# Smart meters.....what's the latest thinking ??



## Dave7 (13 Aug 2022)

My situation is......the gas meter is on an outside wall and maybe 18" from the ground...... tucked in a corner.
As I have got older it has become more difficult to get down and even MORE difficult to get back up.
My thinking is that a smart meter will solve the problem.......am I correct ?
Edit......
Would it be possible to get the meter raised higher ?


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## numbnuts (13 Aug 2022)

Dave7 said:


> My situation is......the gas meter is on an outside wall and maybe 18" from the ground...... tucked in a corner.
> As I have got older it has become more difficult to get down and even MORE difficult to get back up.
> My thinking is that a smart meter will solve the problem.......am I correct ?
> Edit......
> Would it be possible to get the meter raised higher ?



https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/cost-moving-gas-meter/


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## welsh dragon (13 Aug 2022)

Not interested in smart meters. Too much snooping for me. Too intrusive. My electricity supplier have stopped asking my to make an appointment to install one.


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## Dave7 (13 Aug 2022)

numbnuts said:


> https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/cost-moving-gas-meter/



Thanks NNs......some interesting points there.


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## stephec (13 Aug 2022)

numbnuts said:


> https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/cost-moving-gas-meter/



Upto a grand for materials, and that's not including a new meter. 😲

What are they using, solid gold pipes that are ermine lined?


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## Joffey (13 Aug 2022)

I'm not sure why anyone would have a problem with a smart meter.


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## numbnuts (13 Aug 2022)

Joffey said:


> I'm not sure why anyone would have a problem with a smart meter.




There's a lot of scaremongering with them, only time will tell if there is any truth in it, may find out this winter when bills go through the roof and people can not afford it, or another scaremongering is over pricing at peak times.


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## ClichéGuevara (13 Aug 2022)

Dave7 said:


> My situation is......the gas meter is on an outside wall and maybe 18" from the ground...... tucked in a corner.
> As I have got older it has become more difficult to get down and even MORE difficult to get back up.
> My thinking is that a smart meter will solve the problem.......am I correct ?
> Edit......
> Would it be possible to get the meter raised higher ?



Is there something you could fettle together with a mirror on a stick, or your phone on a selfy stick?

Alternatively, do you have someone that would perhaps help and read it for you?


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## postman (13 Aug 2022)

ClichéGuevara said:


> Is there something you could fettle together with a mirror on a stick, or your phone on a selfy stick?
> 
> Alternatively, do you have someone that would perhaps help and read it for you?


Just give me an hour i will pop in to the shed and knocksomething up.One hour later here i am and i have built this fine looking fella,Going to call him Bert,what he does he goes to every house and reads the meter,saving the customer doing it,this is the next big thing,this time next year i will be a millionare,and i will have reduced the unemployment figures,i might even get a Knighthood.I am going tocall it a meter reader guy or girl.


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## numbnuts (13 Aug 2022)

I may be having a smart meter fitted at the end of the month, I say may as there maybe a problem with the distant between the gas meter and the electric meter and my flat.
I was with npower which went over to E.ON and in the agreement I was told I will have to have a smart meter.


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## midlife (13 Aug 2022)

AFAIK you don't have to have a smart meter unless the one you have is broken or not working?


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## Dave7 (13 Aug 2022)

ClichéGuevara said:


> Is there something you could fettle together with a mirror on a stick, or your phone on a selfy stick?
> 
> Alternatively, do you have someone that would perhaps help and read it for you?



Yes....I take a pad, kneel down and photograph it... bit of a struggle though.


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## Sharky (13 Aug 2022)

Do you have a smart phone or camera? I have a similar problem. My metres are high in the garage, over my many bikes. I can't get to them without moving stuff out of the way. But I can reach near enough to take a photo with my mobile.


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## mistyoptic (13 Aug 2022)

I’ve found the IHD aspect of the smart meter very helpful on occasions, for example when a freezer was inadvertently switched off. Once you have a feel for your normal base consumption, any digression can make you think and investigate items unexpectedly on or off.

Really can’t sign up to the paranoia some seem to suffer


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## Mike_P (13 Aug 2022)

numbnuts said:


> I may be having a smart meter fitted at the end of the month, I say may as there maybe a problem with the distant between the gas meter and the electric meter and my flat.


Its taken Shell Energy the best of a year to get my gas smartmeter talking to the electrical one and hence communicating its data - an original excuse they came up with was being probably too far apart when in fact they are next to each other.


