Two years ago, my then Gas and Electricity supplier "Eon" asked me to install
new smart meters. They told me of the wonderful benefits to me that would
entail, and when taking a line from this NG I refused they screamed, wheedled,
had a tizzy fit and sat in a corner and sulked. Eventually when in a subtle
and toneless way they threatened me with unknown financial consequence I
succumbed.
Ten days later they fitted the meters, gas and electric, and as the fitter
left promised me that nirvana had arrived for me and the future was
fantastic.

Five days later a man arrived to read the meters. "What do you need to do
that for" said I "they are smart meters aren't they" "Yes they are" said he,
"and they need to be read". Using the tone of voice that said non-technical
elderly idiots like me, should sit in the corner and drool and let the world
get on with it.

On two occasions I was requested to send photographs of the meters to sort out
"anomolies" that had unfortunately arisen with these wonderful, state of the
art meters.

Last October I changed suppliers to "PurePlanet" who last month requested two
meter readings, to sort out "anomolies" I assumed. I sent them and made a
mistake, which they asked me to correct using photographs of the meter
readings. Why can't you get them direct I asked in all innocence, because
they're not working they replied. Also they said, your gas meter is not a
smart meter, and we can't get readings from it or the electric meter.

Now I'm 83 years of age, and grovelling around on my knees to take photographs
of so-called smart meters set two feet off the floor, is not top of my
priorities. But, girding my loins I got to my knees on two occasions and took
two photographs of each of my wonderful, state of the art, smart meters. One
of the electronic output display and a full view of the whole meter for
identification purposes. I sent them off and told my supplier that would be
the last time I did this for them. Any future "anomalies" they could sort out
by sending a meter reader around to read these wonderful state of the art,
etc, etc f---ing smart meters.

And so the matter now rests. The moral of the story children is this, that
when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter, kick him in
the balls and run away and tell a policeman.

Peter
--
A Conservative Government is an organised hypocrisy.
Benjamin Disraeli 1804 - 1881

On Thu, 04 Feb 2021 08:24:52 +0000, Peter James wrote:

Two years ago, my then Gas and Electricity supplier "Eon" asked me to
install new smart meters. They told me of the wonderful benefits to me
that would entail, and when taking a line from this NG I refused they
screamed, wheedled,
had a tizzy fit and sat in a corner and sulked. Eventually when in a
subtle and toneless way they threatened me with unknown financial
consequence I succumbed.
Ten days later they fitted the meters, gas and electric, and as the
fitter left promised me that nirvana had arrived for me and the future
was fantastic.

Five days later a man arrived to read the meters. "What do you need to
do that for" said I "they are smart meters aren't they" "Yes they are"
said he, "and they need to be read". Using the tone of voice that said
non-technical elderly idiots like me, should sit in the corner and drool
and let the world get on with it.

On two occasions I was requested to send photographs of the meters to
sort out "anomolies" that had unfortunately arisen with these wonderful,
state of the art meters.

Last October I changed suppliers to "PurePlanet" who last month
requested two meter readings, to sort out "anomolies" I assumed. I sent
them and made a mistake, which they asked me to correct using
photographs of the meter readings. Why can't you get them direct I
asked in all innocence, because they're not working they replied. Also
they said, your gas meter is not a smart meter, and we can't get
readings from it or the electric meter.

Now I'm 83 years of age, and grovelling around on my knees to take
photographs of so-called smart meters set two feet off the floor, is not
top of my priorities. But, girding my loins I got to my knees on two
occasions and took two photographs of each of my wonderful, state of the
art, smart meters. One of the electronic output display and a full view
of the whole meter for identification purposes. I sent them off and
told my supplier that would be the last time I did this for them. Any
future "anomalies" they could sort out by sending a meter reader around
to read these wonderful state of the art, etc, etc f---ing smart
meters.

And so the matter now rests. The moral of the story children is this,
that when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter,
kick him in the balls and run away and tell a policeman.

Peter

Thanks Peter, I have been aware of the shortcomings of smart meters for
some time. As a consequence I will not have one fitted. I take readings
every week and enter those into a spreadsheet and send monthly totals to
my Electricity supplier. No gas here so quite straight forward.

On 04/02/2021 08:24, Peter James wrote:
Two years ago, my then Gas and Electricity supplier "Eon" asked me to install
new smart meters. They told me of the wonderful benefits to me that would
entail, and when taking a line from this NG I refused they screamed, wheedled,
had a tizzy fit and sat in a corner and sulked. Eventually when in a subtle
and toneless way they threatened me with unknown financial consequence I
succumbed.
Ten days later they fitted the meters, gas and electric, and as the fitter
left promised me that nirvana had arrived for me and the future was
fantastic.

Five days later a man arrived to read the meters. "What do you need to do
that for" said I "they are smart meters aren't they" "Yes they are" said he,
"and they need to be read". Using the tone of voice that said non-technical
elderly idiots like me, should sit in the corner and drool and let the world
get on with it.

On two occasions I was requested to send photographs of the meters to sort out
"anomolies" that had unfortunately arisen with these wonderful, state of the
art meters.

