Smart Meters and Tariffs
 

I've had my energy supplier (EON) phone several times about our electric meter at the end of its life.

They keep saying about installing a smart meter, but I just don't know, I did here horror stories of people being switched to PAYG without warning.

My get out can be It's my dad's house and even though I have a LPA he doesn't want one.

Also a guy said if you do get on get it put in ghost mode whatever that is.


We have a dual bill even though we don't have gas, Dad was told it was cheaper.



Advise please

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

No, for as long as I can.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

It's a no from me.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

No from me.

I would also recommend moving away from Eon to Octopus.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

No, I have witnessed what happens when they go wrong. Some companies are offering SMART tariffs, such as a cheaper supply off-peak, but it's not something that would make me accept one.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I will buck the thread here, I have one and it has worked fine and i have never had any issues at all. It also works with my EV to charge at the cheapest rate overnight.I am a Shell Energy customer who will be moving to Octopus shortly and there lovely EV tariffs :)

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Likewise

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Edit old info from Martin Lewis apparently out of date now

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I'm still on 2020 / early 2021 rates for gas, due to having a dumb card meter. So a no from from me.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Likely to catch up with you eventually.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

For sure, but got enough on the meter for about 2 more years.

Smart meters are no g00d!!

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Change your phone no with EON to 07777 777777. Worked for me, they haven't bothered me again. (Works for other companies too who insist on having a phone no).

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

We have one and our usage jumped 50-70%.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Me too and we are already on Octopus. No problems other than the odd day when the gas or electric reading fail to show on line but it always catches up. Not having to crawl under the stairs to our gas meter has been a bonus considering my husband's lack of mobility this year.

Good for you Paul!

Im glad to see as many saying NO as there is....... Its good you guys are awake and aware!!

God bless all......

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I've had one (Shell Energy). No problems. One less thing to do each month at mine and my elderly relatives' homes.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

At the time of writing, I can think of 13863 ways in which you could have reduced your workload :D. No 'smart' meter for me thanks.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Agreed, and agreed. I've found Octopus Energy to be really good.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I have being waiting 3 weeks for Octopus to get my gas meter replaced or repaired. After 4 e-mails and 2 phone calls they said they would get the meter company to call me in the next 2 weeks and sort it out NO NOTHING. The meter is blank with no digital display and it is not sent any data to Octopus or Me on my meter indoors.

Wow I hope they dont try to bill you MORE for the time nothing was sent!! (Wouldnt surprise me)

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Had one for years. Never had any issues. My usage is accurate and up to date with reading sent every few hours. So I can easily see my usage.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I have a smart meter. Happy with it. I even have an Octopus mini.

My mother in law got one too (this month). Her first bill was £7,700!!!!!!!!

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Jesus... £7700 what was done wrong that would be very stress inducing?

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Ours has never worked and we still have to send in the readings. There is a curious thing though, despite the internet being the source of all information there is no reference for the operation of the A and B buttons and the menus on the display. I fiddle about and get the "total active import" value to send in

It's as if any information is being actively removed. I CAN find the CE and FCC certification and the Chinese OEM outline data sheet but no operating info.

I wonder why?

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Month? Surely you mean to cover the last 5 years or something?? Unless she's heating an Olympic sized swimming pool or something. That or paying for the street....

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

---------- Post added at 16:44 ---------- Previous post was at 16:42 ----------


We do not know.... I will call them on Monday

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Your mother in law isn’t Captain Tom’s daughter?

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

:D

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Could be a reading error, either last time or this, and they think the counters have wrapped round. This happened to me many years ago, after I misread one of the old dial meters.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I very recently read an article stating that huge numbers of smart meters do not work properly, including a lot of them apparently already being obsolete.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I think they should drop the word 'smart' and call such things as 'monitoring' devices instead. 'Smart' kind of makes these things look like such a positive and a good thing to have.

I'm happy with the poll results as it stands.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Ours has never worked properly ( Lecky) and I still have to read it manually and send in the value. ( Total active import KWh )

Remote display never worked properly either so is dumped in the meter cupboard. If it was my property I would have reprogrammed it with my 2lb club hammer. :D

I've refused the gas meter.

