Author Topic: Smart Meters  (Read 10889 times)

guest5079

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #15 on: March 01, 2017, 11:32:11 AM »
Forgive me for being a little slow in understanding about smart meters. £11bn to supply and fit? Why can't they just be a plug in into the nearest 13amp socket? I unfortunately buy my electricity from EDF a wholly owned subsidiary of EDF France which in turn is subsidised by the French government, which I understood was against EU rules. Another gripe is because we are ALL electric we get no discounts as the dual fuel people do.  However at the last time of discussion friends who have a property in France ( boy are they moaning now) their electircity was considerably cheaper than here in the UK.
Back to the plug in, if EDF can turn my economy 7 on and off by a signal down the power lines why can't the smart meter work the same way????? One can buy all sorts of electrical gizmos on line and a cost of only a few pounds so where in heavens name does the figure £11bn come from? Nice little earner!!!!!!!!!!!!!Perhaps I am being too simplistic as the signal to operate the economy 7 is I believe a pulse so to be more sensible perhaps the smart meter would be just a LITTLE more complicated. However, if it can't just be a plug in where is to be fitted? Our meter is in a box OUTSIDE the bungalow. I believe there is a thought that it is another way of gathering information. So if I do not want one is there going to be a one off rebate???? I think not.

culzean

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #16 on: March 01, 2017, 12:23:15 PM »
The UK rejected the opportunity to control these smart meters with signal over the normal power cables (like economy 7) and opted to used short range wi-fi for gas to electric meter and then mobile phone network for the long distance communications LOL.  Other countries use power lines for signals,  I have a feeling we went for most complicated most expensive least reliable option again,  but HS2 will dwarf smart meter cost when the taxpayer gets the £90BN + bill,  not a bad price for a white elephant ego project.
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

madasafish

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #17 on: April 12, 2017, 03:38:22 PM »
First Utility supplied our smart meter for electricity last year.
I switched to EON - and the smart meter is incompatible.

Wast of money..

Garyman

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #18 on: April 13, 2017, 02:57:43 PM »
First Utility supplied our smart meter for electricity last year.
I switched to EON - and the smart meter is incompatible.

Wast of money..

I recently moved to a new build where a smart meter was already installed for the electricity, but the gas was just the normal one.

Once in, I found that both gas and electricity was provided by British Gas but I wanted to port over my Utility provider which incidentally was First Utility.

Took a while to get everything transferred over due to British Gas incompetence but I got a call earlier this week from Enpower (?) who said they are ringing on behalf of Siemens and want to arrange a time for an engineer to come out and change out meters to smart meters and will also provide the screen/ unit so I can see how much energy i'm using.

This has been arranged for mid June which is their next availability and apparently at no cost to me

culzean

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #19 on: April 13, 2017, 05:00:27 PM »
First Utility supplied our smart meter for electricity last year.
I switched to EON - and the smart meter is incompatible.

Wast of money..

I recently moved to a new build where a smart meter was already installed for the electricity, but the gas was just the normal one.

Once in, I found that both gas and electricity was provided by British Gas but I wanted to port over my Utility provider which incidentally was First Utility.

Took a while to get everything transferred over due to British Gas incompetence but I got a call earlier this week from Enpower (?) who said they are ringing on behalf of Siemens and want to arrange a time for an engineer to come out and change out meters to smart meters and will also provide the screen/ unit so I can see how much energy i'm using.

This has been arranged for mid June which is their next availability and apparently at no cost to me

Energy suppliers are not (unfortunately) allowed to charge for installation,  but everyones bills will go up because they are not going to absorb the £11Billion and rising cost of fitting smart meters to every home. So even people like me who don't want one will get hit with higher bills.  Without variable tariffs the smart meters are just a pretty display and a saving in meter readers wages for the suppliers.

