We told them we didn’t want a smart meter, but it didn’t make a whit of difference; they were quite determined we should have one.
Our super cost-saving Economy 7 meter had packed up for the second time and the night-storage heaters were coming on at unpredictable times, even mid-afternoon which was hopeless. We decided to change our heating system to install panel heaters, so, we phoned EDF, our electricity supplier, requesting the meter be changed, “but no smart meter please.”
Two very competent young men duly arrived and proceeded to change the meter. Result? We now have one more useless gadget on our kitchen worktop. There it sat blinking away happily to itself, in green, orange and red, informing us that we had exceeded budget (hardly surprising, since we hadn’t set one!). We were alarmed for a day by its constant output of digital information, but it was not at all relevant to our requirements, nor will it save us money; after all we are a wartime generation which learnt well how to be thrifty. After three days we switched the thing off.
It would be interesting to hear of others’ experience, as to whether the smart meter does cut their electricity bills. The government reckons that each household could save £11 a year, a trifling sum perhaps compared to the quoted £11 billion total national cost of rolling them out across the nation. As for the electricity companies, they get the government subsidies and will be probably be charging higher tariffs to non-smart meter households. So we end up paying any which way.
Image Credits: Kenneth Bird .
After reading this article, I decided to cut down on unnecessary electricity consumption. I have switched my smart meter off and put it in a drawer.
I agreed to have a smart meter installed a month or so ago. The only advantage I can see, apart from the minor one of not having to submit meter-readings semi-annually, is that I am not denied access to the cheapest tarriffs. I don’t see how the cost to the taxpayer can be justified. Don’t waste energy, whether or not you have a smart meter.
We don’t have a clock in the flat, so I find the smart meter useful sitting ,as it does, on a chest of drawers in the hall . Also ,it ‘s tiny light helps me find the loo in the middle of the night!!
The item that Kenneth Bird and Seana Lanigan have turned off (and put in a drawer) is not the Smart Meter! The Smart Meter is the item of equipment that has replaced the old gas/electric meter which has the ability to communicate (via mobile phone signal) your fuel consumption to your provider. The piece of kit in the drawer just shows the consumer how much fuel they are using. If they have it plugged in and switched on!
so.. if you switch off a smart meter life is more peaceful but are you saying it doesn’t stop the issue of unwanted WiFi waves which bothers some people?
Had one installed a few weeks ago. The technician carried out various tests – switching on and off lights, fan heater etc to check the change in kilowatts etc. Noticed my standing load was pretty high, culprit – dehumidifier which apparently will cost around £400 a year to run! I’m now making some changes to reduce that plus changing to led lighting.
If you’re not worried you’ve left on appliances unnecessarily or reducing your energy bill, by all means chuck it in a draw.
Haven’t been offered one yet and I hope to be able to refuse. Like dear Alexa in the corner, your smart meter is transmitting all the details of your life, from getting up, breakfast, lights on and off, meal times, bedtime, back to a central computer. Not for your convenience, but their marketing.
Smart meters are not smart. I had them installed, the fitter reckoned they cost about £400 to supply and fit. The display does indicate how much energy you are using, a good indicator if you haven’t used commen sense to economise previously. I do shop around for energy suppliers. I switched as urged to by the government. The smart meter worked with the installing energy supplier, After switching it was not compatible with the new supplier, nor with my latest supplier. Whoever was in charge of this scheme was not very smart either, I wonder if he lost his job? What a huge wasteful cost to the customer, after all we are paying for the meters even though government advertising for meters tell us they don’t cost us, rubbish.
Sounds like you had a SMETS1 meter I stalled. These did not have communication ability with the central data authority – this had yet to be rolled out – and therefore communicated directly with your supplier. Unless the new supplier had the same system moving to a new supplier would mean they couldn’t communicate. Software patches are now on place so functionality should be ok now. And in any case all new meters are SMETS2 meters (replacing SMETS1 as of last year) which do not have this issue.
Some months ago I agreed to have a Smart Meter fitted. On the day the men arrived, started working whilst I was hovering about elsewhere in the house. After a while the fitter was going in and out of the house, on his phone , on his computer and I could hear him becoming more and more irate. Finally he said to me ‘Sorry , its no good you can’t have the new meter there is NO SIGNAL here. So, he had to undo all the work he had done and refit the old meter. What a waste of time and money. I live at Winchelsea Beach…….obviously the worlds end !!!