They wanna keep people fooled and unaware!!

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Fooled and unaware of what exactly? Conspiracy theories?

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Smart meters: Almost three million still not working (BBC News)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-67591320

Not a good start really is it....

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Be interesting to know whether there is any difference in the meters being effected between first generation SMETS1 and second generation SMETS2. ( apparently if the serial number on the meter starts with '19P' then it is a first-generation or SMETS1 smart meter. If the serial number starts with '19M' then it is a second-generation or SMETS2 smart meter)

Also whether certain areas, energy companies, or make of meter* are having more problems.

* https://www.blackridgeresearch.com/b...20by%20revenue.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Allegedly there is, which is why they replaced ours. They still don't work though.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Oh dear that's not good.

I'm not going to say anything about ours as I don't want to temp fate. We do get the odd day when one or other of the readings seems to go AWOL but so far they always emerge by the next day.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I read my meter once a month, thats as "Smart" as it gets atm.

Its 32 years old, I'm sure they'll be trying to get me to replace it at some point [again].

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

We have had a smart meter for a few years now. It has worked just fine, with no break downs, and it has not changed our bill one way or the other.

I understand that others have not had a smooth ride, but generally I think there are bigger things to worry about in life than what type of meter we have.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Did you get this ridiculous bill resolved?

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I don't disagree that's there's more to life, but this thread is about smart meters therefore you're wrong to shut it down.

Smart meters was on BBC news this morning. The result was it's not the smart meters that's the problem but it's dumb companies.

Some people have been told that they have to pay to replace their non working meters. That's wrong to start with. I don't have a problem with smart meters, but they should do the job they're designed to do. But they aren't.

There's is a for and against. One of the reasons I won't have one is I do not want to have something I would keep watching for the fear of watching the costs of something I use every day. This could be helpful for a lot of people that are struggling but for me it'll just add to my anxiety and would be pointless. Without a smart meter I get a bill, I pay for it, so no worries and no anxiety or stress. But now you hear of people turning off their fridge freezers due to the amount they cost to run due to having access that monitors such items.

What I do object to is that I get a bill bi-annually. I pay direct debit monthly and every 6 months I get a bill and hope that I've paid in enough to cover any excess. The problem is I can't give a meter reading say 3 months in just to get a statement to see if I'm on target incase I need to increase (or decrease) my monthly payments. That's made the company dumb in my eyes. If I could give a meter reading at any point and get a statement but not a bill, then that would be better than a smart meter for me.

I have Tapo smart plugs that tells me the wattage of whatever I plug into them. That is helpful and has changed my usage of certain things. But smart meters I can certainly do without.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I've got a smart meter but I don't keep the display plugged in. I pay monthly by direct debit and get monthly statements.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

So do you plug it in just before the meter reading is due and that's it? Then pay for the usage of that month? - That would work for me too.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

The Smart meters are built into the gas and electricity meters and feed back the information to my energy supplier (currently Shell).

You get a stand-alone display that you can plug into any power socket and it displays the meter reading on it on an ongoing basis day and night if you want to, but it's optional. I choose not to but the readings still get sent. See https://www.shellenergy.co.uk/blog/p...play-explained

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I have smart meters but don't have the separate display. I either log in to see my usage on the website, or I use the app from loop which connects to my smart meters and I can check my usage at anytime. I don't worry or panic I've used to much, it just let's me see what's used. My meter actually updates usage almost hourly so I get a decent view of when I'm using the most energy and the app even gives an estimate to your phantom load(always on stuff)

Oddly though I get a monthly electricity bill but on gas it's quarterly from British gas.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Thank you both for the info, it does change my misconceptions quite a bit. And now gives me a much better understanding of them. But mainly it does now opens up a few more options to what I can now do rather than just disregarding them completely.

Anything is better than bi-annually bills at the moment which is something do need to get out of so I will consider changing now. As for gas I'm happy with the dumb meter as I know I'm better off at the mo.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

First of all, Hello to a fellow City supporter. Premier League, here we come, with or without Vardy.

