Smart Meters and Tariffs

Yes, I’m not sure what retro-fitted panels would look like in my case, but all the houses here that have panels from new have them built in to the roof itself (they *are* the tiles, in effect - there are no roof tiles under them.

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by Paul

Except for some reason it doesnt display the historic Tracker tariffs, it was the first place I looked.

What did you think of your Hive smart thermostat because I'm getting one fitted with my new system boiler in May, it's similar to my Tado but they say it'll also integrate with the boiler better and also control my hot water tank? I'm also hoping a new boiler will be far more efficient than a 28 year old one and help to reduce my monthly bills.

Its worked fine for me for almost 10 years.
Yes, it can control both heating & water (mine does).

The app is not brilliant, but it does work, I prefer the online site for setting schedules.
If you have Alexa, you can link it - allowing you to query and control it in a number of ways.

A new boiler will definitely be more efficient than something 28 years old.

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by Paul

Its worked fine for me for almost 10 years.
Yes, it can control both heating & water (mine does).

The app is not brilliant, but it does work, I prefer the online site for setting schedules.
If you have Alexa, you can link it - allowing you to query and control it in a number of ways.

A new boiler will definitely be more efficient than something 28 years old.

Thanks plumber came yesterday so just waiting for a quote, it's a small house so hopefully not more than £3k.

[Mr K]

Ed Miliband is poised to approve changes that would mean households in the South pay more for electricity than those in Scotland and the North.

The Energy Secretary has been weighing up whether to push ahead with zonal pricing, which would split the country’s single national power market into different regions.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business...icity-pricing/

Nice one Ed! He's not just a pretty face after all

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by Mr K

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business...icity-pricing/

Nice one Ed! He's not just a pretty face after all

What a moron.

[downquark1]

Well at least now we may be able to actually use all the green energy we produce.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Mr K

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business...icity-pricing/

Nice one Ed! He's not just a pretty face after all

Doesn't it vary between regions at the moment? I assume this is more so.

Originally Posted by Mr K

Nice one Ed! He's not just a pretty face after all

Hes not pretty, just an idiot.

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Doesn't it vary between regions at the moment?

Yes.

---------- Post added at 16:11 ---------- Previous post was at 15:55 ----------

Originally Posted by downquark1

Well at least now we may be able to actually use all the green energy we produce.

The problem has always been that on some days they generate more electricity than can be used.
How will that change ? Are you all suddenly going to use more electricity ?

Yes and no.

Price variations between region are to do with network distribution costs. The DNOs are allowed to charge different rates across the country. In theory that should only show up on the standing charge which is, notionally, the bit of your bill that you pay to maintain access to a mains electricity supply regardless of how much you use. In practice, standing charges have just become a way of penalising energy efficiency so the variation in local distribution costs tends to be accounted for partly in the unit price as well as the standing charge.

What we do not presently have is full zonal pricing. We have a single GB-wide ‘zone’ in which the cost of generating and transmitting electricity is treated as being the same across the entire grid. If you allow those costs to be calculated and charged regionally, as local network distribution costs are, then that starts to make a very significant difference to the costs consumers pay for electricity.

Scotland and the north of England would stand to benefit from such an arrangement very rapidly because there is such an enormous wind generation capacity here now, and the unit cost of that is low.

The CEO of Octopus is a passionate believer in zonal pricing and has written about it … will see if I can find something.

Edit …

https://octopus.energy/press/zonal-p...-report-finds/

[nashville]

I hear to many bad reports about Smart meters not working , so it seems like they are a waste of money

[downquark1]

Originally Posted by Paul

Hes not pretty, just an idiot.

Yes.

---------- Post added at 16:11 ---------- Previous post was at 15:55 ----------



The problem has always been that on some days they generate more electricity than can be used.
How will that change ? Are you all suddenly going to use more electricity ?

Because once the price is allowed to drop, people will use more energy. Or people who need cheap energy will move there.

---------- Post added at 16:33 ---------- Previous post was at 16:32 ----------

While I support the CEO of octopus in this, it has to be noted that his company will benefit from this as the weaker competition may struggle to deal with zonal pricing.

[1andrew1]

Unpaywalled link to the Telegraph article below.

If it keeps costs down that's a good thing, and if it provides cheaper energy for companies like Nissan in the North who were complaining today about energy prices in the UK then it has to be a good thing too. Only today, Nissan's Alan Johnson told MPs that the Sunderland factory "pays more for its electricity than any other Nissan plant in the world".

Includes

Wind farm owners SSE and Scottish Power have claimed that the changes would create regional disparities in household bills, while spooking potential investors in renewable energy projects.

However, supporters such as Octopus Energy, Ovo Energy and Citizens Advice, as well as government quangos including the National Energy System Operator and the boss of regulator Ofgem, have argued that a zonal system would reduce costs for all households overall.

It would do this by making the system more efficient, for example ending “constraint” payments to wind farms – where they are paid to switch off – and reducing the need to spend money on new infrastructure that is ultimately funded through levies on consumer bills.

This year, an analysis by consultants at FTI found that a regional pricing system would save more than £3.7bn a year.

But the policy is still controversial among voters, recent polling suggests.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/othe...332b94d7&ei=12

---------- Post added at 17:56 ---------- Previous post was at 17:42 ----------

Originally Posted by downquark1

While I support the CEO of octopus in this, it has to be noted that his company will benefit from this as the weaker competition may struggle to deal with zonal pricing.

What is the weaker competition? Most retail energy suppliers are large multinationals these days like EDF, Centrica and Eon. The weaker, smaller players have gone to the wall.

[downquark1]

There are a few like https://www.outfoxthemarket.co.uk

Ah yes, lots of promises of "savings" with no details of how that will work.

Together with more statements of "less pylons", etc.
Again, no explanation of how thats possible, the electricity still has to be transported.
The "North" (as an example) is not suddendly going to be using all that extra electricity, otherwise it already would be.

Because once the price is allowed to drop, people will use more energy. Or people who need cheap energy will move there.

The novelty of using lots more when its cheaper soon wears off.
People will not move en masse just becasue electricity is a little cheaper.
Living in the North of the country is generally cheaper anyway, always has been, but there is no mass migration.

Allowing "competition" was supposed to save us all lots of money, that went well.