davieG Posted 25 April 2017 Share Posted 25 April 2017 I've read about them on the internet but not convinced. Can anyone give me their views on them? What are the practical pros and cons from experience? Would you recommend having one? Any recommendations good or bad would be appreciated - thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buce Posted 25 April 2017 Share Posted 25 April 2017 Just now, davieG said: I've read about them on the internet but not convinced. Can anyone give me their views on them? What are the practical pros and cons from experience? Would you recommend having one? Any recommendations good or bad would be appreciated - thanks We've just had one fitted (like, yesterday). As far as I can see, all they do is give you a minute by minute running total of how much gas/electricity you are using. Ok, as it's free, but I wouldn't pay to have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strokes Posted 25 April 2017 Share Posted 25 April 2017 2 minutes ago, Buce said: We've just had one fitted (like, yesterday). As far as I can see, all they do is give you a minute by minute running total of how much gas/electricity you are using. Ok, as it's free, but I wouldn't pay to have one. I hope my neighbor doesn't have one fitted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 25 April 2017 Share Posted 25 April 2017 I had one but since moving from BG they said that their meters don't work with other suppliers. Guess we've found another format war really. On the whole I found it useful though tracking our use and helping us to keep our bills down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend_in_blue Posted 25 April 2017 Share Posted 25 April 2017 The smartest meter to have in your household is the person responsible for giving accurate meter readings online on the first day of every month to the energy provider. Guarantee this will save you money. Once you've set this up, after a year's worth of meter readings, you've plenty of data to go on to make comparisons for each of the previous quarters with your current quarter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcfcrinaldi Posted 25 April 2017 Share Posted 25 April 2017 I work for National Grid, so I've got a decent knowledge of them. They are very good, will save you money, ect... But can be very faulty, I would only get one if you have a supplier that is open 24/7. As if it has a fault and goes down on a Friday night, you wont have any power or gas until the suppliers offices open again. and your supplier will be the only one that would be able to help you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sphericalfox Posted 25 April 2017 Share Posted 25 April 2017 Data. You are giving the companies masses of data. When you use, how much you use, and we'll soon find ourselves on tariffs far more disgusting than the ones currently on offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bellend Sebastian Posted 25 April 2017 Share Posted 25 April 2017 2 hours ago, Emilio Lestavez said: I had one but since moving from BG they said that their meters don't work with other suppliers. Guess we've found another format war really. On the whole I found it useful though tracking our use and helping us to keep our bills down. Yeah, me too. Couldn't believe it when I moved to another big supplier and they made me start reading the meters again. A small crumb of comfort is at least they're easy to read. I submitted a misread number from one of those shitty old dial electricity meters and never had an accurate bill again at my old house. In summary: f**k those guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
separator Posted 25 April 2017 Share Posted 25 April 2017 When they go wrong they go wrong big time.... £33k per day anyone... https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/mar/05/sse-customers-charged-up-to-33000-a-day-by-faulty-smart-meters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad the Fox Posted 25 April 2017 Share Posted 25 April 2017 1 hour ago, separator said: When they go wrong they go wrong big time.... £33k per day anyone... https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/mar/05/sse-customers-charged-up-to-33000-a-day-by-faulty-smart-meters Vad ain't too smart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davieG Posted 26 April 2017 Author Share Posted 26 April 2017 Thanks for the replies. I'm with BG by default as they were the suppliers to the house when I moved in and it's taken over 9 months to sort that out, long story. I'm planning to move but they've been pushing smart meters so was thinking of having one before moving but considering your replies I won't be bothering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crinklyfox Posted 26 April 2017 Share Posted 26 April 2017 I've had one for a few months now and I wish that I hadn't bothered. It's seemingly useful to know how much you're spending on electricity but in reality I'm not going to turn off the central heating, oven, washing machine, tumble drier. etc so it hasn't changed my habits. The other bugbear I have is that my bills appear higher that my indicated electricity usage. The meter rarely totals over £2 in any day yet my bill averages out at over £2 usage per day. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Guvnor Posted 26 April 2017 Share Posted 26 April 2017 12 hours ago, Emilio Lestavez said: I had one but since moving from BG they said that their meters don't work with other suppliers. Guess we've found another format war really. On the whole I found it useful though tracking our use and helping us to keep our bills down. They are rolling out SMETS2 now, just had one fitted, which I believe will be compatible with all suppliers, if you have a SMETS1 meter which is what you may have ? they would only be compatible with the original supplier and when you switch supplier have to be put in 'dumb mode' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royston. Posted 26 April 2017 Share Posted 26 April 2017 Makes no difference for me as you can still submit your own readings anyway. In fact, I still get a text asking me to send a reading before each Bill The best thing about npower is their website makes it easy to do everything for yourself which is good because they will **** it up if you leave it to them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanSP Posted 26 April 2017 Share Posted 26 April 2017 anyone ever got one from First Utility? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parafox Posted 27 April 2017 Share Posted 27 April 2017 20 hours ago, Royston. said: Makes no difference for me as you can still submit your own readings anyway. In fact, I still get a text asking me to send a reading before each Bill The best thing about npower is their website makes it easy to do everything for yourself which is good because they will **** it up if you leave it to them Npower are shit, the worst customer services I've come across. The refused to refund on overpayment of £235. They misread our analogue meter to the tune of £700+ and it took 11 months to get it sorted. We're now with Ovo and they're good so far, they supplied a smart meter and I can check and compare online the smart meter's reading with actual usage and it's been accurate. Also can check remotely what is being used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royston. Posted 28 April 2017 Share Posted 28 April 2017 On 27/04/2017 at 10:43, Parafox said: Npower are shit, the worst customer services I've come across. The refused to refund on overpayment of £235. They misread our analogue meter to the tune of £700+ and it took 11 months to get it sorted. We're now with Ovo and they're good so far, they supplied a smart meter and I can check and compare online the smart meter's reading with actual usage and it's been accurate. Also can check remotely what is being used. Yeah a few years back they wanted £700 from me because they hadn't been using my readings even though they admitted they were all evident on my account. Like I said, the website and app gives you control over these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross-Kemp Posted 29 April 2017 Share Posted 29 April 2017 I work for one of the big 6 so is always nice / interesting to read other people's opinions. At the moment, SMART meters aren't interoperable (they won't communicate with other suppliers). Later on this year, a central 'communication' hub will be up and running. This means the SMART data goes via them to your supplier, thus making them compatible. Some SMETS 1 & SMETS 2 models do have issues with the gas (as Rinaldi referred to). This tends to happen more in the Winter when more than 6 cubic meters of gas is ran through the meter (causing it to cut out). They won't save you money per se, but the in home energy display will show you what you're using real time and can have a positive impact on your usage (I.e. Some people aren't aware of how much a tumble dryer or a plug in heater uses). As with any new technology, they will get better with time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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