Meter replacement

[omph]

Then you should always wear a hat made from cooking foil. What I wonder, use do you think they might make of that information?

He does make an interesting point. Data is a trillion dollar industry - how do you think Google, Facebook etc make their money ? Advanced advertising is only possible if you have a lot of data about demographics, target audience etc and the advertising platforms for these types of companies are really really granular - all the way down to people's political alignments (think Trump 2016 and Cambridge Analytica). You had the NSA scandal a few years ago where they were just collecting data of flowing traffic and storing it in large data centres for "future use". The developments in AI, and machine learning/data science are opening up all sorts of possibilities in processing/visualising data in ways never fathomable only 5 years ago.
This is in part why the EU introduced GDPR - can't have scandalous political footprints somewhere out there in a vault.

 

[Mister Banks]

I dont understand why anyone wouldn't want a smart meter due to security issues yet they happily use WiFi, own a smartphone, own a smart watch and/or Fitbit, use a credit card, use store cards, use loyalty cards, all of which have the capability to track where you are, how much you spend and what your daily routine is amongst other things.

I think a smart meter is the least of our problems.

 

[omph]

Smart meters are useful but you do loose conrtol since they are managed remotely, but so is your router, your smartphone. On the upside, you can probably overwrite the firmware and completely bypass their systems. It'll be a lot harder to detect tampering that way, and any bugs or hacks could cause all sorts of issues, from financial to military.

 

[Guitarguy]

My supplier keeps sending letters stating the meter had reached the end of its life and needs to be replaced with a smart meter.
Nope, it’s 12 years old and i regularly see meters pushing 40+ years in my line of work!

 

[DiyNutJob]

My supplier keeps sending letters stating the meter had reached the end of its life and needs to be replaced with a smart meter.
Nope, it’s 12 years old and i regularly see meters pushing 40+ years in my line of work!

Mine is 30 year old.

I have a 20 year old meter in a flat. I told british gas they could replace it. Then they told me they couldn't replace it because it's the wrong kind of meter. My guess is the meter has separate day and night rate wires.

 

[DiyNutJob]

Then you should always wear a hat made from cooking foil. What I wonder, use do you think they might make of that information?

They sell info to the microsoft department in india, so the techies only call you when you are in to fix your windows. For example, they could help get your new SSD up and running in a jiffy. Same info could be sold to UK security alarm sellers. They should have stats on what day and time a house most needs protection. The info is extremely useful for lot's of people and worth more than the profit from selling electricity.

 

[Why Not Indeed]

The info is extremely useful for lot's of people and worth more than the profit from selling electricity.

What's the revenue per household for each of the two income streams?

 

[SUNRAY]

That has more to do with the drastic increase in energy cost, than with the actual meters, smart or otherwise. Did you not see the stories on the news, of them breaking into homes, to swap meters? The point you seem to be missing is that they can swap smarts to prepay, without ever going near the premises.

Debt is correct. All those who fail to pay their bills, add to the cost of energy for those who do pay their bills - rather unfair don't you think?

Indeed But have you seen the results of the high court action?

 

[johnny2007]

You don't constantly watch a dumb meter, why would you constantly watch a smart one - that is nonsense. Why/who would add units remotely, even if there was a facility to do that and there just isn't.

Ever heard of companies employing people to make money?
Give them the tools and they'll use them.
Remember the cctv that were going to be used for safety?
They're now used to fine motorists one inch in a yellow box or parked an inch off the lines.
Give me a tool and I'll make you money...

 

[winston1]

My smart meter has saved me money, I discovered I was using a lot of electricity from devices left on overnight and from devices that I thought were off but were in fact starting up periodically overnight (1.5kw and 1.0kw heaters!).

No it hasn’t. What has saved you money is your discoveries which you could just as easily made with a dumb meter.

 

[JohnW2]

I am with Octopus Energy. My smart meter has saved me money,

As I implied, even for Octopus customers, having a 'smart' meter, per se, will only save money if one is pared to adjust one's pattern of electricity usage every day according to the movements of dynamic terraces. That's probably relevant primarily to those who have EV charging (or perhaps storage heaters), since most people don't want to cook their 'evening meal' or have their showers in the early hours of the morning!

I discovered I was using a lot of electricity from devices left on overnight and from devices that I thought were off but were in fact starting up periodically overnight (1.5kw and 1.0kw heaters!).

A 'smart' meter may help fractionally, in identifying the approximate timing (but not identity) of usage, but you don't need a 'smart' meter to find out how much electricity is being used overnight - any 'dumb' meter will tell you that.

If you really want detailed information on usage, you could invest (not all that expensive) in an appropriate energy monitor, which will provide far more information than does a 'smart' meter. My monitoring system records electricity usage every 12 seconds throughout the day and night, whereas a 'smart' meter will only tell you the total used in each 30 minute period.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

No it hasn’t. What has saved you money is your discoveries which you could just as easily made with a dumb meter.

As I've said, in the specific case of Octopus customers, having a 'smart' meter does enable them to 'save money' if they are prepared to expend the time/effort, and suffer the inconvenience, required to adjust their usage patterns from day to day in accordance with a dynamic tariff.

However, for customers of any other supplier, I agree with you.

 

[Mister Banks]

@winston1 How does a dumb meter tell me that I used 600w of energy between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning?

 

[Mister Banks]

As I've said, in the specific case of Octopus customers, having a 'smart' meter does enable them to 'save money' if they are prepared to expend the time/effort, and suffer the inconvenience, required to adjust their usage patterns from day to day in accordance with a dynamic tariff.

However, for customers of any other supplier, I agree with you.

I dont need that level of detail, who wants to know by the second what energy they are using, but having the information at my fingertips even in 30minute segments has helped me save having 2.5kw of heating coming on all night long in this cold weather.

I'm happy with my smart meter.

 

[DiyNutJob]

What's the revenue per household for each of the two income streams?

They can sell your info and still get the double income streams from you, and you won't know how complete strangers got your info.