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## Joffey (13 Aug 2022)

numbnuts said:


> There's a lot of scaremongering with them, only time will tell if there is any truth in it, may find out this winter when bills go through the roof and people can not afford it, or another scaremongering is over pricing at peak times.



For sure - usually on Facebook!


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## presta (13 Aug 2022)

Re accessibility, it's a bit of a bend to read the gas in the porch, but I'm still managing so far.

Re energy saving, it will only do that if you're motivated to switch stuff off, and a Dutch study found a lasting saving of only about 0.7% once the initial novelty had worn off.

Re snooping, I can't get worked up about that.

Re pricing, I'm sure that peak-hour charges are coming but I don't think having a dumb meter will save you, you'll just get put on an unfavourable tariff until you change.

The issue I have with them is that all the complaints I see about faulty meters seem to relate to smart, not dumb, meters. I don't want the hassle of trying to prove a crazy bill is caused by a faulty meter if I don't have to, I once had a wrong bill caused by incompetence, and it took a year, and a threat from debt collectors before it was finally sorted out.


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## Phaeton (13 Aug 2022)

Joffey said:


> I'm not sure why anyone would have a problem with a smart meter.


Unfortunately I trust utility companies as about as much as I trust an MP, how do you know they are lying? their lips are moving. Ultimately they will use them to drive the cost up at peak times, by offering others access to cheap times, 


numbnuts said:


> I may be having a smart meter fitted at the end of the month, I say may as there maybe a problem with the distant between the gas meter and the electric meter and my flat.
> I was with npower which went over to E.ON and in the agreement I was told I will have to have a smart meter.


I moved to British Gas nearly 3 years ago onto a fixed tariff, as part of that agreement I had to agree to having a smart meter, I'm still waiting for them to arrived


midlife said:


> AFAIK you don't have to have a smart meter unless the one you have is broken or not working?


Not unless as above it's part of your agreement


presta said:


> The issue I have with them is that all the complaints I see about faulty meters seem to relate to smart, not dumb, meters. I don't want the hassle of trying to prove a crazy bill is caused by a faulty meter if I don't have to, I once had a wrong bill caused by incompetence, and it took a year, and a threat from debt collectors before it was finally sorted out.


A lot of the problems were based around the original smart meters, they weren't fit for purpose, I don't think any of them are now being fitted.


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## BoldonLad (13 Aug 2022)

We switched to a British Gas Dual Fuel Fixed Tariff (turns out to have a good move, but, not by design). One of the conditions of the tariff was having a smart meter installed (free). Had the smart meter for about six months now. No problems. I don't feel it has made any difference to our usage, but, I didn't expect it too.

Cannot understand people's reluctance to have a smart meter, I am sure Amazon, Barclaycard and various others (including Cyclechat) know far more about me than British Gas do.


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## Joffey (13 Aug 2022)

Phaeton said:


> Unfortunately I trust utility companies as about as much as I trust an MP, how do you know they are lying? their lips are moving. Ultimately they will use them to drive the cost up at peak times, by offering others access to cheap times.



We can read our smart meter and make sure it correlates to the bills.


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## Gunk (13 Aug 2022)

Joffey said:


> For sure - usually on Facebook!



I can’t quite understand all the conspiracy theories around smart meters, As far I’m concerned you fit it and forget about it, no need to submit readings every month.


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## Mike_P (13 Aug 2022)

They are also needed for any solar panel installation; just read of one case where the readings were mixed up so the house owner was being being billed for the electricity generated not that consumed from the grid.


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## steverob (13 Aug 2022)

I'm having a smart meter fitted next week. The only reason it's taken so long was because I refused until my 'leccy company could guarantee that I wasn't getting one of the old generation smart meters that turn dumb as soon as you switch provider (which until the recent price increases I did do quite often).

I'm also not bothering with the little display that shows how much you're using - not interested in that in the slightest, as I've already got my usage down to the bare bones, so if anything having another device in the house that I don't look at might put my usage UP! But they said I didn't need to use that, the meter readings would be sent regardless of whether it was switched on or not.


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## Mike_P (13 Aug 2022)

There has been an update which means the change of supplier issue is no longer a problem https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/our-smart-network/current-programmes/smets1-enrolment-and-adoption/


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## Gunk (13 Aug 2022)

steverob said:


> I'm having a smart meter fitted next week. The only reason it's taken so long was because I refused until my 'leccy company could guarantee that I wasn't getting one of the old generation smart meters that turn dumb as soon as you switch provider (which until the recent price increases I did do quite often).
> 
> I'm also not bothering with the little display that shows how much you're using - not interested in that in the slightest, as I've already got my usage down to the bare bones, so if anything having another device in the house that I don't look at might put my usage UP! But they said I didn't need to use that, the meter readings would be sent regardless of whether it was switched on or not.



