Smart gas meters?

[meeesh]

I have one, Eon is our supplier,I use it to my advantage as when it starts beeping and showing red,I tell everyone to put a jumper on,but it has also helped me to argue the toss with them when they recently tried to increase my DD by £25 p/m.

I said how could this be possible,when I can see what is being used each month,hence to say I got my DD back to the price per month it was at originally.

So from a gauging the cost or what's being spent each day,week,month,year I think it's ok,as for the conspiracy theories I've now read on this thread,well interesting to say the least.

But you know what,I can always unplug it

 

[Blue Mist]

I have one, Eon is our supplier,I use it to my advantage as when it starts beeping and showing red,I tell everyone to put a jumper on,but it has also helped me to argue the toss with them when they recently tried to increase my DD by £25 p/m.

I said how could this be possible,when I can see what is being used each month,hence to say I got my DD back to the price per month it was at originally.

So from a gauging the cost or what's being spent each day,week,month,year I think it's ok,as for the conspiracy theories I've now read on this thread,well interesting to say the least.

But you know what,I can always unplug it

It's great that it is working for you.
One of my sons suffered a brain injury. He is OK but we have to manage his affairs. His smart meter is in an electric only flat and we were presented with a bill for just under a grand for a month.
I challenged it and asked for the meter to be checked, I had to pay for that, a guy came out and said yep it's working OK. That's like Var backing the ref up after he refuses City a blatant penalty. That is why I mentioned the meter said my son was using his iron and toaster to extreme but wasn't putting the central heating or hot water on. In the end I had no choice but to pay. When I switched supplier they put a new meter in and the guy installing it said off the record it wasn't working correctly.

 

[meeesh]

It's great that it is working for you.
One of my sons suffered a brain injury. He is OK but we have to manage his affairs. His smart meter is in an electric only flat and we were presented with a bill for just under a grand for a month.
I challenged it and asked for the meter to be checked, I had to pay for that, a guy came out and said yep it's working OK. That's like Var backing the ref up after he refuses City a blatant penalty. That is why I mentioned the meter said my son was using his iron and toaster to extreme but wasn't putting the central heating or hot water on. In the end I had no choice but to pay. When I switched supplier they put a new meter in and the guy installing it said off the record it wasn't working correctly.

Keep an eye on it

 

[Kompany Car]

I am at a loss as to the animosity towards smart meters?? You don't have to plug in the remote to see how much energy you are using. You used to have to change the meter when changing supplier but not any more. You are paying for it anyway in your bill whether you have one or not. If I didn't have a smart meter I couldn't have the cheap electricity I get now.

The general issue with smart meters is the end game of the energy providers, i.e surge pricing. So this would mean a continually variable rate based upon demand across the grid. Use power when it's in high demand you pay a much higher rate than say the middle of the night.
Economy 7 which is the nearest we currently have has been around for years, but this is very clear where exact times are given to the customer when it is low or high rate.
If they used the smart meters for purely capacity planning and load management then fine but in reality it doesn't cost them more to produce a kw/h of electricity at tea time than what it does at 3am.
It's purely profiteering, we shouldn't be having to spin up gas turbines to meet demand (known as peak lopping) just because we have very little energy storage capacity in terms of hydroelectric (pumped storage), even though we have shitloads of water in the UK.

 

[kaz7]

I am torn on getting a smart meter ,i cant read my electric meter so it is always estimated but i read people still get fleeced on a smart meter , what do you think either way ?

 

[Fred_Quimby]

The general issue with smart meters is the end game of the energy providers, i.e surge pricing. So this would mean a continually variable rate based upon demand across the grid. Use power when it's in high demand you pay a much higher rate than say the middle of the night.
Economy 7 which is the nearest we currently have has been around for years, but this is very clear where exact times are given to the customer when it is low or high rate.
If they used the smart meters for purely capacity planning and load management then fine but in reality it doesn't cost them more to produce a kw/h of electricity at tea time than what it does at 3am.
It's purely profiteering, we shouldn't be having to spin up gas turbines to meet demand (known as peak lopping) just because we have very little energy storage capacity in terms of hydroelectric (pumped storage), even though we have shitloads of water in the UK.

Very true but if they make it cheaper to use some energy at 3am say, then this has 2 effects a) you are using energy that would usually be wasted (because of poor or no storage available) and b) using this energy then would, probably, not be being used during the day. This would allow, to a certain extent, energy Companies, to ’flatten’ the curve of demand. Will not always work, of course, because you only make your dinner at dinner time and not the middle of the night but for other things, charging your car, dishwashing, washing machine etc it works fine which is exactly how I use mine.

 

[Blue Mist]

I am torn on getting a smart meter ,i cant read my electric meter so it is always estimated but i read people still get fleeced on a smart meter , what do you think either way ?

The first problem you have is not being able to read your meter. Can no one nip in and do it for you (your neighbour) if they only read it once every 4 months.
They could be over estimating and owe you money or worse, you owe them.

If you could do this stick to your old meter. If not you would be best getting a smart one.

 

[kaz7]

The first problem you have is not being able to read your meter. Can no one nip in and do it for you (your neighbour) if they only read it once every 4 months.
They could be over estimating and owe you money or worse, you owe them.

If you could do this stick to your old meter. If not you would be best getting a smart one.

fanks musty, the elec meter is in cupboard low down at a unreadable angle, i cant do it , gay dan would probably do it though

 

[Kompany Car]

Very true but if they make it cheaper to use some energy at 3am say, then this has 2 effects a) you are using energy that would usually be wasted (because of poor or no storage available) and b) using this energy then would, probably, not be being used during the day. This would allow, to a certain extent, energy Companies, to ’flatten’ the curve of demand. Will not always work, of course, because you only make your dinner at dinner time and not the middle of the night but for other things, charging your car, dishwashing, washing machine etc it works fine which is exactly how I use mine.

To be fair it's as much of a problem there being insufficient demand as there is being too much as you can end up with instability of the grid, where the mains frequency and voltage starts to rise and the have to switch in loads to bring it back within tolerance.
The push towards electric vehicles with the right type of chargers may allow you to store the energy in you car's batteries overnight at a low rate and then if not used for travel, you could then use it to power your home to some extent during the day. I know this has certainly been talked about but as yet it's not available to the general public.

 

[Fred_Quimby]

To be fair it's as much of a problem there being insufficient demand as there is being too much as you can end up with instability of the grid, where the mains frequency and voltage starts to rise and the have to switch in loads to bring it back within tolerance.
The push towards electric vehicles with the right type of chargers may allow you to store the energy in you car's batteries overnight at a low rate and then if not used for travel, you could then use it to power your home to some extent during the day. I know this has certainly been talked about but as yet it's not available to the general public.

I remember reading about this a little while and that it was being trialed.