglar alarm. Came out to fit my smart meters a few weeks ago and fucked the burglar alarm. Currently going through complaints but I had to pay £85 for a new battery and to get the alarm reprogrammed.

Unsurprisingly, they are denying all responsibility.
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That’s because it wasn’t there fault. The backup battery in your alarm was fucked before they started. Once the power had been down for 30-60 mins the alarm lost all its settings and couldn’t be reset. Genuinely nothing to do with them.
 
Pop said:
Beware if you have a burglar alarm. Came out to fit my smart meters a few weeks ago and fucked the burglar alarm. Currently going through complaints but I had to pay £85 for a new battery and to get the alarm reprogrammed.

Unsurprisingly, they are denying all responsibility.
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We have an alarm that we have never used but is 'on'. I don't even know the code to be honest.

I assume if they cut the leccy it'll start blasting away? What a mare this is turning out to be.
 
Rusty said:
That’s because it wasn’t there fault. The backup battery in your alarm was fucked before they started. Once the power had been down for 30-60 mins the alarm lost all its settings and couldn’t be reset. Genuinely nothing to do with them.
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If they had told me in advance that there was a risk to the alarm system (which they did not) I would not have went ahead with the installation. Power was down for way less 30 minutes.

They are well aware of the risks and I was not advised in advance, on the day and even when the engineer knew it was fucked (which they have now admitted). If they have done nothing wrong why didn't the engineer say on the day that the alarm was fucked? The bar is pretty low for customer service in the energy industry but that is way below the bar.
 
HABA87 said:
We have an alarm that we have never used but is 'on'. I don't even know the code to be honest.

I assume if they cut the leccy it'll start blasting away? What a mare this is turning out to be.
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Depends on the alarm. I’ve had some that do fuck all when you turn the power off and others that will go off the whole time the power is down. What does it do in a power cut?
 
HABA87 said:
We have an alarm that we have never used but is 'on'. I don't even know the code to be honest.

I assume if they cut the leccy it'll start blasting away? What a mare this is turning out to be.
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It'll start blaring and if the batery isn't up to scratch (which you haven't way of testing) it will ruin it. The energy company will then say this isn't their problem and you need to pay to have the alarm reset and for a new battery.

In short, don't get a smart meter.
 
I cancelled mine installation last week, did it online very easily. I'm with British Gas.
 
Pop said:
It'll start blaring and if the batery isn't up to scratch (which you haven't way of testing) it will ruin it. The energy company will then say this isn't their problem and you need to pay to have the alarm reset and for a new battery.

In short, don't get a smart meter.
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But if the battery doesn't work, surely it will just run out of juice and I can just disconnect the alarm?
I don't use it anyway.
 
Pop said:
If they had told me in advance that there was a risk to the alarm system (which they did not) I would not have went ahead with the installation. Power was down for way less 30 minutes.

They are well aware of the risks and I was not advised in advance, on the day and even when the engineer knew it was fucked (which they have now admitted). If they have done nothing wrong why didn't the engineer say on the day that the alarm was fucked? The bar is pretty low for customer service in the energy industry but that is way below the bar.
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It’s normally not a problem tbh. I’ve had the same thing happen to me once before. If I see an alarm system in the house I normally check they know the pin before I start but don’t advise it could Cause issues. At the end of the day we aren’t alarm installers I know next to fuck all about them.
 
Rusty said:
It’s normally not a problem tbh. I’ve had the same thing happen to me once before. If I see an alarm system in the house I normally check they know the pin before I start but don’t advise it could Cause issues. At the end of the day we aren’t alarm installers I know next to fuck all about them.
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I haven't got the foggiest what ours is...
 

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