Last October I changed suppliers to "PurePlanet" who last month requested two
meter readings, to sort out "anomolies" I assumed. I sent them and made a
mistake, which they asked me to correct using photographs of the meter
readings. Why can't you get them direct I asked in all innocence, because
they're not working they replied. Also they said, your gas meter is not a
smart meter, and we can't get readings from it or the electric meter.

Now I'm 83 years of age, and grovelling around on my knees to take photographs
of so-called smart meters set two feet off the floor, is not top of my
priorities. But, girding my loins I got to my knees on two occasions and took
two photographs of each of my wonderful, state of the art, smart meters. One
of the electronic output display and a full view of the whole meter for
identification purposes. I sent them off and told my supplier that would be
the last time I did this for them. Any future "anomalies" they could sort out
by sending a meter reader around to read these wonderful state of the art,
etc, etc f---ing smart meters.

And so the matter now rests. The moral of the story children is this, that
when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter, kick him in
the balls and run away and tell a policeman.

Peter

A fine example of Weltschmerz ...

"Peter James" wrote in message
...
Two years ago, my then Gas and Electricity supplier "Eon" asked me to
install
new smart meters. They told me of the wonderful benefits to me that would
entail, and when taking a line from this NG I refused they screamed,
wheedled,
had a tizzy fit and sat in a corner and sulked. Eventually when in a
subtle
and toneless way they threatened me with unknown financial consequence I
succumbed.
Ten days later they fitted the meters, gas and electric,

you were "lucky"

when I responded positively to the possibility of a smart meter (that they
urgently wanted to fit), I was told the next available appointment was in 3
months time.

So I took that, and then the buggers didn't turn up

and I had to ask for my 25 pound compensation, like they were doing me a
favour

On Thursday, February 4, 2021 at 8:24:57 AM UTC, Peter James wrote:
Two years ago, my then Gas and Electricity supplier "Eon" asked me to install
new smart meters. They told me of the wonderful benefits to me that would
entail, and when taking a line from this NG I refused they screamed, wheedled,
had a tizzy fit and sat in a corner and sulked. Eventually when in a subtle
and toneless way they threatened me with unknown financial consequence I
succumbed.
Ten days later they fitted the meters, gas and electric, and as the fitter
left promised me that nirvana had arrived for me and the future was
fantastic.

Five days later a man arrived to read the meters. "What do you need to do
that for" said I "they are smart meters aren't they" "Yes they are" said he,
"and they need to be read". Using the tone of voice that said non-technical
elderly idiots like me, should sit in the corner and drool and let the world
get on with it.

On two occasions I was requested to send photographs of the meters to sort out
"anomolies" that had unfortunately arisen with these wonderful, state of the
art meters.

Last October I changed suppliers to "PurePlanet" who last month requested two
meter readings, to sort out "anomolies" I assumed. I sent them and made a
mistake, which they asked me to correct using photographs of the meter
readings. Why can't you get them direct I asked in all innocence, because
they're not working they replied. Also they said, your gas meter is not a
smart meter, and we can't get readings from it or the electric meter.

Now I'm 83 years of age, and grovelling around on my knees to take photographs
of so-called smart meters set two feet off the floor, is not top of my
priorities. But, girding my loins I got to my knees on two occasions and took
two photographs of each of my wonderful, state of the art, smart meters. One
of the electronic output display and a full view of the whole meter for
identification purposes. I sent them off and told my supplier that would be
the last time I did this for them. Any future "anomalies" they could sort out
by sending a meter reader around to read these wonderful state of the art,
etc, etc f---ing smart meters.

And so the matter now rests. The moral of the story children is this, that
when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter, kick him in
the balls and run away and tell a policeman.


We used to get pestered with offers from EDF to fit a smart meter, which we just ignored. We changed to a new supplier (Octopus) and the subject has never arisen.

On 04/02/2021 08:32, jon wrote:
On Thu, 04 Feb 2021 08:24:52 +0000, Peter James wrote:

Two years ago, my then Gas and Electricity supplier "Eon" asked me to
install new smart meters. They told me of the wonderful benefits to me
that would entail, and when taking a line from this NG I refused they
screamed, wheedled,
had a tizzy fit and sat in a corner and sulked. Eventually when in a
subtle and toneless way they threatened me with unknown financial
consequence I succumbed.
Ten days later they fitted the meters, gas and electric, and as the
fitter left promised me that nirvana had arrived for me and the future
was fantastic.

Five days later a man arrived to read the meters. "What do you need to
do that for" said I "they are smart meters aren't they" "Yes they are"
said he, "and they need to be read". Using the tone of voice that said
non-technical elderly idiots like me, should sit in the corner and drool
and let the world get on with it.

On two occasions I was requested to send photographs of the meters to
sort out "anomolies" that had unfortunately arisen with these wonderful,
state of the art meters.

Last October I changed suppliers to "PurePlanet" who last month
requested two meter readings, to sort out "anomolies" I assumed. I sent
them and made a mistake, which they asked me to correct using
photographs of the meter readings. Why can't you get them direct I
asked in all innocence, because they're not working they replied. Also
they said, your gas meter is not a smart meter, and we can't get
readings from it or the electric meter.