I wasn't trying to shut the conversation down, only expressing the view that I have few feelings about smart meters as long as they work. I get it that you have particular anxieties about billing and being over aware of energy use. I would argue that if we are to conserve energy and keep our bills down we need a touch of anxiety. My parents were always right on it in the days of old meters.

You expressed the negative side of being aware of the consumption levels of certain household items. Isn't that mostly a good thing, rather than something that creates excessive anxiety? We still have a 60 inch, 3D Plasma TV that just won't die. We noted on our smart meter how much juice it uses up. Anyone who leaves the room empty without switching off the TV now gets a right rollocking! We don't suddenly stop using something we really need, just because it uses multiple KWs. We just modify our use, like not emptying out the kettle every time and filling it with fresh, icy cold water. I remember my parents doing that even before smart meters. They used to draw my attention to the wheel whizzing around on an old-style meter when a kettle was on.

I know that sometimes smart meters fail or stop working properly. We agree that the cost of replacement must fall to the grid owner or the energy provider. Also, we can override the automated meter read and billing, by reading the metre monthly and entering it on the provider's web site.

Just keep denying it mate if they do!!

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I am in favour of smart meters as I pay 30-40% less with Agile Octopus/ gas tracker. I have the latest model (I think)

Meter type:Smart (SMETS2)
Made by:Kaifa MA120B

It has failed to communicate with Octopus this month- this is the fourth failure in 8 months....

My mother in law (the same model smart meter) got an ~£8000 monthly bill and she ain't growing weed.

Octopus does not know what the problem in either case.

Im glad ya havent had any problems! (Knock on wood)

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

According to a poll by money saving expert. https://twitter.com/MoneySavingExp/s...20842868928585

Almost half the metres aren't working properly. Granted this isn't a scientific poll but that is a very high amount.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

On Wednesday I got an e-mail from Octopus who have now booked a repair or replacement gas meter for 12-01-024 from their meter people.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Scottish Power has started grumbling again.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

They can grumble all they want, no legal requirement. I told them this on the phone and they said they wouldn’t contact us about it again

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Whether we want one or not, when a meter neds to be changed for "calibration purposes" it will be replaced by a Smart meter.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

That does sounds like a ploy to me too.

With EDF they at least they let you 'opt out' of the constant bombardment of notices that they want / need to install a smart meter. (You have to dig deep to find the opt out option though).

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I'm expecting OVO to tell me at some point that they need to replace my meter.
Its an old E7 meter that relies on the transmitted signals to switch, they stop soon.

Thing is, I dont use E7 anymore, both meter readings are charged at the same rate, and all that will happen is the night readings will stop going up, and all usage will get logged on the day reading. Final result, no change.

Isnt it nice when they nicely go away??

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

With Octopus, we're getting ~40% savings on Electric & Gas relative to the SVR because we have Smart Meters. That's a good reason to have them :)

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I cannot wait to move to Octopus as part of the buy out of Shell energy. Looking forward to having the cheap EV charge rate via my smart meter. :)

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I know the minute I get smart meters and join the cheaper tariff I know it will all crash and cost me a fortune haha

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

That might be you :) however i have had a smart meter for years and it has never gone wrong :)

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Yer I know what you mean, I'm considering getting one too.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Still think human beings are the best smart meter. Readings can be 'seasonally adjusted' dependent on the the latest prices. These smart things don't seem to be able to do that.

Yes your right!!!!

These meters ARE NOT TO MAKE IT BETTER FOR CUSTOMERS!!!

Just keep resisting!!!!!


Resisting is the only way forward!!

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Ahem, the Borg would like a word

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Just had my email welcoming me to Octopus energy :)

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Personally I've had smart meters for a good number of years. Never had any issues, neither do I need to ever need to remember to take meter readings.

I can also just look on the app and see my current usage.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

We need you over here Dude, a revolution is needed and not just over smart meters. Problem is half the British population can't be bothered to get out of bed.
( p.s. bring some waterproof clothing ;) )

Im just amazed and glad to see as many of you as there is REJECTING THESE!!

