General Chat

My smart meter is smarter than the other two known smart meters in our road.

And I believe what the installer told me. :-P

Do we really need a smart meter to tell us to turn off a light in an empty room?

There are apps which run on a mobile phone displaying some or all of the info on the smart meter. Nearly all of them are from the power companies themselves though there are a few independent ones. They will not work at a distance. SSE has recently pulled its app for non disclosed reasons but possibly hacking.

The arrival of SMETS2 later this year will make it much easier to make apps for smart phones, iPads. There would be no technical block to such apps running at a distance.

Thanks to our SMETS1 smart meter like Brian we have knocked a over 10% off our energy usage. The meters (gas and electric) still get physically checked every 6 months.

We've had one for about a year and our bills have gone down.
The display is in the kitchen and by glancing at it I can see the current consumption which is a reminder to turn off lights, heaters or whatever which are not necessary.

I'd rather have a meter reader - I'm getting fed up with doing the admin for every other big institution - the Government and Local Councils being the worst :-| :-|

Speed awareness instructors there's a blast from the threads past....

"Smart Meter automation will result in the redundancy of Meter Readers."

Well consider Dermot some similar vocations to meter readers.

Copywiters, Draughtsmen, Lamplighters. Clock winders. Piano tuners. Short hand typists. Data entry clerks, speeding detectors, bank clerks.

Technology moves on and people perforce move on with it.

Now we have nail shops, Amazon distribution centres, zero hour contracts, wall to wall internet, call centres, internet banking and of course speed awareness instructors (who have lost their jobs to GATSOs).

hey ho

2nd generation smart meters are due for roll out October 2018 though there are some test installations. This is a site giving a fair summary of the situation:

https://www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-guides/smets-1-and-2-new-smart-meter-generation.html

The 1st gen meters do not do much more than record energy usage and automate meter reading. Another downside of 1st gen meters is that they are NOT supplier independent - change supplier and you lose smart metering.
They send and receive data using the mobile phone network which has proved to be a flaky option.

2nd gen smart meters are supplier indendent. They do not use the mobile phones for comms but a dedicated network set up by the DCC ( the Data Communications Company ) at high cost. This new data network is independent of the energy suppliers.

The long term objective is that as appliances and homes become "smart" the energy companies will be able to control energy use in an area / home and ( the big apple ) charge for energy by time of day - someting that already happens to many industrial users. That might give people charging their electric car at night a shock in the wallet.

I doubt it will ever become compulsory to install a smart meter as over time the only option will be to have a SMETS2 meter. Quite possibly not going "smart" in a few years time could be an expensive choice.

!Cor! strike a ligh!!

It's unbelievable that could happen Malcolm glad you caught it in time.

Blimey Malcolm how dangerous. The initial fitter should get more than rapped knuckles.
Trouble is they source out jobs to outside contractors but don't check the credentials of the individuals

I HAD MY METERS FITTED THE FITTER STRECHED THE LEAD PIPE TO MAKE IT FIT....TWO DAYS I COULD SMELL GAS......THE PIPE HAD SPLIT LEAKING GAS COULD OF BLOWN MY HOUSE-UP TAKING NEXT-DOOR ASWELL

i had mine fitted in 2015 ,they had been scheduled but even tho hubby was then hospitalized I went ahead with the appointment

Our meters too are on the floor level at the back of the under stairs walk in cupboard but they are very difficult to read as the ceiling is very sloped down where they are

I was having problems getting down to them and then getting up again so I guess the advantage to having the smart meter put in meant that saved me too :-)

Whilst not compulsory all meters have to be replaced as a matter of routine when they reach the end of their certified life. Typically between around 10 and 25 years.

There will probably come a time when the only available replacement is a smart meter although, under current rules you could choose to have smart functionality disabled.

There is another point worth mentioning is that if choose not to have one then in future you might not benefit from lower energy tariffs.

We have our electric one for several years now, in fact we are on the second generation and would highly recommend. We can't have a gas one just yet unless we move to dual fuel as they need for them electricity to work!

:-S :-S :-S

I guess we were lucky then.

Our meters are located in the most stupid places. OH has to lay on the floor for the gas reading and climb up on a step for the electricity ones.

:-( :-( :-( :-D

There are still some issues with the meters, though, Sue.
You were lucky. There are several different smart meter manufacturers that energy suppliers use, so your new supplier may not use the same smart technology or networks as your old one.

I have had one for a couple of years and recently changed supplier, they just took over the meter readings without any problem.

My fuel consumption decreased considerably when Fred died, he had the washing machine and tumble dryer going daily, not to mention the equipment.

I did have the meter thing but never got around to using it, lots of other things to amuse me then!

Now we have solar panels and use considerably less electricity.

Everyone's dream is the only possible solution - more people working less or less people working more.

Smart Meter automation will result in the redundancy of Meter Readers.

The big difficulty is figuring out a way to maintain gainful employment..