Now I'm 83 years of age, and grovelling around on my knees to take
photographs of so-called smart meters set two feet off the floor, is not
top of my priorities. But, girding my loins I got to my knees on two
occasions and took two photographs of each of my wonderful, state of the
art, smart meters. One of the electronic output display and a full view
of the whole meter for identification purposes. I sent them off and
told my supplier that would be the last time I did this for them. Any
future "anomalies" they could sort out by sending a meter reader around
to read these wonderful state of the art, etc, etc f---ing smart
meters.

And so the matter now rests. The moral of the story children is this,
that when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter,
kick him in the balls and run away and tell a policeman.

Peter

Thanks Peter, I have been aware of the shortcomings of smart meters for
some time. As a consequence I will not have one fitted. I take readings
every week and enter those into a spreadsheet and send monthly totals to
my Electricity supplier. No gas here so quite straight forward.

never had any trouble at all with my gas and lecy smart meters......had
them a few years with British Gas...gas outside and lecy inside nobody
has ever read them since they were installed ........bills have never
went up and I got a £50 Amazon bribe to get them fitted which paid for
half a henry hoover

On 04/02/2021 08:24, Peter James wrote:
And so the matter now rests. The moral of the story children is this, that
when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter, kick him in
the balls and run away and tell a policeman.

They have given up asking me.



--
Labour - a bunch of rich people convincing poor people to vote for rich
people by telling poor people that "other" rich people are the reason
they are poor.

Peter Thompson

Yes this whole thing has been a fiasco. First they fitted meters where the
software could not be modified for the different companies. Second meter, it
has security issues so we cannot use it in smart mode. Third and 'final'
meter, works, but still issues with readings due to lack of signal, and the
audio hand units are very thin on the ground Indeed when somebody I know was
wondering why his gas meter bit was not able to be read, it turned out it
ran on a D cell hidden near the meter, and nobody had put a D cell in the
damned thing.
I am remembering a series on the TV called cowboys, which revolved around a
bunch of builders who through inept work and misunderstandings cocked up
every job they ever attempted.
Brian

--

This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Peter James" wrote in message
...
Two years ago, my then Gas and Electricity supplier "Eon" asked me to
install
new smart meters. They told me of the wonderful benefits to me that would
entail, and when taking a line from this NG I refused they screamed,
wheedled,
had a tizzy fit and sat in a corner and sulked. Eventually when in a
subtle
and toneless way they threatened me with unknown financial consequence I
succumbed.
Ten days later they fitted the meters, gas and electric, and as the fitter
left promised me that nirvana had arrived for me and the future was
fantastic.

Five days later a man arrived to read the meters. "What do you need to do
that for" said I "they are smart meters aren't they" "Yes they are" said
he,
"and they need to be read". Using the tone of voice that said
non-technical
elderly idiots like me, should sit in the corner and drool and let the
world
get on with it.

On two occasions I was requested to send photographs of the meters to sort
out
"anomolies" that had unfortunately arisen with these wonderful, state of
the
art meters.

Last October I changed suppliers to "PurePlanet" who last month requested
two
meter readings, to sort out "anomolies" I assumed. I sent them and made a
mistake, which they asked me to correct using photographs of the meter
readings. Why can't you get them direct I asked in all innocence, because
they're not working they replied. Also they said, your gas meter is not a
smart meter, and we can't get readings from it or the electric meter.

Now I'm 83 years of age, and grovelling around on my knees to take
photographs
of so-called smart meters set two feet off the floor, is not top of my
priorities. But, girding my loins I got to my knees on two occasions and
took
two photographs of each of my wonderful, state of the art, smart meters.
One
of the electronic output display and a full view of the whole meter for
identification purposes. I sent them off and told my supplier that would
be
the last time I did this for them. Any future "anomalies" they could sort
out
by sending a meter reader around to read these wonderful state of the
art,
etc, etc f---ing smart meters.

And so the matter now rests. The moral of the story children is this,
that
when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter, kick him
in
the balls and run away and tell a policeman.

Peter
--
A Conservative Government is an organised hypocrisy.
Benjamin Disraeli 1804 - 1881

It is not for the blind of course, but as yet no meters have come. I only
have electricity too. The message in my last post to this thread was mostly
gleaned from others who did manage to get smart meters installed. Apparently
in a couple of years the existing main and economy 7 meters will be at end
of life and will need refurbishing, and I suspect that will be when I will
get offered the great smart meter with talking had controller that eats
batteries.
Brian

--

This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"jon" wrote in message ...
On Thu, 04 Feb 2021 08:24:52 +0000, Peter James wrote:

Two years ago, my then Gas and Electricity supplier "Eon" asked me to
install new smart meters. They told me of the wonderful benefits to me
that would entail, and when taking a line from this NG I refused they
screamed, wheedled,
had a tizzy fit and sat in a corner and sulked. Eventually when in a
subtle and toneless way they threatened me with unknown financial
consequence I succumbed.
Ten days later they fitted the meters, gas and electric, and as the
fitter left promised me that nirvana had arrived for me and the future
was fantastic.

Five days later a man arrived to read the meters. "What do you need to
do that for" said I "they are smart meters aren't they" "Yes they are"
said he, "and they need to be read". Using the tone of voice that said
non-technical elderly idiots like me, should sit in the corner and drool
and let the world get on with it.

On two occasions I was requested to send photographs of the meters to
sort out "anomolies" that had unfortunately arisen with these wonderful,
state of the art meters.