Well I am glad your not seeing higher bills Stevie which alot are with these......

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Well my bills are higher but that's the price of energy these days. Doubled in under two years.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

It is now Day #6 of emails from Scottish Power trying to get me to switch to a smart meter.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Just setup a rule to send them straight to the bin. Job done no more hassle.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

That would also bin my statements. :dunce:

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

So all six emails over six days had your statements on them, i would look if the email header is different in someway. Also i dont see why you made it out that my comment was stupid in some way ?

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Economy 7 ends on March 31st. No smart meter, no discounts from then on.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Only for those on the really old RTS meters by the looks of it.

Yes well fight all ya can to stay on them!!!!!!!

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

So having joined Octopus last week i then asked to be upgraded to the tracker for gas and electric. I am over the moon as they moved me to it yesterday.

Price for today, much better than the 28.44 per kWh i was paying last week for Electric and 3.74p for gas against 7.42p

Win Win :)

https://octotrack.co.uk/region/g-north-western-england

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Consider Agile electric

https://octotrack.co.uk/region/h-southern-england

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

From what I can gather, the roll-out of smart meters has slowed right down because people won't have them. Might it end up with us being forced against our will to have a smart meter?

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I'll eventually happen because meters will expire, and the only available replacements will be smart meters.

This is what I expect to happen to me & my old E7/RTS meter.

It doesnt help when they lie about the benefits (no, they dont magically save you money).
Nor do stories about cutting people off remotely help, even if in reality its probably rare (if ever).

The trouble is Paul alot of people blindly believe these lies........... and that makes it harder for those of us who dont..........

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Getting a text, a phone call I ignore or an email almost every day now from e.on.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Well ive finally done it and added myself to the queue to be contacted by Octopus to get a Smart Meter installed because everyone that posts on this forum seems to be saving money with the Tracker or Agile tarrifs so I thought why not, just hope it doesn't go wrong swapping over.

My current dual fuel DD has just been reduced to £82 a month so not sure how much I'll save.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I am on the tracker but i may ask to go on Agile. I have already saved a small fortune being on the tracker. The tracker is better for me than being on a dedicated EV tariff. My charge for Electric today is 18.56p/Kwh and gas is 3.93p. if i was on the Flexible tariff i would be paying 29.57p/Kwh for electric and 7.45p/kWh for Gas.

Best thing i ever did was move to a smart meter and Octopus

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

EDF have been pestering me for months and I finally caved in last week. Not sure if it is worth it tbh but they have certain tarrifs only available if you have the smart meter. I am dreading the day I move suppliers and find out it is incompatible with them.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Think I’m going to have to get them put in as looking to move to Octopus they’re claiming we can pay £280 a month rather than the £410 a month Scottish Power are wanting

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Do you live in a 10 bed mansion or something, my dual fuel is less than £90 a month for a 2 bed and I'm £250 in credit with Octopus?

I thought £290 was shocking but £410 would give me a heart attack.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Nope, just a normal four bed detached, two electric cars charging,
Two bikes on optimates tumble dryer are the big users that I can think of

Tried to ring Octopus this morning, can’t believe their sales teams aren’t open on a weekend

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

I am close to £430 however i expect that to drop now i am on the tracker., Both myself and my son work from home most of the week plus i have an EV, The EV saves me a far amount compared with the 3ltr BMW 530 i was using for work. That could easily drink £200 of diesel at least in a month when i used it to attend meetings around the country.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

If you want to change to Octopus then you can easily do it online, I hate speaking to a human lol.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Most of the time I would do but I want to chat through options with a human first

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

The current generation of SMs should be compatible with any supplier.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

2 neighbours are still unable to get onto special tariffs as their smart meters don't work at all. They don't even talk to the indoor display. Both have been replaced a few times, but the last tech said the problem was "local connectivity".

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

If the only problem in life is smart meters, then you're probably not doing so bad.
Best not to have one though, they seem to cause a lot of stress.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

Oirs have never caused us any stress. They do what they are supposed to.

Re: Smart Meter, Yae or Nae?
 

What he said :D