I didn't want a smart meter, but . . .

[Frogman]

I changed electricity supplier and the new lot said they had to change my meter because it was 20 years old. I checked, and they were right. They said there were no dumb meters, so I had to have a smart one. I was upset.

But no longer, dear reader! I thought if this thing is so smart, why can't I monitor use while we're away, when we leave the heating on low for frost protection? Then I discovered the uSwitch app, totally brilliant! Shows daily/weekly/monthly use in kWh or ££ whenever you want and wherever you happen to be, so we get early warning If something's gone wrong. Can't comment on gas, 'cos we don't have any, but I believe it works the same.

In addition it runs money-saving deals from time to time, like £5 worth of 'free' electricity every weekend in November, and free electricity on Christmas Day - actually a cashback deal, but who's complaining?

 

[Pudsey Bear]

We have one, but it isn't very smart. We're on a tracker tariff with Octopus, so while it can tell us the kWh or m³, it can't tell us the cost; we have to go to Octopus for that.

 

[Scotia]

I didn't want one either but needed one when we installed solar to get cash back from what we put back to the grid. A year on and this will be our 4th not so smart meter on Jan the 5th twice they did not show to replace. Im not holding my breath this will work either.

 

[tonybvi]

We are on an EV tariff with solar and storage batteries. This means a smart meter is obligatory as we run the house completely on off peak rates (currently 6.5p/kWh) so the meter needs to know when we are pulling from the grid. At these rates a smart meter is well worth it.

 

[Mick H]

We had to have our electricity meter renewed, about 2 yrs ago, and I refused to have a smart meter, so they fitted one with a "blanking plate".
I asked the installer if this could still be remotely read, and he assured me that the "blanking plate" would have to be removed, for this to happen.
My neighbour has also been under pressure, to have his meter replaced. because of it's age, but he keeps asking to see it's certificate, which they haven't yet been able to produce, so he still hasn't had a smart meter installed. This saga has gone on for at least 2 yrs.

 

[Frogman]

I quite appreciate that not everyone wants a smart meter. But I'm just saying that there are advantages that I never dreamed of when I was strong-armed into having one. It's certainly saving me money with the uSwitch app, which was the reason for the original post

 

[HTF]

Didn't know you guys had a choice. Over here, the power company is changing everybody's meters with smart meters and you can't refuse.

 

[Peisinoe]

I changed electricity supplier and the new lot said they had to change my meter because it was 20 years old. I checked, and they were right. They said there were no dumb meters, so I had to have a smart one. I was upset.

But no longer, dear reader! I thought if this thing is so smart, why can't I monitor use while we're away, when we leave the heating on low for frost protection? Then I discovered the uSwitch app, totally brilliant! Shows daily/weekly/monthly use in kWh or ££ whenever you want and wherever you happen to be, so we get early warning If something's gone wrong. Can't comment on gas, 'cos we don't have any, but I believe it works the same.

In addition it runs money-saving deals from time to time, like £5 worth of 'free' electricity every weekend in November, and free electricity on Christmas Day - actually a cashback deal, but who's complaining?

You could tell them to remove the SIM card to make it dumb.

 

[CriftinsCampers]

We’re being harassed by almost weekly emails and bullied by constant phone calls to accept a smart meter by Eon, as obviously they make money from forcing people to have them. They’ve never mentioned gas only the electricity meter our meters are on opposite sides of the bungalow as well making comms difficult so we would need an Alt Han install but no mention of that either!

The harassments started within days of switching to them, problem is we have appalling mobile signal here especially bad from O2 who provide the smart meter cell service and if we accept we will then, just like our neighbours are constantly suffering now, still be harassed and bullied because they aren’t receiving any readings.

Apparently it is quite common to inconvenience their victims by constantly and unnecessarily replacing ‘faulty’ meters in poor signal areas at I assume every bill payers expense, rather than improve the signal.

As soon as my deal ends with Eon we will probably go to Octopus and no doubt will have to have one eventually, absolutely not looking forward to it though.