Last October I changed suppliers to "PurePlanet" who last month
requested two meter readings, to sort out "anomolies" I assumed. I sent
them and made a mistake, which they asked me to correct using
photographs of the meter readings. Why can't you get them direct I
asked in all innocence, because they're not working they replied. Also
they said, your gas meter is not a smart meter, and we can't get
readings from it or the electric meter.

Now I'm 83 years of age, and grovelling around on my knees to take
photographs of so-called smart meters set two feet off the floor, is not
top of my priorities. But, girding my loins I got to my knees on two
occasions and took two photographs of each of my wonderful, state of the
art, smart meters. One of the electronic output display and a full view
of the whole meter for identification purposes. I sent them off and
told my supplier that would be the last time I did this for them. Any
future "anomalies" they could sort out by sending a meter reader around
to read these wonderful state of the art, etc, etc f---ing smart
meters.

And so the matter now rests. The moral of the story children is this,
that when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter,
kick him in the balls and run away and tell a policeman.

Peter

Thanks Peter, I have been aware of the shortcomings of smart meters for
some time. As a consequence I will not have one fitted. I take readings
every week and enter those into a spreadsheet and send monthly totals to
my Electricity supplier. No gas here so quite straight forward.

"Brian Gaff \(Sofa\)" wrote:
It is not for the blind of course, but as yet no meters have come. I only
have electricity too. The message in my last post to this thread was mostly
gleaned from others who did manage to get smart meters installed. Apparently
in a couple of years the existing main and economy 7 meters will be at end
of life and will need refurbishing, and I suspect that will be when I will
get offered the great smart meter with talking had controller that eats
batteries.

We have economy 7 with a meter that has supposedly reached end of
life. We've had a few tries by our suppliers to change the meter but
they've been pretty half-hearted. I suspect that as we're electricity
only and mobile coverage is pretty bad here they're not desperate to
do it anyway.

--
Chris Green
·

On 04/02/2021 08:24, Peter James wrote:
And so the matter now rests. The moral of the story children is this, that
when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter, kick him in
the balls and run away and tell a policeman.


Yes.

When we had ours replaced a few years ago it involved 'the gas board'
coming out 3 times to fix leaks caused. And one callout from a plumber
that I paid because I needed it doing right then and there.
I've ended up with completely new pipework inside and out but that's not
really the point.

And when we changed supplier more recently the meters went into some
sort of error mode and couldn't be read. Much time wasted by email and
phone over a number of months to get that sorted.

So personally i've lost interest in being a money saving expert.

On 04/02/2021 09:56, R D S wrote:
On 04/02/2021 08:24, Peter James wrote:
And so the matter now rests.Â* The moral of the story children is this,
that
when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter, kick
him in
the balls and run away and tell a policeman.


Yes.

When we had ours replaced a few years ago it involved 'the gas board'
coming out 3 times to fix leaks caused. And one callout from a plumber
that I paid because I needed it doing right then and there.
I've ended up with completely new pipework inside and out but that's not
really the point.

And when we changed supplier more recently the meters went into some
sort of error mode and couldn't be read. Much time wasted by email and
phone over a number of months to get that sorted.

So personally i've lost interest in being a money saving expert.

why on earth anyone thought that power companies would want to spend
money to allow their customers to save money, is beyond me.


--
Future generations will wonder in bemused amazement that the early
twenty-first centurys developed world went into hysterical panic over a
globally average temperature increase of a few tenths of a degree, and,
on the basis of gross exaggerations of highly uncertain computer
projections combined into implausible chains of inference, proceeded to
contemplate a rollback of the industrial age.

Richard Lindzen

On Thu, 04 Feb 2021 09:20:41 +0000, Brian Gaff \(Sofa\) wrote:

Yes this whole thing has been a fiasco. First they fitted meters where
the software could not be modified for the different companies. Second
meter, it has security issues so we cannot use it in smart mode. Third
and 'final' meter, works, but still issues with readings due to lack of
signal, and the audio hand units are very thin on the ground Indeed when
somebody I know was wondering why his gas meter bit was not able to be
read, it turned out it ran on a D cell hidden near the meter, and nobody
had put a D cell in the damned thing.
I am remembering a series on the TV called cowboys, which revolved
around a
bunch of builders who through inept work and misunderstandings cocked up
every job they ever attempted.
Brian

Building designers do that as well, especially to increase
profits....hence the 'cladding' fiasco.

On 04/02/2021 08:40, Halmyre wrote:
On Thursday, February 4, 2021 at 8:24:57 AM UTC, Peter James wrote:

And so the matter now rests. The moral of the story children is this, that
when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter, kick him in
the balls and run away and tell a policeman.


We used to get pestered with offers from EDF to fit a smart meter, which we just ignored. We changed to a new supplier (Octopus) and the subject has never arisen.

I have Octopus and note that is says on the top of my e-mails "register
for a smart meter", but as you say no real pressure.


However as there are government targets for installing these things so
you may find that by not having one you pay more for your energy.....

Dave

On Thu, 04 Feb 2021 10:12:52 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 04/02/2021 09:56, R D S wrote:
On 04/02/2021 08:24, Peter James wrote:
And so the matter now rests.Â* The moral of the story children is this,
that when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter,
kick him in the balls and run away and tell a policeman.


