hazellend
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Post by hazellend on Jul 3, 2021 8:10:21 GMT
held of having one fitted previously as waiting to be sure of getting SMETS 2. Had ours done today. I am at the moment rather confused by the inhouse display. The Gas is showing xx.yyy Kwh. Fine. But the Elec is showing 0.00x Kwh. This can't be right, its as if it is out by a factor of 10^3 i.e. it should be showing 3.abc Kwh Anyone seen this with their meter ? surprised that no instruction booklet with it, or even an easy to spot make/model number to google. Had them fitted by previous supplier.  Changed my supplier at the end of last year. The electricity one works fine, but the gas one hasn't moved a digit since. 8 months of standing charge only so far..... I guess this is not my responsibility - meters are the supplier's property, not mine.... So that’s how they save you money!
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Post by gramsky on Jul 3, 2021 8:32:49 GMT
I don't live in my house full time, only going their once a week to collect post, mow the lawn and do a bit of DIY.
One advantage I have found of having smart meters is that I can remotely monitor my electricity and gas usage by the minute over the internet and tell what is going on in my absence ie I can see that central heating is working and lights are automatically switching on as set on the timers and the meters are automatically read regularly so I don't need to remember to do it myself.
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Post by overthehill on Jul 3, 2021 9:25:02 GMT
I assume they have fixed all the compatibility issues with smart meters. Have they started replacing the old smart meters yet with actual smart meters? When I found out years ago that they almost always stopped working when you switched supplier I never gave them another thought. Public money down the drain again.
It's not difficult to work out how much money you're spending every month, maybe for people who can't use a calculator. The smart devices in the house were  as well, I'll bet they spent most of their life in the kitchen drawer.
I won't be changing my meters anytime soon. I had my leaky gas meter changed last july and GNE failed miserably to update my account with the new meter and now EDF is trying to sort out the mess. I haven't been able to enter a gas reading for a year but I've been using a calculator...
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keitha
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2024, hopefully the year I get out of P2P
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Post by keitha on Jul 3, 2021 10:02:48 GMT
LOL I have mine on, I get a secret smug satisfaction looking at it just as I go to be and seeing the charge for the day being 20p ie the standing charge.
Of course the things would be much better if you could change the Standing charge and the charge rate as it seems to be some weird default.
Of course and I know it's more tricky, having it read the figures from my supplier for the rate and display current rate and total for the day. Yes I could do this using my Raspberry PI, but they should be able to do it. Unlike many of you I'm on a time of use tariff so the rate changes during the day.
For those that don't know the wholesale cost of Electricity is very high compared to last year, so IMHO taking a fix now would be good
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corto
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one-syllabistic
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Post by corto on Jul 3, 2021 10:03:21 GMT
I assume they have fixed all the compatibility issues with smart meters. Have they started replacing the old smart meters yet with actual smart meters? When I found out years ago that they almost always stopped working when you switched supplier I never gave them another thought. Public money down the drain again.
It's not difficult to work out how much money you're spending every month, maybe for people who can't use a calculator. The smart devices in the house were as well, I'll bet they spent most of their life in the kitchen drawer.
I won't be changing my meters anytime soon. I had my leaky gas meter changed last july and GNE failed miserably to update my account with the new meter and now EDF is trying to sort out the mess. I haven't been able to enter a gas reading for a year but I've been using a calculator...
> Have they started replacing the old smart meters yet with actual smart meters? Yes, they are bothering me to replace the useless old ones every month > The smart devices in the house were as well, I'll bet they spent most of their life in the kitchen drawer. Some do - eg 2 lightbulbs that get so hot it's scary. However, I do use smart plugs for the Hifi and headphone amplifiers; both with Bluetooth receivers; that's quite handy - can control power from a smartphone and connect whatever sends via Bluetooth.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2021 10:09:35 GMT
One of my neighbours had an early one fitted and almost had a stroke. For medical reasons he ran his house hot, but his electricity bill was off the scale. He had kept adding new light bulbs in a large dark space and not swapping out the old bulbs. We went around and replaced everything with modern bulbs or no bulbs if not needed. Much brighter and less energy used. He is not a stupid man just busy with other things.
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archie
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Post by archie on Jul 3, 2021 11:23:55 GMT
LOL I have mine on, I get a secret smug satisfaction looking at it just as I go to be and seeing the charge for the day being 20p ie the standing charge. Of course the things would be much better if you could change the Standing charge and the charge rate as it seems to be some weird default. The energy supplier is supposed to remotely update your smart meter with your current tariff information so the display is accurate.
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lara
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Post by lara on Jul 5, 2021 6:36:53 GMT
I will not get a smart meter. I'm as careful as I can be about not wasting energy (a penny saved is a penny earned) and I read the meters once a month and enter the details online, which is enough to keep on top of my expenditure. I could do that more often if I felt the need.
I don't want a smart meter, my current meters work just fine, thank you!
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lara
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Post by lara on Jul 5, 2021 7:57:04 GMT
I also came across "smart meter boiler problems" when googling. If I needed another reason why not to have one installed, that would be it!
