Smart Meters and Tariffs

I'm not switching atm, I was just researching options I may consider over winter next year.

[nashville]

S P say that our old meters will not work in a few months and we will all need a Smart Meter, Is this true ?

[pip08456]

Originally Posted by nashville

S P say that our old meters will not work in a few months and we will all need a Smart Meter, Is this true ?

No.

Originally Posted by pip08456

No.

Actually yes, if it’s an Economy 7 or Economy 10 meter. The Radio Teleswitching Service that causes them to switch between cheap and standard unit rates is being discontinued in June. It has already been delayed from last year and won’t be delayed again.

If she uses Economy 7 she will not be charged correctly by her old electromechanical meter once the RTS switching signal is turned off. If she has an economy 7 meter she must ensure she gets it replaced with a smart meter by June.

It doesnt actually have to be replaced by a SMART meter - you can also swap it for a standard meter (assuming you can get them to fit one of course) - but you can also use the existing meter, just on a standard tarrif, using the readings from the working register.

The teleswitch turn off doesnt stop the meter working, it simply stops it switching between the two registers, all your usage will still be logged, just on one register.

Well yes, but I’m working on the assumption that anyone who still has an economy 7 meter has it because they still use it to meter an economy 7 tariff. If that’s the case then the old meter, come June, will begin logging overnight usage at the same standard rate as daytime. That will quickly get very expensive if you’re still running storage heaters. The only way to continue using storage heaters once the RTS signal is turned off would be to use a smart meter.

Originally Posted by Chris

That will quickly get very expensive if you’re still running storage heaters. The only way to continue using storage heaters once the RTS signal is turned off would be to use a smart meter.

Agreed, but thats not what was said.

Many people [still] on E7 these days dont have storage radiators anymore, they are on it historically, and have just never moved.
I was on it for 10+ years after disconnecting the last of my storage heaters. If you used at least 25% of your electric in the E7 hours it was still worth it.

Over time my night usage dropped to about 21%, but until around 2020 I didnt care about that too much as the difference wasnt significant.
However as prices went up, it was more of an issue and I switched to standard (still on the E7 meter - they just charged the standard rate on both readings).

[downquark1]

While my meter works fine my parents have this problem where the gas data has massive holes in it. So it seems to be receiving SOME data but not all of it.

The meters are not that far apart but there is a wall between them. So there isn't much I can do.

Anyone have any ideas before I talk to octopus about it?

There isnt really anything you can do.

In theory they can force the old data to sync when the meter reconnects.
They dont seem to do that often. I had a gap of 5 days back in Oct, which is still there.

They even billed me for those days, not sure where the information came from, but it looked reasonable, so I didnt bother to question it.
Since then (November) I have moved my Gas to Fixed, so a few gaps dont really matter, they just need one current reading to do the bill.

I also have an Octopus mini, which usually seems to have all the data, I dont know why they dont use that to fill gaps (or maybe they do, thats unclear).

Another two or three bad days coming to Agile (& Tracker I guess).
After that (from about Thursday) it looks like we have a lot of wind (storm level in some cases) so hopefully some good days to even out the month.

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by Paul

Another two or three bad days coming to Agile (& Tracker I guess).
After that (from about Thursday) it looks like we have a lot of wind (storm level in some cases) so hopefully some good days to even out the month.

Yes, 44.32p on my tracker tomorrow the highest ever, if I was at home all day I would consider coming off it, but this week I'm only home in the mornings as working late shift so its not so bad.

I'm going to try and stay on Tracker until my contract ends in April and see what happens then.

[downquark1]

Originally Posted by Paul

There isnt really anything you can do.

In theory they can force the old data to sync when the meter reconnects.
They dont seem to do that often. I had a gap of 5 days back in Oct, which is still there.

They even billed me for those days, not sure where the information came from, but it looked reasonable, so I didnt bother to question it.
Since then (November) I have moved my Gas to Fixed, so a few gaps dont really matter, they just need one current reading to do the bill.

I also have an Octopus mini, which usually seems to have all the data, I dont know why they dont use that to fill gaps (or maybe they do, thats unclear).

Well that does seem to suck.

-------------

On the agile/tracker prices - It seems to me that unless February or March are significantly cheaper then we should conclude ofgem set the prices too low.

Octopus ran one of their peak time saving sessions today, between 5.30pm and 6.30pm.

I did opt in, although its probably unlikely I saved much usage at those times as it was dinner time for various family members.

---------- Post added at 23:54 ---------- Previous post was at 23:47 ----------

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

...if I was at home all day I would consider coming off it

I doubt they would have taken you off it in time, it usually takes a day or two it least to change tariff.

Agile looks very painful tomorrow, then predicted to be much better for the next week. So I'll claw back some savings.

I'm going to try and give it a full run (back into summer) and see what I learn.
The lesson so far seems to be that some kind of fixed tariff, or even SVT is probably better over the winter months (or maybe 'Go' if I can get onto it).

The rates today were just ridiculous, and even though they are predicted to improve, they are still not predicted to be great.

After consideration, I have decided to change track, and attempt a switch to "Go" - then review again in the Spring/Summer, when (or if) Agile improves.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Paul

The rates today were just ridiculous, and even though they are predicted to improve, they are still not predicted to be great.

After consideration, I have decided to change track, and attempt a switch to "Go" - then review again in the Spring/Summer, when (or if) Agile improves.

I moved to go over a month ago. It was the best thing to do.