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@strickers Oh, that’s cool, thank you for the info! I’ll keep an eye out in that case.
Smart meters give you access to tariffs which can save you money if your usage pattern is friendly to that – for example charging EV or in-home battery at night, heating water overnight, doing washing/drying/dishwasher at night.
The downsides are:
1 – Hassle of installation / arranging for it.
2 – There can be technical challenges with them not communicating with the supplier etc, but mostly they work.
3 – That smart meters have a remote disconnect capability, so your supply can be turned off remotely by either the supplier or a someone with access to the supplier’s systems. There is a LOT of disinformation about this issue and guff about safeguards but that is the engineering reality. Having lived through the era of the Wuhan Coronavirus you will have your own opinions about whether you’re sure this capability will always be used responsibly and soberly by the authorities or not, and no words I write will change them.
4 – That smart meters give a quite clear idea of who is home, when, and what they are doing, to anyone with access to their data – as above, the supplier or anyone who gains access to their systems. It’s quite easy to infer from the pattern of power use how many people are home and what they are doing; appliances have characteristic patterns of energy use and indeed it’s possible to purchase a product which identifies what is being used merely by high-resolution monitoring of the whole house’s power consumption.
Has anyone got the smart meter installed through Octopus? Looks like there’s a waiting list. How long does it take and whats the cost?
Has anyone got the smart meter installed through Octopus? Looks like there’s a waiting list. How long does it take and whats the cost?
There should be no cost for having a Smart Meter fitted.
Has anyone got the smart meter installed through Octopus? Looks like there’s a waiting list. How long does it take and whats the cost?
It varies by region, here Octopus offer it in a few days.
It’s free to you “at the point of delivery”. We’re all paying enormous sums via levies on our bills for them, and various greenery/nuclear subsidies, but as a punter you pay nowt when it’s done.
We got Octopus a couple of years back. All very convenient, works well and they run intermittent “power saving” hours where you get a notional discount if you don’t use as much electricity as usual. The money isn’t really here or there but what it does do is stop the grid having to fire up older more polluting power stations in times of peak demand. I think they have done a good job of gamifying this.
My folks however got exactly the same kit from Octopus as we did and whilst the meter sends updated readings to Octopus, one of the utilities – I think gas – doesn’t update on the smart meter.
Octopus referral codes are available – £50 for both you and the referrer.
If you’ve got a meter that supports economy 7 (ie the cheaper night rate), you’ll have to switch to a smart meter in the next 12 months or you’ll lose economy 7 – the radio signal that tells the meters when the tariff change is will be switched off next year (postponed from this year)
If you’ve got a meter that supports economy 7 (ie the cheaper night rate), you’ll have to switch to a smart meter in the next 12 months or you’ll lose economy 7 – the radio signal that tells the meters when the tariff change is will be switched off next year (postponed from this year)
Some Economy/White meter tariffs are still controlled by a clockwork switch.
My parent’s nightstore meter and my aunts white meter definitely is. They make an absolute racket during a power cut and the clockwork back-up takes over timekeeping.
I don’t see the reason not to have a smart meter. I no longer have to send a meter reading, my bills are always accurate, and I can access time-of-use tariffs like Intelligent Octopus Go which gives me dirt cheap overnight charging.
I don’t honestly see the downside. The original set of meters had compatibility issues meaning they couldn’t connect if you switched to a different provider, but the newer meters don’t have that problem (as far as I know) and I think a solution is in the works for those original meters too.
I don’t use the in-home display because they’re horrible little things IMO, but I did just get notified that my Octopus Home Mini is on its way which gives up to the minute data about consumption through an app. Much better!
I think a solution is in the works for those original meters too.
Most have been upgraded remotely already.
Thanks for the tip about https://glowmarkt.com/bright.
Signed up yesterday and can now see all my lecky use in our wee flat.
(When we got smart meter we never got a display – but this, being an app, is even better)
Found a fantastic way to reduce gas usage, have your boiler pack up. Now trying to find someone to sit here all day while we are away in Edinburgh and Glasgow for the weekend. Gas usage zero.
Found a fantastic way to reduce gas usage, have your boiler pack up. Now trying to find someone to sit here all day while we are away in Edinburgh and Glasgow for the weekend. Gas usage zero.
But you’re still being charged the standing charge.
My wife’s parents’ flat can’t ever get a smart meter, 3 or 4 different meter technicians have tried over the past 3 years. Their English isn’t good enough to understand the explanations given by the meter installers so I also can’t understand it.
But did they put a smart meter in place? Sometimes there is simply not enought room.
If it is in place and it doesn’t work as a smart meter, then there is no signal. There are external antennas, but some suppliers don’t bother.My wife’s parents’ flat can’t ever get a smart meter, 3 or 4 different meter technicians have tried over the past 3 years. Their English isn’t good enough to understand the explanations given by the meter installers so I also can’t understand it.
Having been present for an (abortive) smart meter installation today, in the presence of an electrician there for other work:
He tells me that they abort the install at the slightest pretext and we speculate this relates to them getting paid per-visit regardless of success!
I too live in a block of flats. The electricity meter is on the ground floor in a cupboard under the stairs. The gas meter is outside on the ground about 20-30 feet away.
