The Dogmother Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Had some bumf through the post yesterday from my energy supplier offering me a free 'smart meter', automatically being suspicious of anything being offered for free which is dressed up to sound too good to be true, I have done a wee bit of research; while it looks, on the face of it, as if the government is keen to roll out these meters to every house by 2020, I can't see any real benefit to the consumer in having one, nor how it can make the energy suppliers more reliable and environmentally aware. This Which? report just about sums it up to me. I am very conscious of our energy usage and am always turning off any powered item which isn't in use, nothing is left on standby and the heating thermostat is set pretty low. In fact the graphs supplied to me by Eon show that our energy consumption is down on last year. I fail to see how having a smart meter can help me in any way... am I the only one thinking this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan08 Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Our Energy bills are around £3000 per year. I am paranoid about it! But havent yet bothered with the Smart meter. With 2 OAP's and a wheelchair bound adult all in all day, creating lots and lots of washing, obviously heating. And then on the other side of the coin I have a gadget mad son and husband who have all kinds of things on and charging at once. The Smart meters will allow you to see what you are using at a glance and will allow the energy companies to bill you for your actual usage rather than do those terrible estimates where you end up with a big bill at the end of the year. I send off my readings at the end of every month anyway. We had one of those usage monitors that you clip on to the electric meter and it had a little screen so that you could see what you were using when you turned things on and off. It was interesting for about a day! I think my husband hid it so I would stop moaning If you are already energy concious then there is likely to be little benefit to you, although I expect that we will all end up with them eventually - big brother style! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 If you are already energy concious then there is likely to be little benefit to you, although I expect that we will all end up with them eventually - big brother style! I agree, while I don't want to be rail-roaded into having something which I have no use for, the government seems to expect us all to have (and indirectly pay for) one, so in that respect I see no reason not to have one. Like you I send in regular meter readings so don't have estimated bills, neither do we have any/many gadgets. I can't see how the government/energy suppliers think that we will benefit... people who are frugal with their energy used will continue to do so and those who are wasteful will just ignore their meter read-outs in the same way as they ignore their massive fuel bills. I fail to see who will benefit from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowberry Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I had one of the usage indicator things as well; I lost interest in it the minute it was asking me to input the cubic price of electricity & per watt or whatever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 Ahhh, now that's the difference... there are the energy smart meters, which the energy suppliers are wanting us to have installed, and those usage meter gadgets which are independent and you install yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillybettybabs Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 We haven't got one as we are pretty energy wise here but i would love to see houses built with solar panels as standard and there being a better scheme for people to have them installed. Someone needs to invented a way to use rain to power things after hte last few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 Grey water collection is one of my soapboxes; why are the developers still not installing them in new-builds as standard? A couple of years back we stayed in an eco-friendly holiday cottage; it had a grey water collection tank under the patio, it had a solar pump/filter and provided water to the loos, shower and most non-drinking water things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillybettybabs Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Id love to live in a house like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 Me too, the people who owned it had renovated the old cottage from scratch, it was powered by a woodchip burner fuelled by their own renewable woodland, they had solar panels and sold back to the grid. A sun lounge on the back helped to heat the house and they sold food from their own livestock amongst other things. I'd love to be able to do that; it takes an immense amount of ambition and know-how and a good header of capital I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonne Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 The man to fit our smart meter arrived yesterday, realised that out here in the stix there is a poor Vodaphone signal and left shortly afterwards leaving us untouched by modern technology. (I could have told them that if they'd asked when they phoned to talk me into having the meter a few weeks ago) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I have got an Owl meter, which is one you buy and fit independently, and although I thought I was fairly careful it made me review a few things. It sounds trivial but I hadn't realised how much energy the kitchen spotlights use, I have some in the bathroom as well and the meter went up when I turned those on. Now if I am in the kitchen but not actually cooking, I turn on the strip lights under the cabinet or the low-energy bulb in the dining area. I also find it useful before leaving the house to check that it's at the lowest level, then I know I haven't accidentally left anything on. I think it's been beneficial, my brother also has one and I'm always horrified to see how much higher his is running when I go there (he has a larger house than me!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Are those downlighters Olly? They are REALLY expensive to run When I was re-wiring downstairs my electrician was asking if I wanted them... apart from the fact that they aren't in keeping with the style of my house, I refuse on grounds of energy consumption. Glad I'm not the only one who turns everything off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Yeah, they were in the kitchen before I moved in. I have actually not bothered replacing all the bulbs as they wear out, because they use so much electricity! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 I'm not keen on the light they shed either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Does anyone have anything good to say about smart meters? I'm with Eon for energy and they are badgering me to have them. My energy consumption has risen quite a bit since OH moved in, so is probably average for a two person household now. We still don't use a huge amount of energy though. I really can't see what I would gain out of having them, if I need to use energy, then I use it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 We're with the same supplier then Claire and I have the same misgivings. The only benefit I can see is for them; I give in monthly meter readings anyhow so it stays up to date and they don't need to guess the consumption. The other school of thought is that if we're paying for them anyway we may as well have one... although I don't see how they can combine the gas and electricity meters in this house as they are about 14 feet apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 OK, we're with BG for our electric and have recently had a smart meter fitted as we were due a meter change anyway. Ours came with a monitor which I have on the side in the kitchen. It's interesting watching the "traffic light" alert system it has but we closely watch the usage anyway. If you didn't that would be an advantage. Readings are submitted automatically now to BG and that's one thing I don't like as I like to submit my own Also, I do check the meter daily just to make sure it's not had a blip and also check that the monitor is reading the same Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
