should i have a smart meter fitted?

Definitely worth waiting until they are rolling out the Mk2 system. I will certainly refuse until that is the case.
 
I have seen this before in IT websites etc. which is why I am NOT having one put in.
They can't be made to be compatible with the DCC because the protocols haven't been decided.

Not correct.

All that has not been decided is the method of adoption for SMETS1 meters (all of which use a very similar local HAN to SMETS2). Protocols were decided years ago (and implemented obviously).
 
I wonder what first utility are fitting , just had mine fitted recently ...

Take a photo of the electricity meter and I should be able to tell you - historically they were always EDMI meters, so will be SMETS2 versions now.
 
I refused my offer and told them to ring me back about one in 2 years time. So far i have had no follow up calls :)
 
They probably have to say "may" for legal reasons.


Yeah more than likely for legal reasons but as a quick read it could be quite easy to read that as a Daily Fail headline rather than it is possible that poor fitment may have caused a few fires and it is not thought that the meters are at fault.
 
Some electronic energy meters can give false readings that are up to 582% higher than actual energy consumption. This emerged from a study carried out by the University of Twente (UT), in collaboration with the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS). Professor Frank Leferink of the UT estimates that potentially inaccurate meters have been installed in the meter cabinets of at least 750,000 Dutch households. The is published in the scientific journal IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Magazine

Electronic energy meters' false readings almost six times higher than actual energy consumption
 
What happens when you change suppliers? Do they insist on another new meter, or can you carry on with the existing?
 
Depends on which make and model of meter the original supplier used and whether the new or upcoming supplier used the same one or 1 with the same protocols etc.
When I switched from British Gas to Sainsbury's Energy, the meter didn't need to be changed because Sainsbury's use BG's infrastructure. When I subsequently switched to First Utility, FU came out and changed the existing meter for a new one - totally different make with a different indoor unit to match.
 
We have one fitted . The monitor is in the kids bedroom, we use it as a nightlight.
 
The benefits are 80/20 in terms of the utility company. The protocol was a mess from the beginning. It is becoming more stable now though.

So no reason basically - a smart meter is .. a dumb meter than automatically reads itself. I can't really see what the fuss is about, though the lack of standard protocol was an stupidity, but doesn't mean the meters become useless, they just become dumb, so no loss from what we already have.

They can be useful though, I have one, and it reads the meter every 30 minutes. From that my electricity company can (apparently) figure out usage better and buy electricity more efficiently which is cheaper for them and lets the grid work more efficiently too. I wouldn't believe it but I guess in this day of "big data" they could do something useful with that kind of info.

They can also estimate what I'm using it for - I'm with OVO and they now have a set of graphs that show my usage during the day/week or month! Its impressive to see the electricity usage at 3am and think "WTF is using that". Its also good for seeing when the TV is on - the plasma TV uses a lot more than I thought... good excuse to get that OLED :)
 
So no reason basically - a smart meter is .. a dumb meter than automatically reads itself. I can't really see what the fuss is about, though the lack of standard protocol was an stupidity, but doesn't mean the meters become useless, they just become dumb, so no loss from what we already have.

They can be useful though, I have one, and it reads the meter every 30 minutes. From that my electricity company can (apparently) figure out usage better and buy electricity more efficiently which is cheaper for them and lets the grid work more efficiently too. I wouldn't believe it but I guess in this day of "big data" they could do something useful with that kind of info.

They can also estimate what I'm using it for - I'm with OVO and they now have a set of graphs that show my usage during the day/week or month! Its impressive to see the electricity usage at 3am and think "what the fudge is using that". Its also good for seeing when the TV is on - the plasma TV uses a lot more than I thought... good excuse to get that OLED :)
But all these installations or re-installations of smart meters are costing the consumer in tariff rises...
Also, like you pointed out, the utility can buy electricity cheaper, making them more money and passing none of the savings onto the end user.
That could also change your tariff and charge you more at peak times if they wanted. They can't on an old meter.
 
[QUOTE="KyleS1]
That could also change your tariff and charge you more at peak times if they wanted. They can't on an old meter.[/QUOTE]

That is my only concern regarding smart meters.
 
Does anyone know how good smart meters are with solar panels?

1st meter i had when the panels were fitted registered the power being exported as being used instead of exported (anti bypass measure i was told). Does anyone know if the same issue can happen with smart meters? I would assume that they have all sort of anti tampering measures in them now and that any exporting could confuse them.
 
I was interested last year... we were doing some renovation work that also involved moving both our electric and gas meters. The companies involved both said a new meter was needed as the existing ones were obsolete - fair enough - so I asked if they'd be smart meters: "no" was the reply from both, "we're not doing those in your area right now".

So the meters may be smart (though that's now questionable reading this), but the energy companies certainly aren't!
 

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