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Smart Meters Thread

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On 11/10/2020 at 01:19, Organgrinder said:

Lots of ads on TV lately telling us how they will save us money.

Pack of lies. The ads should not be allowed to make the claims which they do.

A smart meter will not save you one single penny

Funny.  Mine has saved me plenty.  When I moved in January I monitored the power usage and was able to make changes to things around my home to make savings, starting with the high daily charge from the existing utility provider, which was nicely shown on the Smart meter and not hidden away on some website or in some bill's small print.

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13 hours ago, El Cid said:

So are you a Ludite that does not believe technology should be allowed because it will cause unemployment?

We have tech in all aspects of life and unemployment was low, pre-COVID.

His point is that,  It's not about disallowing technology but pointing out that putting people on the dole has costs for society.

It still leaves the fact that the only ones to profit are the power companies, which is what this thread is about.

21 minutes ago, alchresearch said:

Funny.  Mine has saved me plenty.  When I moved in January I monitored the power usage and was able to make changes to things around my home to make savings, starting with the high daily charge from the existing utility provider, which was nicely shown on the Smart meter and not hidden away on some website or in some bill's small print.

You have made the savings yourself  by turning down or turning off appliances.

You could have made those same changes without a having Smart Meter.

It's not hard to find out what your tarriffs are without a meter.

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2 hours ago, Organgrinder said:

You have made the savings yourself  by turning down or turning off appliances.

 

But how would I know which appliances were using the energy or needed attention, if it weren't for the smart meter?

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9 minutes ago, alchresearch said:

But how would I know which appliances were using the energy or needed attention, if it weren't for the smart meter?

You can waste your own time and energy by taking an initial reading, switching the appliance off, recording how long it takes for the meter to change the smallest unit of measurement from to n+1, then repeat with the appliance switched back on and compare the difference.

 

Repeat for all your household items.

 

Those that change to n+1 the quickest when on use the more energy.

 

In the meantime, you've wasted at least a whole evening while everyone else in the house can't turn on or off any appliances and your wife thinks you are a headcase.

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The only thing my smart meter saves, is me having to read the meter!!   Well it did until i changed suppliers to get a better deal, my new supplier has just informed me that my smart meter isn't compatible with their system, so its back to taking my own readings and sending them online. Just been  told by my mate that i can find the readings displayed somewhere on my not so smart meter.   At least it means i wont have to go groveling down in the cellar.

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41 minutes ago, alchresearch said:

But how would I know which appliances were using the energy or needed attention, if it weren't for the smart meter?

I wouldn't have thought it necessary to spell it out but you don't have to do any meter reading at all.

Simply remember that each appliance has a label on it detailing the number of Watts it potentially uses.

Something which uses 3000 watts such as a shower, Tumble Dryer, toaster or kettle will burn much more than something at 50  to 250 Watts such as a TV, Radio, Computer etc.

Also make allowances for the amount of time this appliance will take to do it's job  i.e. a Kettle will have boiled in 3 minutes whereas a Tumble Dryer may take from 30 minutes to an hour.

Small things can make a difference over time. I you usually leave the TV on all day when no one is watching then turn it off.

It isn't using much power but 12 hours use every day is a waste when no one is watching it.

It's just down to common sense really  but for anyone who doesn't have any, then a Smart Meter would be a good thing.

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We switched from British Gas few years ago to another supplier ( not big 4).

 

They were installing smart meters and I thought it was compulsory, probably then because if the media coverage.

 

We are probably on the first generation of meters installed, so know these sometime do have reading issues.

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22 minutes ago, zaci said:

The only thing my smart meter saves, is me having to read the meter!!   Well it did until i changed suppliers to get a better deal, my new supplier has just informed me that my smart meter isn't compatible with their system, so its back to taking my own readings and sending them online. Just been  told by my mate that i can find the readings displayed somewhere on my not so smart meter.   At least it means i wont have to go groveling down in the cellar.

My bold. 

 

Saw something along these lines in a consumer programme on tv a while back.  The programme also mentioned that some companies were still installing their old stock of 1st generation meter & that if you do wish to have one installed, you must insist that it's a more improved 2nd generation meter. 

 

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7 hours ago, Organgrinder said:

It still leaves the fact that the only ones to profit are the power companies, which is what this thread is about.

If the costs to power companies decline, just like in the summer when energy prices decline, then prices to the consumer also declines.

That is the same in any business.

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42 minutes ago, El Cid said:

If the costs to power companies decline, just like in the summer when energy prices decline, then prices to the consumer also declines.

That is the same in any business.

I don't believe it - they will not give the consumers anything unless they are forced into it as they were  by Theresa May.

I've never noticed energy prices going down since the installation of the first  Smart Meters.

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On 11/10/2020 at 10:55, El Cid said:

So if the energy suppliers will save money, that means that they could charge their customers less.

could being the operative word

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16 hours ago, Organgrinder said:

I don't believe it - they will not give the consumers anything unless they are forced into it as they were  by Theresa May.

I've never noticed energy prices going down since the installation of the first  Smart Meters.

The energy tariffs which are paperless, online and use smart meters are lower than the others, so that proves technology saves you money.

What tariff are you on?

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