£100 bonus for switching off at peak time

[Ihavenojob]

Many meters were due for replacement anyway, their replacement would have been part of your bill. My meters were 40 years old. Difference in cost = nil.

This has always been the case and was factored into standing charges. Smart meters are an added cost on top. Our bills would be cheaper without them. If someone wants a smart meter, they should pay for them individually. Does your smart meter still function as intended?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Smart meters are an added cost on top.

So were the dumb meters, but it's called progress.

If someone wants a smart meter, they should pay for them individually.

If someone wants a dumb meter they should pay extra for them - the argument works both ways!

Does your smart meter still function as intended?

They do once again now, but for a few years I had to supply readings, due to incompatibilities between suppliers

 

[Ihavenojob]

If someone wants a dumb meter they should pay extra for them - the argument works both ways!

According to those plugging them, we are paying extra.

, but for a few years I had to supply readings, due to incompatibilities between suppliers

Not that smart then, are they?
No problems with people wanting one, but they are not a panacea for the fuel costs.

 

[big-all]

up to probably means an average £50 or £1 a week ???

 

[johnny2007]

What these fools haven't thought about is the power request when everyone will be forced to have an electric car charging on 10kwh.
There's no infrastructure for that and they're not planning to build it.

 

[Deleted member 18243]

Smart meters are a con and a massive waste of our money. Only gimmick and gadget type of people like them. Plus they are not reliable; we have them at work and they are always going wrong, the suppliers/ installers turn up regularly, in several vans, to sort them out. Follow the money.

Why has the electric meter become such an obsession and a major part of our lives? * For the longest time it was just a brown thing in a cupboard that you never thought about.


* Answer = Brainwashing.

 

[IT Minion]

What these fools haven't thought about is the power request when everyone will be forced to have an electric car charging on 10kwh.
There's no infrastructure for that and they're not planning to build it.

Domestic chargers are almost all 7kW. And with incentives for low use times there's not that much additional infrastructure needed.

How do we know this? The national grid have thought about it.

Busting the myths and misconceptions about electric vehicles | National Grid

www.nationalgrid.com

 

[gas112]

Many meters were due for replacement anyway, their replacement would have been part of your bill. My meters were 40 years old. Difference in cost = nil.

standard gas meter costs the company around a tenner smart meters around 100 quid so yes there is an increase in cost

 

[ajohn]

Smart meters mean no need for meter readers at all. They also give a more rapid idea of energy usage changes to they can alter the direct debit to suite.

A lot of what some say about them is essentially rubbish. My biggest beef with them is mine are the property of a French leasing company. We don't seem to be able to make our own as we once did.

Another is don't assume your energy supplier knows how to get a reading out of them. I gave up on my gas meter.

 

[gas112]

The future of smart meters will be not a discount for not using it at peak times but an increase in charges for using it during peak time .
The cost of the smart meter roll out is said to be around 11 billion quid by the time it ends now lets think who actually pays for that

 

[gas112]

Smart meters mean no need for meter readers at all.

Not strictly true as a gas meter is meant to be checked at least once every two years

 

[gas112]

First 1 million gas smart meters fitted by BG within a few years were to be replaced due to reliability issues after about 500, 000 were done they came up with a software patch to help but still un reliable but it helped them catch up
They were that bad the emergency service providers ie National grid etc refused to work on them for meter faults due to the amount of jobs coming in daily.
there are a lot of house fires caused by poorly trained installers fitting the electric ones during one national companies audit of several thousand 25% were found to be dangerous due to arcing and bare meter tails

 

[ajohn]

How do we know this? The national grid have thought about it.

There is an alternative view from that area. It assumes the same car and vehicle usage levels that are current via combustion engines. The grid would have problems coping.

But what is needed. I worked on an EV project for several years. A stupid one really as it lacked a truly suitable battery but the control gear doesn't care about that. It could use any type of battery. The target vehicle was a 1 tonne van. Why - because the majority of then only need a 50mile range. LOL the battery pack weighed 1 tonne. Get that to sensible levels and the range goes up. Then comes factors like urban driving and motorway usage. The energy needs are totally different. Then comes traffic density. Not much scope for regen braking on a motorway that is running well.

Aircon - no there wasn't any as it needs a significant amount of power. Same with heating so fitted with a paraffin heater. Could have been diesel or petrol but at the time paraffin was cheaper. Indirect heating so no smell. kw available so heating is quick. Losses out of the van probably horrific.

This is very probably the sort of thought processes going on. Throw in HS2, other boosted rail capacity, trams and pubic transport and things get more sensible. Seems the northern power house is now getting boosted capacity - it's not what they expected.

So charge on a motorway. It's not unusual to see rather a lot of cars parked up in the services. A|l spaces need charging points. They need to charge rapidly. It takes longer to charge fully than fill a tank.

I did take look at current EV ranges. One aspect I wanted to know was at 70mph. I didn't have much luck. Predicting range on any vehicle isn't easy because it depends on conditions met on the route. Who runs their vehicle with the fuel gauge running on empty? They know that there will be more left but most would say time to stick some more in rather than finding out if there is enough left for their intended trip.

 

[ajohn]

Not strictly true as a gas meter is meant to be checked at least once every two years

That doesn't mean a meter reader is needed does it. A fitter exchanges meters. Ours has been changed that way in the past. What will happen with smart - I have no idea.

 

[IT Minion]

But what is needed. I worked on an EV project for several years. A stupid one really as it lacked a truly suitable battery but the control gear doesn't care about that. It could use any type of battery. The target vehicle was a 1 tonne van. Why - because the majority of then only need a 50mile range. LOL the battery pack weighed 1 tonne.

That's interesting but quite dated now.

Electric van batteries are in the region of 70kWh to get 150-200miles of range and weigh in at 450kg or so.

There is an alternative view from that area. It assumes the same car and vehicle usage levels that are current via combustion engines. The grid would have problems coping.

Any links? The national grid should be a fairly reliable source on this.