My electricity smart meter was installed in December. However the installer said they could not install the gas meter as the distance was too great from the electricity meter. Also due to the location of the electricity meter and the strength of the phone signal, the meter only sends out a signal once a day. At least that is what I was told. So I cannot monitor my minute by minute usage, but it is good that I no longer have to submit readings to Scottish Power.
Anyways Scottish Power called today asking about installing the gas smart meter. When I mentioned the distance, they said it shouldn’t be a problem. I can’t remember if I was told there was a new meter that would get over this problem. So my meter installation is scheduled for early July due to my diary. I suspect I could have had it much earlier. I shall wait and see if this installation is successful.DP: I am in England, north of London.
@HertsSam I wonder if SP are starting to rollout alternative connection methods? Currently, gas ‘smart’ meters use the electricity meter to communicate with the Data Communication Company through the electricity meter. When they aren’t close together this doesn’t work. At the end of last years there were trials of an alternative method of communication designed for apartment blocks.
@strickers and @HertsSam. Interested to read your comments. House in Surrey just within the M25. We’re with BG. Gas meter outside on side of house towards back, electric meter under the stairs towards middle of house and front. Fitter came to install Smart meter. He looked in cupboard then asked to see gas meter. When we took him outside he said he was unable to install smart meters because the gas meter too far away. Our cheap deal with BG was dependent on having Smart meters, but they didn’t withdraw our cheaper tariff. Still get regular emails asking us to have Smart meters installed. Haven’t taken it further as haven’t been in England much over the last couple of years and planning an extension where gas meter will need moving anyway.
If you live in a flat and the electricity meter is in a common area outside, do they still need to come in and do some drilling?
@HertsSam National Grid signed a deal last year with Vodafone to use their network for smart meters in locations where previously there had been problems with connectivity. Maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones getting to see if they work now?
@LD27 I’m not sure why they won’t let you have a smart electricity meter? They are prioritising flats/apartments I think with the new devices. If you want I’d push for a smart meter, these days there’s no significant penalty splitting suppliers. That said, if you are happy with the deal you have with BG then just leave it.
Regarding the distance between the 2 meters, I did think prior to the installation, the distance between the 2 meters was short enough for both to be installed. I forgot to mention the other reason given by the installer for not installing the gas meter other than the distance were the number of walls between the 2 meters. Apparently the signal was not strong enough to travel the distance and through the walls.
I can’t comment on the type of smart meter to be installed or its communication method. I do wonder if the electricity meter will also be changed to work with this new gas meter. No idea. Will find out on the day.
@Optimus Prime not sure what you mean by drilling? I was with the installer nearly all the time he was here and I don’t remember any drilling for my installation. But that could be because of my existing setup. Also what do you mean by in? They came into the flat to turn off the RCD unit. Then back in again after the installation to turn on the RCD unit and tested a socket in the hallway to ensure the electricity was flowing. At ths stage they also show me the little gizmo that shows usage, was working. As I said earlier not entirely usefuly in my situation as the meter was only updating Scottish Power once a day.
I said Scottish Power called but the previous calls had a Glasgow STD code. This call came fom an 0808 number, so may have been Scottish Power or another outfit.
Will update after the installation.
Oh I don’t know where the gizmo gets its information from. I did not connect it to my wifi. It could be getting its data from the smart electricity meter.
But then I live on the 1st floor of the block. If the flat was much higher up and therefore further away from the electricity meter, I don’t know how well it would work.
If you are not aware, the gizmo needs to be plugged into the mains. It does have a battery supply but this doesn’t last long until the battery is recharged.Just for a bit of background, many people refer to the In Home Display (IHD) aka gizmo as a Smart Meter, it’s not. The Smart Meter is the bit of kit that sits in the cupboard, outside on the wall etc. The electricity meter has a comms hub that the IHD and gas meter connect to, this also transmits data to the Data Communication Company (DCC), it is sent regularly and if the meter loses connection it stores the data until connection is reestablished. In the North it uses long range radio signals to transmit and in the south it uses 2G/3G. What the meters are generally very good at is transmitting usage, at least unless they completely lose connection. What they are not good at, because it often requires human intervention, is being accurate on costs. Unless the correct tariff is loaded into the meter by the supplier it will display inaccurate bills, the same for the IHD which is generally a dumb repeater of garbage. This is the fundamental reason ‘smart’ meters get particularly bad press. It’s also where the Apps come into their own, they often take the raw usage information and use that to display accurate usage and if you select the correct tariff, then accurate costs. Octopus are years ahead in this because they allow access to that data and much more through an API. As I write this I’m looking at my own usage through Grafana (an open source graphing system), I’m showing electricity usage and cost, solar generation and export revenue and gas usage on one chart. My total energy cost today is £1.76 so far, the other day when it was sunny it was 22p. This includes the scandalous standing charges.
@Optimus Prime not sure what you mean by drilling? I was with the installer nearly all the time he was here and I don’t remember any drilling for my installation. But that could be because of my existing setup. Also what do you mean by in? They came into the flat to turn off the RCD unit. Then back in again after the installation to turn on the RCD unit and tested a socket in the hallway to ensure the electricity was flowing. At ths stage they also show me the little gizmo that shows usage, was working. As I said earlier not entirely usefuly in my situation as the meter was only updating Scottish Power once a day.
When I asked them by email they told me that the little gizmo would be mounted on a wall in my flat. I think they got confused with the meter…
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