Yes.

When we had ours replaced a few years ago it involved 'the gas board'
coming out 3 times to fix leaks caused. And one callout from a plumber
that I paid because I needed it doing right then and there.
I've ended up with completely new pipework inside and out but that's
not really the point.

And when we changed supplier more recently the meters went into some
sort of error mode and couldn't be read. Much time wasted by email and
phone over a number of months to get that sorted.

So personally i've lost interest in being a money saving expert.

why on earth anyone thought that power companies would want to spend
money to allow their customers to save money, is beyond me.

The attraction for power companies to invest in smart meters is to be able
to manipulate the tariff/time allocation to suit their profit targets.

Peter James wrote:
Two years ago, my then Gas and Electricity supplier "Eon" asked me to install
new smart meters. They told me of the wonderful benefits to me that would
entail, and when taking a line from this NG I refused they screamed, wheedled,
had a tizzy fit and sat in a corner and sulked. Eventually when in a subtle
and toneless way they threatened me with unknown financial consequence I
succumbed.
Ten days later they fitted the meters, gas and electric, and as the fitter
left promised me that nirvana had arrived for me and the future was
fantastic.

Five days later a man arrived to read the meters. "What do you need to do
that for" said I "they are smart meters aren't they" "Yes they are" said he,
"and they need to be read". Using the tone of voice that said non-technical
elderly idiots like me, should sit in the corner and drool and let the world
get on with it.

On two occasions I was requested to send photographs of the meters to sort out
"anomolies" that had unfortunately arisen with these wonderful, state of the
art meters.

Last October I changed suppliers to "PurePlanet" who last month requested two
meter readings, to sort out "anomolies" I assumed. I sent them and made a
mistake, which they asked me to correct using photographs of the meter
readings. Why can't you get them direct I asked in all innocence, because
they're not working they replied. Also they said, your gas meter is not a
smart meter, and we can't get readings from it or the electric meter.

Now I'm 83 years of age, and grovelling around on my knees to take photographs
of so-called smart meters set two feet off the floor, is not top of my
priorities. But, girding my loins I got to my knees on two occasions and took
two photographs of each of my wonderful, state of the art, smart meters. One
of the electronic output display and a full view of the whole meter for
identification purposes. I sent them off and told my supplier that would be
the last time I did this for them. Any future "anomalies" they could sort out
by sending a meter reader around to read these wonderful state of the art,
etc, etc f---ing smart meters.

And so the matter now rests. The moral of the story children is this, that
when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter, kick him in
the balls and run away and tell a policeman.

Peter

https://www.gsma.com/publicpolicy/wp...eters_2015.pdf

"Smart meters are fitted with an internal antenna which
can be replaced by an external antenna fitted to the
outside of the cabinet or further away to improve reception and transmission.

The individual transceivers typically operate in the 902€“928 MHz and
2.4-2.48 GHz bands, utilising both frequency-hopping and spread spectrum
techniques which are controlled by a wireless mesh network overlay.

Some meters use cellular data modems at 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz or 2.1 GHz,
the same technology used in mobile phones. The meter reading data is
carried over the existing mobile networks in the same way as a call
or text is sent."

The antenna for your meter should be fitted some place where the
RF can make contact with other meters.

A typical time ours don't work.

- Farmhouse
Large property, too far to neighbours.
Takes meter-reader two years to show up :-)

Paul


Paul

Peter James pretended :
Now I'm 83 years of age, and grovelling around on my knees to take
photographs
of so-called smart meters set two feet off the floor, is not top of my
priorities.

When asked to provide a photo (never yet for my meters), I decide
whether I have or have not got a camera to provide a photo, dependent
on how helpful I happen to feel to the photo requirer.

No one should expect you to have a digital camera, or a printer, or
even access to a computer.

Jimmy Stewart ... wrote :
never had any trouble at all with my gas and lecy smart meters......had them
a few years with British Gas...gas outside and lecy inside nobody has ever
read them since they were installed ........bills have never went up and I
got a £50 Amazon bribe to get them fitted which paid for half a henry hoover

and no problems with mine either, apart from I keep swapping suppliers
and the meters just don't work for the remote reading for new
suppliers.

Usually they have managed to swap them to compatible ones, after many
months of waiting, often just in time for me to move to a new supplier,
when they stop working again.

I have been with my present supplier with none compatible Smart Meters
now for 15 months, they are remarkably slow off the mark to fit new
meters, or perhaps they have heard I tend to move suppliers, soon after
they fit new meters?

On 04/02/2021 08:45, Jimmy Stewart ... wrote:


never had any trouble at all with my gas and lecy smart meters......had
them a few years with British Gas...gas outside and lecy inside nobody
has ever read them since they were installed ........bills have never
went up and I got a £50 Amazon bribe to get them fitted which paid for
half a henry hoover

My experience with BG is they don't bother to get anyone to read the
(non-smart) meter for 18 to 24 months and then when the meter reader
calls and you're out they send a threatening letter (with red print)
saying that they will get a court order allowing the meter reader to
kick your door down to gain access if you don't make the appropriate
appointment.

