Smart meters yes or no?

[Tom Christopher]

Been an electrician for around 10 years and always get asked about my view on smart meters. Which every time I’m asked I say that I’m unsure on the whole matter....

Recently moved house and in the middle of renovating it. Just had a letter through about changing over to smart meters for Gas & Electric

What are people’s thoughts on them?

 

[Powellm]

A bloke at work today told me they are manipulating them and I could agree with him. Before I had one in my old house I was always at 110 quid DD when I moved to a smart meter it went to 130 quid DD. so by me being cautious and watching it constantly it cost me more.

 

[snowhead]

No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No,
No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No,
I think I may be on the fence with this.
No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No,
No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No,

 

[ruston]

No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No,
No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No,
I think I may be on the fence with this.
No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No,
No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No,

Are you sure?

 

[buzzlightyear]

A bloke at work today told me they are manipulating them and I could agree with him. Before I had one in my old house I was always at 110 quid DD when I moved to a smart meter it went to 130 quid DD. so by me being cautious and watching it constantly it cost me more.

smart for them ,but not for you .

 

[buzzlightyear]

No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No,
No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No,
I think I may be on the fence with this.
No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No,
No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No,

 

[Luke105]

Over my dead body ...

Smart meter installations suffer sharpest drop yet as 'people refuse to have them in their homes' - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/29/smart-meter-installations-suffer-sharpest-ever-drop-households/

 

[snowhead]

Are you sure?

Absolutely certain.

For all the reasons others have stated.
Plus the program is trying to run too fast.
There are too many mistakes being made by inadequately trained Meter Cowboys.

There's a post on the Plumbers forum where a gas guy went to a boiler not working the day after both meters were changed for Smart.
The installation had been left with reversed polarity by the meter installer.
DNO came out within 30 mins and pulled the main fuse, Energy company came later to correct it.

How many more have been done like that and not found yet?

 

[ruston]

@snowhead
I knew you were serious . I was just being flippant.

Ps. For once we are all agreed up to now.

 

[Andy-1960]

Big no from me too!

I think there are other motives for these;

1. Peak time billing, they will be able to introduce tariffs where you pay more at certain times.
2. The ability to turn off the customer, this is fine for genuine non payers, but I can see simple bill disputes or even the energy company making errors resulting in disconnection at the push of a button.
3. They will know what we are up to by our energy signature, even to the point that they will be able to see when we are in or out of the house - just imagine not if but when these things get hacked by criminals.

These are another thing that has not been thought through by government.. a bit like diesels (don’t get me started on diesels!!!)

 

[Baddegg]

Smart meter installations suffer sharpest drop yet as 'people refuse to have them in their homes' — The Telegraph - https://apple.news/AYbNdKAzsQ4CDGHJ5BDGMtQ

 

[littlespark]

And it's a no from me, too.
Just another thing for some pimply faced teenager to hack, in my grumpy old man opinion (IMGOMO).

Hacked along with your pc, phone, Wi-fi network...

Other comments against smart meters?
The reversed polarity one? That’s the engineers bad training, not the meter itself.
Hackers turning off your power? Get real.

The only valid argument I see against them is the lack of standards between every provider.
And I agree the adverts are misleading. If you wanted to save money, you’d be watching your meters anyway and adjusting usage.

I know it’s not a popular viewpoint, and at the moment I don’t have a smart meter cos they don’t work with PV.

 

[Squid]

Hacked along with your pc, phone, Wi-fi network...

Other comments against smart meters?
The reversed polarity one? That’s the engineers bad training, not the meter itself.
Hackers turning off your power? Get real.

The only valid argument I see against them is the lack of standards between every provider.
And I agree the adverts are misleading. If you wanted to save money, you’d be watching your meters anyway and adjusting usage.

I know it’s not a popular viewpoint, and at the moment I don’t have a smart meter cos they don’t work with PV.

GCHQ quoted on the threat of hacking and network virus impregnation across a network, don't forget the device will be linked to your network so it's another way in data theft is more profitable then burglary also look at how easy it is to steal modern cars with decent scanner.

You stick to electrikery and I will stick with IT security ;o))))

 

[PEG]

If i hear that Maxine Peake,whining on about what a crackin' idea they are,one more time....i may ask her,what she earned out of that arrangement,and does she feel like compensating the many people who are locked out of a free-and-fair choice of supplier,due to incompatibility issues...

Putting the word "smart",in front of something,immediately makes me suspicious....or my "smart-haemorrhoids" would have been more popular....

 

[Shoei]

The general experience is for smart meters to be a benefit they need smart users, and the majority of us can't be bothered. So no, they aren't worth the cost and hassle.
https://www.politico.eu/article/smart-meters-undercut-by-human-nature/

 

[Squid]

If i hear that Maxine Peake,whining on about what a crackin' idea they are,one more time....i may ask her,what she earned out of that arrangement,and does she feel like compensating the many people who are locked out of a free-and-fair choice of supplier,due to incompatibility issues...

Putting the word "smart",in front of something,immediately makes me suspicious....or my "smart-haemorrhoids" would have been more popular....

I have some "smart haemorrhoid" cream for sale......... reaches the parts that other creams can't reach and sends data to your smart phone per hour, if you annoy the wife she can hack the system to give you extra itchiness on those long drives........