Smart meter ?
- Thread starter jcaan
- Start date
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On it's own - no.
If you intend to make use of things such as time-of-use tariffs, or have solar & battery systems then it can be.
If you intend to make use of things such as time-of-use tariffs, or have solar & battery systems then it can be.
If you want to be absolutely accurately billed, every time you are billed, without need to keep reading your meter, and sending them in - yes.
If you like to keep a close eye on your consumption - yes.
Bear in mind they are being introduced by order of the government; not the energy companies.
Is it worth getting a central bank digital currency?
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It would be interesting to see a survey of percentages of say Electricians, Electrical Engineers/consultants etc that have smart meters by choice against those who choose not to
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This is the point, before the smart meters there were systems to auto read what power was being used, and the bills were corrected once a year, my bill was within £10 so for a single tariff they have no advantage at all. However the law it seems has been changed, not sure who made the rules, but it seems no longer can energy companies use the meters installed when solar panels are fitted to pay you for any feed in power, and the radio 4 time signal for setting duel tariff meters is being withdrawn, so old economy 7 meters will have no auto correct to the time, so we are being forced to fit smart meters if we want to be paid for feed in power or have multi tariffs as now being used with EV charging.
As to knowing what your using, I find a plug in energy meter far better. I can see what I am using
but not what is using it, I can also see an overview 
but the supplier will not use this info, so that 198.3 kWh I have simply given away as still waiting for a smart meter. Until solar fitted it did not help me, but now the supplier is dragging their heals in fitting it, why should they rush, they are getting power for nothing until fitted.
I made a conscious choice to have them fitted, in the early days of SM's. My idea was one of being able to keep a close eye on my consumption, especially my gas consumption. The only sensible way to do that, without taking lots of regular readings, out in the cold, when I use most of my gas for heating, is via SM's.
It has been a rocky ride, with three sets of meters, due to changing suppliers, and lots of long gaps with no actual smart metering available, but things are now past the point of them being universally compatible, and quick hand-overs to new suppliers.
I've just switched to Octopus Tracker, this is a different price per day but without the annoyance and huge peak cost of a time-of-day tariff. This requires a smart meter. The daily price is mathematically linked to the actual wholesale cost.
Today is 14p per unit, instead of the standard 27p per unit. If I'd joined a year ago I'd have saved many £100s. Past performance is not an accurate guide to the future!
The maximum is capped at £1 per unit, in reality this has never happened. You can leave at any time with 14 days notice, but then can't re-join for 9 months.
I'm on electricity only, as gas doesn't exist here. But you can also have gas under this deal too, it's currently about two thirds of the standard price.
I think it's brilliant, but you need a sensible attitude to risk and the ability to pay a surprise high bill if it ever happens.
Today is 14p per unit, instead of the standard 27p per unit. If I'd joined a year ago I'd have saved many £100s. Past performance is not an accurate guide to the future!
The maximum is capped at £1 per unit, in reality this has never happened. You can leave at any time with 14 days notice, but then can't re-join for 9 months.
I'm on electricity only, as gas doesn't exist here. But you can also have gas under this deal too, it's currently about two thirds of the standard price.
I think it's brilliant, but you need a sensible attitude to risk and the ability to pay a surprise high bill if it ever happens.
I'm regularly seeing messages from Octopus, mentioning minus costs, in other words - they pay you to use up surplus power. Yesterday evening it mentioned almost -4p per unit, they would pay you to use it. Great, if you can use it, but I have no need of it.
No. Avoid at all costs
This will prevent subsequent governments proceeding with charging you more per kWh at peak times
This will prevent subsequent governments proceeding with charging you more per kWh at peak times
Which they have had the ability to do, for many decades..
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As @Ivor Windybottom has said, there is a risk that in the future things will change. The problem is how can we select when we use power?
Since I have solar there are times when I can run a tumble drier/dishwasher/washing machine for free. However all three have a delayed start, but remove power and power up again and all setting are lost. So I can't use a smart socket and start it when solar production is high, I have to guess when it will be high enough, so it will not import power.
To some extent this works, but the tumble drier is a heat pump type and takes to long to be able to guess, and to turn off mid cycle is not really going to work.
I have coffee when I feel like one, not when power is cheap, the only place where I can only use power when there is excess only is the domestic water heating, where the iboost+ controls when it comes on. Even then the immersion heater is too short, and it does not heat whole tank. And when central heating running no option but use oil for heating.
Where I am hopping it will help is in summer running the AC, as if we need an AC it will be sunny.
But there is very little one can select when it switches on. It is easy to predic when sun is shining compaired with when the whole sale price will raise or fall. Fair enough if running baking ovens etc to adjust start time, but most of what we use power for will not be of a type where we can select when.
And to automate we need some automated signal as to when price goes higher or lower. I have same with heating, I can view the TRV current and target temperatures, and start and stop boiler all from the PC, but I can't link them together in an automated way so boiler only runs when target exceeds current on the TRV, any interconnect has to be manually made.
So it may give use the info, but we can't use it. What are we going to do, have the wife work as a controller deciding what switches on/off when, we will wait until midnight for the evening meal as power is cheaper then?
So it depends what life style you follow, and if you have solar, batteries, or EV's to charge. And if you really want to bother? I see a problem not using the car until after dark so it can be charged with solar. And the times when power is cheap and expensive will change as we get more solar and more EV's and as to heat pumps, already had one winter of discontent where electric turned off so many days a week, once bitten, twice shy.
Since I have solar there are times when I can run a tumble drier/dishwasher/washing machine for free. However all three have a delayed start, but remove power and power up again and all setting are lost. So I can't use a smart socket and start it when solar production is high, I have to guess when it will be high enough, so it will not import power.
To some extent this works, but the tumble drier is a heat pump type and takes to long to be able to guess, and to turn off mid cycle is not really going to work.
I have coffee when I feel like one, not when power is cheap, the only place where I can only use power when there is excess only is the domestic water heating, where the iboost+ controls when it comes on. Even then the immersion heater is too short, and it does not heat whole tank. And when central heating running no option but use oil for heating.
Where I am hopping it will help is in summer running the AC, as if we need an AC it will be sunny.
But there is very little one can select when it switches on. It is easy to predic when sun is shining compaired with when the whole sale price will raise or fall. Fair enough if running baking ovens etc to adjust start time, but most of what we use power for will not be of a type where we can select when.
And to automate we need some automated signal as to when price goes higher or lower. I have same with heating, I can view the TRV current and target temperatures, and start and stop boiler all from the PC, but I can't link them together in an automated way so boiler only runs when target exceeds current on the TRV, any interconnect has to be manually made.
So it may give use the info, but we can't use it. What are we going to do, have the wife work as a controller deciding what switches on/off when, we will wait until midnight for the evening meal as power is cheaper then?
So it depends what life style you follow, and if you have solar, batteries, or EV's to charge. And if you really want to bother? I see a problem not using the car until after dark so it can be charged with solar. And the times when power is cheap and expensive will change as we get more solar and more EV's and as to heat pumps, already had one winter of discontent where electric turned off so many days a week, once bitten, twice shy.
If you can join the Octopus website forum, which is very well supported, by both Octopus staff, and very clever and involved consumers - they are working towards that end. In the meantime, Octopus are texting costings and times.
You use battery storage, such as the one you had installed recently.
That's the whole point of having a battery system - it stores free energy from the solar, cheap electricity from the grid or both so you can use at times when solar isn't available and importing power would be more expensive.
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