Luckily we have a 13a socket in our larder cupboard so it’s hidden out of sight.


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## slowmotion (14 Aug 2022)

Joffey said:


> I'm not sure why anyone would have a problem with a smart meter.



Simple. They don't trust the reliability of the telemetry.


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## PaulSB (14 Aug 2022)

Dave7 said:


> My situation is......the gas meter is on an outside wall and maybe 18" from the ground...... tucked in a corner.
> As I have got older it has become more difficult to get down and even MORE difficult to get back up.
> My thinking is that a smart meter will solve the problem.......am I correct ?
> Edit......
> Would it be possible to get the meter raised higher ?



I resisted smart meters until I was assured the installer would give us second generation units and the meters duly arrived August 2021. Our gas meter is similarly positioned but not tucked in a corner so it is easier to read though I guess in years to come getting down to this level will get harder. The problem with the old meter was during winter condensation would form inside the window making it almost impossible to read. This was the main reason I chose to have smart meters, I simply wanted a new meter.

Our electric meter is positioned at 7' 4" above the front door. I can only read this by climbing on a chair which is OK to date but in a few years? The cost of moving the electric meter would be astronomical and involve rerouting the incoming supply, possibly for the entire terrace as I very much doubt our current installation would pass modern standards.

My smart meters have never worked in the sense the information is not transmitted to the supplier or to the little display unit we were given. British Gas are coming in September with the promise to fix this.

So to answer your question yes it will solve your problem if the meters do transmit the information and I'd suggest in the vast majority of cases they do. Is it possible to move the meter? Probably, but I doubt it would be done for free as part of installing smart meters. Your supplier should provide and install smart meters free of charge.

I don't have any concerns over smart meters and think it will be a real benefit when I'm too stiff to get down to 18" and too doddery to climb a chair. This by the way is our incoming MAINS supply!!!!!!  It's tacked to the wall at 9' above ground and runs along the front of 12 terraced cottages!!


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## Alien8 (14 Aug 2022)

It's quite easy to access your smart meter collected data via, eg n3rgy, where you can downloaded it as a file or programmatically via the supported API.

The thing about this is that when I switched to OVO last year they claimed they couldn't access the smarter meter data for months on end, repeatably asking me to send them the same details, photos of the meters, where they were positioned etc.

Meanwhile, the data was being collected perfectly normally and reliably.

However, over the last few months with nothing having changed, OVO can now access the data and use it in my billing ... quelle surprise.


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## CXRAndy (14 Aug 2022)

I had a smart meter installed at a new building I did. Easy to see your usage day to day. Problem were seeing your meter reading. The numbers aren't on the display, but on the meter and are buried in sub menus. Other than that, they work on keeping your billing current, so no big quarterly surprises.

Our new place I've just converted all to smart meters and had them all converted to 3 phase for future upgrades


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## CXRAndy (14 Aug 2022)

steverob said:


> I'm having a smart meter fitted next week. The only reason it's taken so long was because I refused until my 'leccy company could guarantee that I wasn't getting one of the old generation smart meters that turn dumb as soon as you switch provider (which until the recent price increases I did do quite often).
> 
> I'm also not bothering with the little display that shows how much you're using - not interested in that in the slightest, as I've already got my usage down to the bare bones, so if anything having another device in the house that I don't look at might put my usage UP! But they said I didn't need to use that, the meter readings would be sent regardless of whether it was switched on or not.



Hi Steve. 

Smets2 is pretty standard now across the board. I did say only come if you have V2 No problems switching suppliers recently


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## Mike_P (14 Aug 2022)

The home display itself gives monthly data. Having to read the gas meter until the recent remote fix of it all that was necessary was to push a button to activate the display and I would not say it was buried in a sub menu. The one thing that does puzzle me is how does the gas meter transmit data, and show its display when asked? Presumably there is a battery which at some point is going to need replacing and does that trigger an alert before hand (please not like a smoke alarm at 3am) as I doubt you get free gas whist the battery is dead.


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## numbnuts (14 Aug 2022)

When you get a new smart meter installed does the reading start at 00000 or the old reading ?


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## Mike_P (14 Aug 2022)

numbnuts said:


> When you get a new smart meter installed does the reading start at 00000 or the old reading ?



Should be zero like any new meter (unless altered)


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## ebikeerwidnes (14 Aug 2022)

You can also register on an app 9I use Hugo) which will access you old smart meter data on a smartphone and show you trends and all that


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