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ceejay
Posts: 975
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Post by ceejay on Jul 5, 2021 8:09:43 GMT
I also came across "smart meter boiler problems" when googling. If I needed another reason why not to have one installed, that would be it! Worth understanding the "why" behind those problems. They're not specifically to do with boilers as such - they can affect any piece of electronics which is plugged in and live, which means any TV, computer or similar gear. The issue is that if the meter installer is cackhanded / careless they can inadvertently send a huge spike down your mains cable when they pull the big fuse before working on your meter, which can damage any sensitive electronic system. Of course, they OUGHT to simply switch off your power at the board before they do that, which prevents the problem occurring. If you are concerned about this, the simple remedy is (a) make sure that everything is switched off at the mains (ie not simply turned off by its "off" button) and/or (b) supervise the installer. As to your earlier bold post about never having one ... you may be cutting off your nose to spite your face. Last time I was shopping around for a new electricity contract, all of the cheapest ones mandated that you have a smart meter fitted. In the end you won't have a choice, so you might as well take the discounts offered now.
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Post by Badly Drawn Stickman on Jul 5, 2021 8:15:04 GMT
I also came across "smart meter boiler problems" when googling. If I needed another reason why not to have one installed, that would be it! It may not be entirely optional, I am not up to date on current rules but at one time 'statutory' meter changes every 20 years was a thing. That being the anticipated life span of the older meters. What they choose to fit as replacement would be their choice I assume.
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lara
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Post by lara on Jul 5, 2021 9:47:23 GMT
I also came across "smart meter boiler problems" when googling. If I needed another reason why not to have one installed, that would be it! It may not be entirely optional, I am not up to date on current rules but at one time 'statutory' meter changes every 20 years was a thing. That being the anticipated life span of the older meters. What they choose to fit as replacement would be their choice I assume. If I have to, I have to but I'm not going to volunteer for one. Ofgem says this:- Do I have to have a smart meter?
Unless there is a good reason not to, suppliers must install a smart meter if they are:
replacing a meter
installing a meter for the first time, such as in a new property.
You can choose not to accept an offer to have a smart meter fitted. You can also request to have one at a later date without being charged. Choosing not to have a smart meter might mean you have a limited choice of energy tariffs. Some smart tariffs could be cheaper.
www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/getting-smart-meter
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Jul 5, 2021 10:02:30 GMT
Smartmeters use the mobile phone network to communicate to the energy supplier. This doc states that SMETS1 meters use 2G/2.5G, SMETS2 are simply stated as "more modern". although Telefonica (O2) 3G is also mentioned... www.smartme.co.uk/technical.htmlFor us, that means they simply won't work, since we have zero mobile signal on any network at all - we can't even send and receive text messages. |
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Post by bracknellboy on Jul 5, 2021 10:02:49 GMT
I also came across "smart meter boiler problems" when googling. If I needed another reason why not to have one installed, that would be it! Worth understanding the "why" behind those problems. They're not specifically to do with boilers as such - they can affect any piece of electronics which is plugged in and live, which means any TV, computer or similar gear. The issue is that if the meter installer is cackhanded / careless they can inadvertently send a huge spike down your mains cable when they pull the big fuse before working on your meter, which can damage any sensitive electronic system. Of course, they OUGHT to simply switch off your power at the board before they do that, which prevents the problem occurring.If you are concerned about this, the simple remedy is (a) make sure that everything is switched off at the mains (ie not simply turned off by its "off" button) and/or (b) supervise the installer.As to your earlier bold post about never having one ... you may be cutting off your nose to spite your face. Last time I was shopping around for a new electricity contract, all of the cheapest ones mandated that you have a smart meter fitted. In the end you won't have a choice, so you might as well take the discounts offered now. The guy who fitted ours made a point of telling me to isolate all computers before he got working. We discussed need to isolate other devices e.g. TVs but was happy that if on standby only they would be OK. He also electrically isolated the gas boiler before starting on the electric. He also switched off the supply at the consumer unit (as it happens, that triggered the external alarm on our security system in a way I couldn't switch off: but that's a different story (backup battery was dead)). I got a sense of him being careful/meticulous.
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Post by bracknellboy on Jul 5, 2021 10:06:06 GMT
Smartmeters use the mobile phone network to communicate to the energy supplier. This doc states that SMETS1 meters use 2G/2.5G, SMETS2 are simply stated as "more modern". although Telefonica (O2) 3G is also mentioned... www.smartme.co.uk/technical.htmlFor us, that means they simply won't work, since we have zero mobile signal on any network at all - we can't even send and receive text messages. ,-q-,
Do I need a broadband connection in my home to have a smart meter?
No. Smart meters use an entirely separate, bespoke wireless system. You don't need Wi-Fi in your home for it to work and it won't use your Wi-Fi if you have it. Your smart meter and in-home display communicate via a secure national network which is solely for smart meters. This works in the same way as other wireless systems like car remote keys or TVs, using radio waves. Can I still get a smart meter if my home has poor mobile signal?
If you live in an area with poor mobile telephone reception you can either request a first generation meter that uses this network, but may experience difficulties sending readings to your supplier automatically. Alternatively, you can contact your energy supplier and insist that they install a second generation meter, known as SMETS2. A SMETS2 meter is not reliant upon the mobile phone network and by the end of the rollout this network will have coverage of 99.25% of Great Britain.
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as well, I'll bet they spent most of their life in the kitchen drawer. 