So, even with a smart meter - you haven't had it long enough for the
meter reader to call



--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 04/02/2021 08:40, Halmyre wrote:


We used to get pestered with offers from EDF to fit a smart meter, which we just ignored. We changed to a new supplier (Octopus) and the subject has never arisen.


Possibly because to offer the service of replacement meter is not
without cost.

Some of the smaller suppliers have been reluctant to sign up to the
meter exchange program and even after threatened sanctions by the
regulator have still delayed signing on the dotted line.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ne...new-customers/

I'm with Avro and have just renewed to another fixed price contract but
note that they are no longer being offered on sites such as the cheap
energy club @ money saving expert. Also note their customer service
response time is not too good at present although pre covid lockdowns it
was good.




--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 04/02/2021 10:12, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

why on earth anyone thought that power companies would want to spend
money to allow theirÂ* customers to save money, is beyond me.

Isn't the "official" figure for the energy saving now around £12 per
annum for each household?


--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Jethro_uk wrote:

The only advantage smart meter give is to a supplier who wants to cut you
off remotely.

There is no other advantage to anyone else whatsoever.

Nope. They enable variable tariffs (as in, varying every 30 minutes) that
cant be implemented any other way.

These can be an advantage to some users.

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

On 04/02/2021 11:14, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Jimmy Stewart ... wrote :
never had any trouble at all with my gas and lecy smart
meters......had them a few years with British Gas...gas outside and
lecy inside nobody has ever read them since they were installed
........bills have never went up and I got a £50 Amazon bribe to get
them fitted which paid for half a henry hoover

and no problems with mine either, apart from I keep swapping suppliers
and the meters just don't work for the remote reading for new suppliers.

Usually they have managed to swap them to compatible ones, after many
months of waiting, often just in time for me to move to a new supplier,
when they stop working again.

I have been with my present supplier with none compatible Smart Meters
now for 15 months, they are remarkably slow off the mark to fit new
meters, or perhaps they have heard I tend to move suppliers, soon after
they fit new meters?
this swapping is just a waste of time in my opinion with problems like
that ...your just giving crappy jobs to salesmen ...I have stuck with
British Gas for gas and lecy for decades and avoided all the
hassle.....and I hate the chuggerers that accost you in the street and
ask who you have your gas and lecy with....I just tell them it is none
of their effin business.....

On Thu, 04 Feb 2021 11:45:16 +0000, alan_m wrote:

On 04/02/2021 08:40, Halmyre wrote:


We used to get pestered with offers from EDF to fit a smart meter,
which we just ignored. We changed to a new supplier (Octopus) and the
subject has never arisen.


Possibly because to offer the service of replacement meter is not
without cost.

Some of the smaller suppliers have been reluctant to sign up to the
meter exchange program and even after threatened sanctions by the
regulator have still delayed signing on the dotted line.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ne...-stops-taking-
on-new-customers/

I'm with Avro and have just renewed to another fixed price contract but
note that they are no longer being offered on sites such as the cheap
energy club @ money saving expert. Also note their customer service
response time is not too good at present although pre covid lockdowns it
was good.

Strange. I was offered Avro by moneysavingexpert about an hour ago!



--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 04/02/2021 08:24, Peter James wrote:

snip


Sounds like a total cock-up by EON. Your supplier may not be able to
get readings from the smart meters. But you should be able to see the
readings on the "in home display" they should have left with you.

So next time they ask you for readings you could tell them:

a. you are too old to read the meters;

b. you want them either (i) to get your in home display so you can get
the readings there or (ii) to treat you as having "dumb" meters and send
a meter reader from time to time.


--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

On 04/02/2021 13:23, Robin wrote:
On 04/02/2021 08:24, Peter James wrote:

snip


Sounds like a total cock-up by EON.Â* Your supplier may not be able to
get readings from the smart meters.Â* But you should be able to see the
readings on the "in home display" they should have left with you.

So next time they ask you for readings you could tell them:

a.Â*Â*Â* you are too old to read the meters;

b.Â*Â*Â* you want them either (i) to get your in home display so you can
get the readings there or (ii) to treat you as having "dumb" meters and
send a meter reader from time to time.


Sorry, should be " get your in home display /working/ so you...

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

Jimmy Stewart ... wrote:

this swapping is just a waste of time in my opinion with problems like
that ...your just giving crappy jobs to salesmen ...I have stuck with
British Gas for gas and lecy for decades and avoided all the
hassle....

Your choice to spend your money as you see fit, but not one I
would make.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK
@ChrisJDixon1

Plant amazing Acers.

On 04/02/2021 09:51, Chris Green wrote:
"Brian Gaff \(Sofa\)" wrote:
It is not for the blind of course, but as yet no meters have come. I only
have electricity too. The message in my last post to this thread was mostly
gleaned from others who did manage to get smart meters installed. Apparently
in a couple of years the existing main and economy 7 meters will be at end
of life and will need refurbishing, and I suspect that will be when I will
get offered the great smart meter with talking had controller that eats
batteries.

We have economy 7 with a meter that has supposedly reached end of
life. We've had a few tries by our suppliers to change the meter but
they've been pretty half-hearted. I suspect that as we're electricity
only and mobile coverage is pretty bad here they're not desperate to
do it anyway.

With less and less 'spare' leccy at night as coal powerstations
get the chop, people on economy7 might be cutting into their
margins, assuming that there is a profit margin on an E7
tarriff these days.

