'Smart' Meters

[pfifes 309]

Ah, so it’s not just me that’s had a faulty smart meter they were reluctant to fix until it completely conked out.  I wasn’t especially bothered about sending reading from the dumb smart meter but the promotion of them is ridiculous.

 

 https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-11886443/amp/Why-wont-power-firms-repair-broken-smart-meters.html?ico=amp_articleInlineText

 

 

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-12190633/amp/The-not-smart-meter-Government-wants-have.html

 

[Top4719 142]

16 hours ago, HeHasRisen said:

Well if people paid their bills they would have nothing to worry about. 

Except if they're in a position where they can't pay the ridiculously excessive amounts being asked.

[HeHasRisen 3,410]

6 hours ago, Top4719 said:

Except if they're in a position where they can't pay the ridiculously excessive amounts being asked.

Should get a smart meter and pay the lower time of use tariff prices then 😜

[redruby 280]

2 hours ago, HeHasRisen said:

Should get a smart meter and pay the lower time of use tariff prices then 😜

Don’t some people have no choice than to have a pre payment meter though ?  Which I believe have drawbacks:

 

https://www.stayenergysafe.co.uk/information/meters/prepayment-meters-in-2024-a-complete-guide/#:~:text=Prepayment meters are more expensive,access the cheapest tariffs available.

 

 I certainly wouldn’t mouth off making smug comments about paying bills on time.

 

And no I don’t have a prepayment meter or not pay bills on time myself so don’t need to be chastised for being a feckless idiot thanks.  Some of us do think about those less fortunate though.

[HeHasRisen 3,410]

1 hour ago, redruby said:

I certainly wouldn’t mouth off making smug comments about paying bills on time.

 

Oh, OK then 🙄

[redruby 280]

54 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

Oh, OK then 🙄

Good.

[Tipstaff 159]

My smart meter stopped sending signals some time ago and I'm still waiting for a response from the electricity company.  I send the readings on-line myself at the moment to ensure I don't pay on estimated readings.

[El Cid 221]

7 hours ago, Tipstaff said:

My smart meter stopped sending signals some time ago and I'm still waiting for a response from the electricity company.  I send the readings on-line myself at the moment to ensure I don't pay on estimated readings.

If you send the readings to the enegy company yourself, the smart meter must be working.

Do you mean the display is not working?

Is the display charging, is there other information on the screen, but it just lacks the usage?

[RollingJ 2,043]

3 minutes ago, El Cid said:

If you send the readings to the enegy company yourself, the smart meter must be working.

Do you mean the display is not working?

Is the display charging, is there other information on the screen, but it just lacks the usage?

The way I read @Tipstaff's post is that the energy company is not getting the readings from the meter, which suggests a network issue.

[El Cid 221]

5 hours ago, RollingJ said:

The way I read @Tipstaff's post is that the energy company is not getting the readings from the meter, which suggests a network issue.

But it was working, often the user themselves needs to work out what the problem is.

Which network do they use, surely it would be costly for every smart meter to have its own SIM card.

[RollingJ 2,043]

7 minutes ago, El Cid said:

But it was working, often the user themselves needs to work out what the problem is.

Which network do they use, surely it would be costly for every smart meter to have its own SIM card.

When I say network, I mean the one which the same for all suppliers - smart meters all communicate on the DCC (Data Communications Company) network - not via a SIM card - see HERE .

[pfifes 309]

2 hours ago, El Cid said:

But it was working, often the user themselves needs to work out what the problem is.

Which network do they use, surely it would be costly for every smart meter to have its own SIM card.

It sounds very much like Tipstaff has the same problem I had.  The ‘smart’ meter has become a ‘dumb’ meter i.e. it is not sending meter readings automatically to the energy company but is still displaying a reading so you can still take the readings and send them yourself. This isn’t an uncommon problem.  You can ask for a new meter but they are not always too concerned about replacing it until it stops working completely.