 

[Owlhouse]

As far as I’m aware no company has the right to force you to take a SM unless it’s in the contract when you sign up. SM may save money for some but the control that it gives the company over your supply puts me off. When they want to reduce demand (due to Mad Ed’s net zero fantasy) guess who they can help with the problem.

 

[runnach]

I had an issue with my SM’s when originally installed. Although it took a frustratingly long time, I the problem fixed.

Similar to OP, EM worked well, gas was not reaching the EM source due to distance and 2 foot thick external walls. I don’t recall all these detail, but I have an extra box on top, let’s call it a booster, and now all is well, gas are now smart read.

Once everything started to work, I gave it a couple of months, I then ditched my duel fuel provider for another, mainly due to the provider poor customer service.

 

[Rumour]

Can't believe how many luddites there are on here!
We have had a smart meter since joining Octopus and it has been good. I really can't understand the conspiracy theory about strangling supply. That is not how smart meters work. On our display, Octopus set the cost per unit and it gives us all the information we need. How much we have spent so far today, how much this week, how much this month and also how much this year.

It also means that they don't have to have a guy at your house to read the meter and as a good proportion of meters are indoors, you don't have to be there. No more "estimated" bills. I can adjust my payments as I want. And with Octopus, I get access to tariffs not available to dumb meter users.

EDIT: I have just discovered that not only can I check the periods above, but I can also scroll through the use daily! Brilliant!

 

[CriftinsCampers]

As far as I’m aware no company has the right to force you to take a SM unless it’s in the contract when you sign up. SM may save money for some but the control that it gives the company over your supply puts me off. When they want to reduce demand (due to Mad Ed’s net zero fantasy) guess who they can help with the problem.

Force no but when the existing meters certification expires then technically it has to be replaced and the current rules means will be by a smart meter, its been quite a while since any truly dumb meters were available, that's the excuse Eon are using to constantly harass me i.e my meter certification is expired or expiring so they are legally obliged to install a replacement smart meter. Afaik they do not need the householders permission to turn up and replace one they would however need to get a Court Warrant to do so, that's also covered off in the regulations I wonder if that has ever happened though!

I would love to have one and not doubt eventually I will but when I do, I know I will probably be subject to even more hassle than now!
Just imagine how many spam emails a manic system could be firing off as a result of the iirc 30 minute readings being missed!

One gleam of hope is O2 seem to have lost their exclusive contract with the DCC, Vodafone are also involved now, plus with the move to 4g we might actually have some signal here other than a dribble from EE.

Theoretically the smart meter installers are supposed to check for sufficient signal and if not install remote antennas maybe even a booster if required but they've never done that for any of my neighbours, probably no profit in taking time to do it properly!

 

[tonybvi]

Most of Scotland uses a long range radio frequency signal, managed by Arqiva, rather than a mobile signal, for the smart meter signal. Our property is in full view of the Durris radio mast which transmits/receives these signals in our area (I only found out this information after hours of research and visiting various forums). I requested a smart meter as I needed a time of use tariff for EV charging and storage batteries. The meter worked perfectly for a year or so then simply stopped for no obvious reason. Months of pestering my electricity provider ensued and I finally lost my rag when one of the many installers insisted that it was because we had no mobile signal, which was totally irrelevant for this area. I eventually managed to contact the electricity provider CEO and he appointed a liaison person on my specific case. It was great, I could actually phone and talk to a real person, I had his name and direct line, and he contacted me on several occasions to explain what was happening.
Long story a bit shorter a “specialised” technician rocked up and spent a full day rejigging things in the power cupboard - 2 years later and the smart meter is still working without issue and I am getting all my power for the off peak rates of 6.5p/kWh.

 

[Trigger]

I refuse to have a smart meter as I have heard so many bad reports about them I told my supplier a few months ago when they tried to get me to have a smart Meter British Gas to stick it up their BOTTOMS but more abrupt than that ,I read my meters every month gas and electric and send the readings over the phone on british gas app takes about 5 minutes to do so that is no bother I also control my Direct debits to British Gas as as and when I consider it is the right time to do it , So all very easy and it works for me .