On 04/02/2021 10:35, David Wade wrote:
On 04/02/2021 08:40, Halmyre wrote:
On Thursday, February 4, 2021 at 8:24:57 AM UTC, Peter James wrote:

And so the matter now rests. The moral of the story children is this,
that
when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter, kick
him in
the balls and run away and tell a policeman.


We used to get pestered with offers from EDF to fit a smart meter,
which we just ignored. We changed to a new supplier (Octopus) and the
subject has never arisen.

I have Octopus and note that is says on the top of my e-mails "register
for a smart meter", but as you say no real pressure.


However as there are government targets for installing these things so
you may find that by not having one you pay more for your energy.....

Dave

They are certainly loading more increases onto the daily standing
charges, which over 2 or 3 decades will cost the consumer a lot more
than the cost of a 'free' smart meter.

On 04/02/2021 10:34, jon wrote:
On Thu, 04 Feb 2021 09:20:41 +0000, Brian Gaff \(Sofa\) wrote:

Yes this whole thing has been a fiasco. First they fitted meters where
the software could not be modified for the different companies. Second
meter, it has security issues so we cannot use it in smart mode. Third
and 'final' meter, works, but still issues with readings due to lack of
signal, and the audio hand units are very thin on the ground Indeed when
somebody I know was wondering why his gas meter bit was not able to be
read, it turned out it ran on a D cell hidden near the meter, and nobody
had put a D cell in the damned thing.
I am remembering a series on the TV called cowboys, which revolved
around a
bunch of builders who through inept work and misunderstandings cocked up
every job they ever attempted.
Brian

Building designers do that as well, especially to increase
profits....hence the 'cladding' fiasco.


even if the design is correct, you then have the problem of
sloppy workmanship, sometimes motivated by the need to cut
costs and time, sometimes just down to lack of training and/or
oversight.

A block of newish flats built near Sutton turned into a fireball
so fast, the occupants only just got out, and only then because
a resident put his own life at risk by banging on flat doors.
The national-builder hadn't bothered with firestops above and
around windows in the cavity. The building was timber-framed so
that was a deadly oversight.

Tim+ wrote:

Jethro_uk wrote:

The only advantage smart meter give is to a supplier who wants to cut you
off remotely.
There is no other advantage to anyone else whatsoever.

Nope. They enable variable tariffs (as in, varying every 30 minutes) that
cant be implemented any other way.
These can be an advantage to some users.

For now.

The octopus agile tariff increasingly frequently hits the punitive
35p/unit at peak times, and their average 24h price often exceeds my
all-day rate ... I expect the advantage will continue to be eroded.

On 04/02/2021 10:41, jon wrote:
On Thu, 04 Feb 2021 10:12:52 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 04/02/2021 09:56, R D S wrote:
On 04/02/2021 08:24, Peter James wrote:
And so the matter now rests.Â* The moral of the story children is this,
that when the nice man asks you if you would like a nice smart meter,
kick him in the balls and run away and tell a policeman.


Yes.

When we had ours replaced a few years ago it involved 'the gas board'
coming out 3 times to fix leaks caused. And one callout from a plumber
that I paid because I needed it doing right then and there.
I've ended up with completely new pipework inside and out but that's
not really the point.

And when we changed supplier more recently the meters went into some
sort of error mode and couldn't be read. Much time wasted by email and
phone over a number of months to get that sorted.

So personally i've lost interest in being a money saving expert.

why on earth anyone thought that power companies would want to spend
money to allow their customers to save money, is beyond me.

The attraction for power companies to invest in smart meters is to be able
to manipulate the tariff/time allocation to suit their profit targets.


Well the OctopusAgile tarriff gives the houseowner the chance
to manipulate his/her own price/KwH based on data supplied in
advance. Swings and roundabouts.

On 04/02/2021 13:55, Andy Burns wrote:
Tim+ wrote:

Jethro_uk wrote:

The only advantage smart meter give is to a supplier who wants to cut
you
off remotely.
There is no other advantage to anyone else whatsoever.

Nope. They enable variable tariffs (as in, varying every 30 minutes) that
cant be implemented any other way.
These can be an advantage to some users.

For now.

The octopus agile tariff increasingly frequently hits the punitive
35p/unit at peak times, and their average 24h price often exceeds my
all-day rate ... I expect the advantage will continue to be eroded.

Some people can avoid most of the 39p/unit periods. I used to
leave the house at 06:45 and not get back until 19:30 so that
sort of tarriff would have suited me.

On 04/02/2021 11:07, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Peter James pretended :
Now I'm 83 years of age, and grovelling around on my knees to take
photographs
of so-called smart meters set two feet off the floor, is not top of my
priorities.

When asked to provide a photo (never yet for my meters), I decide
whether I have or have not got a camera to provide a photo, dependent on
how helpful I happen to feel to the photo requirer.

No one should expect you to have a digital camera, or a printer, or even
access to a computer.

I thought 'everyone' had a smart phone these days, which is all
you need. No computer access needed.
(I don't have a mobile phone, but I have suitable digital cameras).

On 04/02/2021 14:13, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Thu, 04 Feb 2021 13:55:42 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

Tim+ wrote:

Jethro_uk wrote:

The only advantage smart meter give is to a supplier who wants to cut
you off remotely.
There is no other advantage to anyone else whatsoever.