Seems like with most things, the early adopters have been guinea pigs for the ones who are prepared to wait until they have sorted things out (but that may be after 2020 LOL  )

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/oct/01/smart-meter-energy-saving-revolution-cut-bills-gas-electricity
« Last Edit: April 13, 2017, 05:26:31 PM by culzean »
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

guest5079

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #20 on: April 14, 2017, 03:03:18 PM »
Some weeks back I received a letter from EDF who stated that because I owed them £122 my D/D was going up by £35 per month.
I checked my bank statements and looked at payment dates for my D/D.  Their claim that I owed this money was based on my account 5 days prior to my monthly  D/D payment being made. This payment put me in the black.
Now, they used to have a yearly review and every year they have had a letter from me informing them that any outstanding balance would be settled immediately. Each year  they have accepted this. In about 4 yrs I have only had to do this once. This latest caper was a 6 monthly assessment. So I wrote to EDF expressing my displeasure. A week after I received an acknowledgement, still waiting for a proper reply.
Perhaps me sending a copy of the letter to OFGEN who can't intercede might have upset EDF. The reason I am really pigged about all this is I received a letter to tell me they were only going to read the meter every 6 mths. Then I had the letter re the above based on an estimate which was well after the time allotted. Also states in their blurb that no revisions would be done without a meter reading either by them or by me.
Do these people make it up as they go along? As to smart meters no reply to my questions. I know Hinckley Point is going to cost some but I do not see why we should subsidise EDF's parent company in France ( which is subsidised by the French government).  The trouble with getting old and having time on our hands is we all become Victor Meldrews. I now understand EDF is increasing their prices again, we have only just had one increase.

culzean

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #21 on: April 14, 2017, 03:58:05 PM »
In the past I have had arguments with both NPower and BG about DD payments. About 12 years ago was with BG and out of the blue they raised my DD from £60 to over £100 P/M which would have meant a surplus of many 100's of pounds by end of year - I wrote them emails and letters asking them to check and gave them 3 weeks to get back to me otherwise I was leaving, they did not reply and I changed to NPower,  a week later a letter arrived from BG saying their accounts dept had made a mistake and did I want to stay with them - (fat chance).   NPower did something similar after I had been with them for a few years so I moved to Cooperative energy about 5 years ago - as well as saving about £400 a year their DD was spot on and needed hardly any adjustment for years,  they wrote to me recently to apologise for putting my dual fuel DD up by £3 PM,  what a difference in attitude to the members of 'big 6 energy supplier mafia cartel'.
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

guest5079

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #22 on: April 15, 2017, 10:54:57 AM »
I am very grateful for the opportunity to rip one off but I did think I had gone too far with this one. I therefore grateful to Culzean for his input.
Yesterday, I went onto U switch to get some idea of what is available. Four attempts and each occasion it told me that EDF did not have a D/D account for my supply. The old conspiracy theory pops into my fuddled brain!!!!
Therefore not only has Culzean made me feel that I am not a two headed monster but has given me an idea re the COOP. Perhaps they might be able to reduce the £30 plus a week I pay EDF for an all electric 600 sq ft bungalow. I know it's not helped by the necessity to have a de humidifier running 24/7 to keep the humidity with  very limited parameters.

culzean

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #23 on: April 15, 2017, 12:12:43 PM »
I know it's not helped by the necessity to have a de humidifier running 24/7 to keep the humidity with  very limited parameters.

Having a dehumidifier can save your heating bills because they keep the air drier (and dry air takes less to heat) keeps the insulation and plasterboard in your home dry (dry insulation is better insulation) , clothes drying bills (put clothes on a drying rack in same room as dehumidifier and a couple of hours they are dry at fraction of cost of a tumble drier energy)and also the de-humidifier puts heat back into the room both from the motor and the energy it gets from condensing moisture. A big bonus is that the whole house feels fresher and no more soggy towels in the bathroom,  also bedding stays crisper and nicer feeling.   We have had a dehumidifier for about 15 years ( i got one to control allergy to dust mites as the little b#ggers can't breed if house is kept dry) and wouldn't be without one, you can use the collected water in your steam iron or washing the car (it is distilled water).

