Smart Meters



The downside is that in the future they can reprogram the meters to charge for 'apparent power', as they do for factories and the like. That is impossible with old 'mechanical' domestic meters.
That means that the power factor (which most people will never have heard of) of your devices will become very important, and anything with a power factor of less than 1 will cost you more to run than you would expect from its rating.
For example, those cheap to run LED lighting fixtures many of us have installed - unless they have power factor correction, they could cost several times more to run than their wattage suggests, and bills will skyrocket. Like electricity isn't already expensive enough!
 
Morse said:
If your old meter has issues, though, they'll put a smart meter in.
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Shame BG dont replace a dodgy smart meter and just tell you its a known issue and it will sort itself out so no need to contact us again. Mine says I use 5p worth of G&E every day no matter what I do, beeps every 15 minutes saying its lost connection then connects again and the fun begins.
 
For over 40 years I paid my energy bills quarterly by DD from actual meter readings.
Last they (SSE now OVO) forced me to pay monthly.
I've refused a smart meter every time they've offered it to me.
If we paid monthly from the smart meter reading an accurate amount rather than their "estimate" I'd be happy to have a smart meter.
As they don't, they can suck me plums, not giving my money to them easily and I presume they get paid for installing smart meters.
 
brir said:
But, when your meter is due to be changed they will put a smart meter in.
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That’s not true. I’ve just had my gas meter changed by Northern Gas Networks as it had reached the end of its prescribed life and they simply exchanged my non smart one for another one. The smart meters are installed by your supply company by request. The network operators do period replacement installations based upon the age of your meter (normally between 15/20 years).
 
Sumdumgi said:
That’s not true. I’ve just had my gas meter changed by Northern Gas Networks as it had reached the end of its prescribed life and they simply exchanged my non smart one for another one. The smart meters are installed by your supply company by request. The network operators do period replacement installations based upon the age of your meter (normally between 15/20 years).
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Surprised to hear that tbh.
 
Sumdumgi said:
That’s not true. I’ve just had my gas meter changed by Northern Gas Networks as it had reached the end of its prescribed life and they simply exchanged my non smart one for another one. The smart meters are installed by your supply company by request. The network operators do period replacement installations based upon the age of your meter (normally between 15/20 years).
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Was it an actual meter or did they tell you its a smart meter without the functionality?
 
lucky said:
Was it an actual meter or did they tell you its a smart meter without the functionality?
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It was exactly the same manual meter type that had been in the house for 15 years. In fact the advance notification I got from Gas Networks said they sometimes install refurbished units. The guy came with a replacement based upon the serial number on my meter which was on their records. There was no mention of smart meters at all, after he installed it he went online to advise Ovo of the change and the reading at changeover.

I’ve consistently refused to have a smart meter from my gas supplier Ovo.
 
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Sumdumgi said:
It was exactly the same manual meter type that had been in the house for 15 years. In fact the advance notification I got from Gas Networks said they sometimes install refurbished units. The guy came with a replacement based upon the serial number on my meter. There was no mention of smart meters at all, after he installed it he went online to advise Ovo of the change and the reading at changeover.

I’ve consistently refused to have a smart meter from my gas supplier Ovo.
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Nice one mate just never ever known it as that's all , good that you got a like for like meter exchange 👍.
 

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