Nope. They enable variable tariffs (as in, varying every 30 minutes)
that cant be implemented any other way.
These can be an advantage to some users.

For now.

The octopus agile tariff increasingly frequently hits the punitive
35p/unit at peak times, and their average 24h price often exceeds my
all-day rate ... I expect the advantage will continue to be eroded.

As soon as the little man can leverage this to their advantage, it'll be
disappeared.

Many years ago I was chatting to someone from the Dot about LPG
conversion for cars - which could save a lot of money if you could spare
the tank. He said that obviously the moment enough drivers switched, the
duty would rocket (and he was surprised if anyone thought otherwise).

Luckily, for various reasons, LPG cars never became a thing. But they
were certainly plugged with grants for conversions.


You cannot take a vehicle with retro-fitted LPG through the
Channel Tunnel.

On 04/02/2021 14:13, Jethro_uk wrote:
As soon as the little man can leverage this to their advantage, it'll be
disappeared.

Many years ago I was chatting to someone from the Dot about LPG
conversion for cars - which could save a lot of money if you could spare
the tank. He said that obviously the moment enough drivers switched, the
duty would rocket (and he was surprised if anyone thought otherwise).

Luckily, for various reasons, LPG cars never became a thing. But they
were certainly plugged with grants for conversions.

I attended an alternative energy conference for corporate investors. A
German banker chatted to me over lunch

"Tell me, is any of this viable without government subsidy"

I thought for a minute checking off each 'new technology' in my head.

"No".

"Ach! then back to London I am gone. I haf been here before. They make
subsidy to get us to invest then when we make profit they tell us is
too much, and they take the subsidy away and we lose all our money"


--
Renewable energy: Expensive solutions that don't work to a problem that
doesn't exist instituted by self legalising protection rackets that
don't protect, masquerading as public servants who don't serve the public.

On 04/02/2021 12:31, Bob Eager wrote:
On Thu, 04 Feb 2021 11:45:16 +0000, alan_m wrote:



Strange. I was offered Avro by moneysavingexpert about an hour ago!



Hmm

I checked 5 weeks ago and recently as 2 weeks ago and Avro were not
offered.

I've just been in and even setting the filters to show only my current
supplier (with various combinations of other filters) reveals no
results. This is on the "DIY selection" option rather than "auto switch"
or "pick me a tariff"

My new rates will be
Elect 15.225p/unit and 15.75p standing charge
Gas 2.546p/unit and 15.75p standing charge

12 months fixed with zero exit fees (starting the middle of this month
when my old contact ends). I managed to change before the prices
increased - Avro seem to have a new fixed price contact updated monthly
and I got the January prices for opting to renew then.

This will be my third contract with Avro. I terminated one after about 8
months (with zero exit fees) because they offered a cheaper deal which I
switched to.


--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 04/02/2021 11:07, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Peter James pretended :
Now I'm 83 years of age, and grovelling around on my knees to take
photographs
of so-called smart meters set two feet off the floor, is not top of my
priorities.

When asked to provide a photo (never yet for my meters), I decide
whether I have or have not got a camera to provide a photo, dependent on
how helpful I happen to feel to the photo requirer.

No one should expect you to have a digital camera, or a printer, or even
access to a computer.
I certainly don't have any of those .....

On 04/02/2021 14:15, Andrew wrote:
On 04/02/2021 11:07, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Peter James pretended :
Now I'm 83 years of age, and grovelling around on my knees to take
photographs
of so-called smart meters set two feet off the floor, is not top of my
priorities.

When asked to provide a photo (never yet for my meters), I decide
whether I have or have not got a camera to provide a photo, dependent
on how helpful I happen to feel to the photo requirer.

No one should expect you to have a digital camera, or a printer, or
even access to a computer.

I thought 'everyone' had a smart phone these days, which is all
you need. No computer access needed.
(I don't have a mobile phone, but I have suitable digital cameras).
I have and love my nokia 1100 best phone ever made....

On 4 Feb 2021 at 13:37:16 GMT, "Andrew"
wrote:

On 04/02/2021 09:51, Chris Green wrote:
"Brian Gaff \(Sofa\)" wrote:
It is not for the blind of course, but as yet no meters have come. I only
have electricity too. The message in my last post to this thread was mostly
gleaned from others who did manage to get smart meters installed. Apparently
in a couple of years the existing main and economy 7 meters will be at end
of life and will need refurbishing, and I suspect that will be when I will
get offered the great smart meter with talking had controller that eats
batteries.

We have economy 7 with a meter that has supposedly reached end of
life. We've had a few tries by our suppliers to change the meter but
they've been pretty half-hearted. I suspect that as we're electricity
only and mobile coverage is pretty bad here they're not desperate to
do it anyway.

With less and less 'spare' leccy at night as coal powerstations
get the chop, people on economy7 might be cutting into their
margins, assuming that there is a profit margin on an E7
tarriff these days.

I am on an E7 tariff that has the same rates for day and night. A good choice
for many who still have the E7 meter but do not use storage heaters. Varying
the rates is the simplest remedy for a provider who does not want to provide
cheap electricity at night.

--
Roger Hayter