I have been very happy with Cooperative Energy,  a breath of fresh air after the other crooks.
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

John Ratsey

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #24 on: April 15, 2017, 08:41:29 PM »
I've been with Ovo for the past three years and they have given good service and competitive pricing. They also pay interest on any credit balance https://www.ovoenergy.com/ovo-answers/topics/payments-and-statements/ovo-interest-reward/what-is-the-ovo-interest-reward.html. It's cheap money for them and pays much better than having the money sitting in my bank account so I've been maintaining a credit balance of several hundred £££s as a fund ready for a rise in energy costs. The credit built up during the first year when I was paying the same amount as to my previous supplier.
2022 HR-V Elegance, previously 2020 Jazz Crosstar

guest5079

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #25 on: April 16, 2017, 02:47:20 PM »
I know there has been a slight deviation from smart meters but electricity supply and cost is associated.
I managed to get U switch to respond and quite honestly it gave me a bit of a fright.
According to them EDF's charges for Kwh are going up again  to 23p, this is what the PM ( although it hasn't had much reporting) has had a go about. EDF have just increased to nearly 19p so another 3 +p will increase my yearly bill by some £400. This is what U switch came up with. What really pigs me orf is that scrolling down on good old Google was one for a Daily Mirror special deal. Unfortunately it is now closed BUT WHO WAS SUPPLYING THE DEAL  EDF.
Perhaps ( pigs might fly) that when the dust settles over BREXIT we can as a nation start kicking all these foreign firms out and return our industry etc to home rule. I also read that there has been a large increase in applications for Irish passports from Northern Island and GB.
There that will start something off.

VicW

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #26 on: April 16, 2017, 07:06:56 PM »
I've been with Ovo for the past three years and they have given good service and competitive pricing. They also pay interest on any credit balance https://www.ovoenergy.com/ovo-answers/topics/payments-and-statements/ovo-interest-reward/what-is-the-ovo-interest-reward.html. It's cheap money for them and pays much better than having the money sitting in my bank account so I've been maintaining a credit balance of several hundred £££s as a fund ready for a rise in energy costs. The credit built up during the first year when I was paying the same amount as to my previous supplier.

Me too John, their service and prices have been very competitive with monthly reminders for meter readings.

Vic.

guest5079

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #27 on: April 29, 2017, 11:19:30 AM »
Given what I heard this am I am not sorry I have told EDF I do not want a smart meter.
Paul Lewis the Money Box Guru was talking about smart meters on Breakfast TV.
I hope I have this correct,  as the result of security issues a central networking hub is being set up and the second generation of smart meters are being prepared/rolled out.
Paul Lewis stated that NOBODY can deny or confirm that the first generation smart meters will work with the new system and he finished with the remark  'of course it can all implode' assuming he means the whole sorry saga will collapse.
If I have it wrong I apologize and look forward to any corrections because it all seems a bit airy fairy.

culzean

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #28 on: April 29, 2017, 06:05:29 PM »
Given that there is no real benefit and some potential downsides to having a smart meter I can't see what the attraction is other than not having to walk a few metres and read your meter 4 times a year.

Let the early adopters suffer the teething troubles,  as I said before UK chose the least secure option by using radio / phone network, other countries use the power cables to carry the data and these are already going to everyones house that is connected to electricity supply - doooohhhh, what a no brainer.

This is a worry,  seems supplier can disconnect your supply via your smart meter.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5607490
« Last Edit: April 29, 2017, 06:38:50 PM by culzean »
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

VicW

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Re: Smart Meters
« Reply #29 on: April 29, 2017, 06:43:24 PM »
Given that there is no real benefit and some potential downsides to having a smart meter I can't see what the attraction is other than not having to walk a few metres and read your meter 4 times a year.

We are with OVO and get monthly reminders for meter readings which we do. That's nearly as good as a Smart Meter which while it may constantly monitor your usage it only bills you at the most monthly.
Apparently of those people who have been conned into having Smart Meters, over 60% have already dumped the indoor usage monitor because it causes arguments and in any case you are going to keep warm and cook food regardless of what the meter says.

Vic.

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