General Chat

Vera back in the 1960's, when I stayed with my grandparents, they were very frugal then and never filled the kettle with more than they needed.

I think some of the better off who never took any notice of their bills because they did have plenty of money and now maybe after Covid perhaps lost their jobs or changed jobs with earning less money, are suddenly realising how much their bills are.

They now have perhaps less disposable income and then the prices went up and suddenly its like oh...how much?

I've never had lots of money and so have always been on a tight budget so being frugal is quite normal.

I know of people who never check their balances in their bank or look at their d/ds regularly and I think oh crikey, how can you live like that?

The other thing is too, that smart meters also surely cut down on fraud? There is no chance of someone fiddling the meter now or giving lower readings as has been done in the past.

I am happy with the smart meter, it saves having to have the meter read, which 9 times out of ten they didn't do so we had estimated bills like Vera which threw the accounting out. the only way they will save you money is if you have, and check, the in house display. sometimes I am surprised when I use something and it stays green so it tells me what is good as well as what is bad to use.

I have a water meter as well, that does save you money and makes you very conscious of how much water we can waste without realising.

I agree with you SuffolkVera, I rather like having a Smart Meter :-) At least I don't have to read the meters which can be awkward, you need to be a contortionist! Also, during the winter I was able to see how much I was using and top up my account accordingly by using some of the winter fuel allowance so as not to receive a nasty large bill later. I don't use it to save money as such because I kept the house as warm as I would normally, its just I don't like receiving large bills out of the blue :-)

We never expected to save money either. We were told that a smart meter CAN save you money by encouraging you to change your habits but won’t save money if you are already frugal with fuel use. A smart meter is handy for a lot of people who just don’t understand how much power they are using until they see the cost in front of them in pounds and pence. The example I was given was people who fill the kettle when they only need enough hot water for a mug.

We all make our own choices and I’ll stick with the meter as it’s a convenience for me.

We decided on the smart meter not for cost reduction but the advantages it gave to us on meter readings

We were on economy 7 but circumstances changed so that tariff wasn’t working for us so we were thinking of changing anyway

Smart meters don’t work with economy 7 anyway so it was meter changes all round to have it installed

Have never thought it would save money cos it only monitors usage and sends meter readings !

My in house display unit stopped working and when I received a new one, they couldnt get that to connect with the smart meter so I don't have a display unit but I have an App on my phone and each day, I can see how many units I used the previous day if I want to, I don't look everyday.

Yes Duncan, I agree with you, the smart meter roll out benefits the Utilities companies except I don't have to bend down to read the meter anymore thankfully.

I'm in a very rural area and all old houses being renovated have to have a smart meter installed but after Covid, there were no engineers available to come here and fit the meters so many peoples houses laid empty for months and they couldn't move in. Was an absolute disgrace.

Slowly I think they are now working through a long list of properties but there are plenty still without a meter.

We had one installed a few years ago, having been persuaded that it would save us money. It didn't save us a penny, because like you have all said if it's cold we want the heater on, if it's dark we want the light on etc. The gadget you can read in the living room stopped working after a few months, but the novelty of looking at it wore off on about the second day anyway.

We pay by direct debit with an online account, every now and then I check the meter against the online account and it is fine.

A little while ago somebody knocked on the door to read the meter. I refused to let him in, saying it was a smart meter so nobody needed to read it, he said even smart meters still have to be read but I wouldn't let him. I posted on our village facebook group to warn everybody that there is a potential fake meter reader about, and had loads of replies saying he is the regular meter reader and is genuine. I still won't let him in if he comes again though.

My conclusion is that they don't make a scrap of difference to the consumer but are hugely beneficial to the utility companies, so they con their customers into believing they will be better off. I wish we hadn't done it on principle.

We had a smart meter put in many years ago because I worked full time in London and hubby was a shift worker who was often sleeping during the day after a night shift

He would get woken up by persistent meter readers and then couldn’t get to sleep again which if he only managed about 4 hours sleep meant he as knackered before he even went to work again

Plus the meters are under the stairs in a walk in cupboard thats only accessed by walking into the lounge

Meter readers thought they could traipse their wet and sometimes muddy footwear across the lounge carpet which I objected too

So having a smart meter meant both problems solved

Now too with my mobility problems I don’t have to struggle to do meter readings because even if they should be needed the smart meter monitor on the kitchen worktop shows the readings in part of its menu

I was getting concerned last winter when I could see how much daily the cost of the heating was clocking up and it did encourage me to turn it down a bit during the day and up again as the evening set in and temperatures dropped

So the smart meter certainly works for me :-)

I agree Florence, most of us don't need to be told how to save money on our bills, though I am surprised at how many people do waste fuel. I have friends who will put the oven on to cook their meat, then put 3 rings on the hob on to do their veg. They are amazed when I tell them to cook it all in the oven or at the very least to steam some of their veg over the pan with their potatoes in so they only use one ring.

When we stupidly left something on in the spare room I was glad the smart meter showed me that we were using too much electricity. Otherwise it could have been on for days and we would have had a heck of a bill. Apart from that I'm not particularly for or against smart meters. I just thought I'd put a different viewpoint.

Vera, although someone used to call every 6 months, I always read my own meter to keep the bills up to date. I actually snapshot the smart meter mid month and last day of month just incase there was ever a problem.

Years ago my mum was always reminding us to turn off lights in rooms when we left them as she was on a tight budget. Washing always went out on good days to dry saving the pennies on using a tumble drier, so nothing new there really.

Every good day my washing goes out on the line and dries for free in the fresh air, best way really. Cutting your bills down is nothing new, we have been finding ways to save money for years and most don't need to be told how to do this.

Florence in the hebrides

You were fortunate if you got your meter read twice a year Florence. Ours was hardly ever read. We would get an estimated bill which would be wrong so we would have to read the meter ourselves and send the reading in, then the bill would get adjusted which often threw the next bill out of gear. Since getting a smart meter 4 or 5 years ago we have had no problems at all with bills.

Tbh, I don't really understand the antipathy towards them. They're just another piece of technology like your phones or computers. If you are normally careful with how you use your gas or electricity they won't save you money though on one occasion they did save us a bit. I noticed we were using more electricity than I would have expected so tried to find out why and discovered that something had been left running in a spare room that we only go in to occasionally. It was a careless mistake on our part but we all make mistakes. Luckily it had only been on a few hours but without the meter I wouldn't have noticed it till I next went in that room which could have been a few days.

Well, it's horses for courses. All I can say is that we are happy with ours and have had no problems

It doesn't save you any money but it sends readings direct so you don't have to read the meter, that's if you as others have said have a good signal.

When they first advertised the smart meter, it said it will save you money.

That was very missleading as all the meter does it clock the units used.

The in house display monitor which is connected to your smart meter, shows how many units are currently being used. I think most people would know not to have the lights on in every room 24/7 or the heating on during summer etc. Its nothing new or rocket science.

The idea of having these meters reduces the need for someone to be paid to come and read your meter. They no longer have meter readers here.

The only thing is if you choose not to pay monthly by d/d and instead top up with credit as and when, it is more expensive.

There was a smart meter here as was a new build when we moved in. I pay a fixed sum monthly by d/d and have not had any problems really.

Cornish Susie, if you have to dry your clothes in the dryer because its raining, then you have to use it regardless of many units are used.

This whole new system was for the companies benefit not ours to save money on employing people to read everyones meter twice a year.

Florence in the hebrides

We can't have a smart meter as the signal in our old cottage is too weak, but they still keep phoning to get us to have one. I'm actually quite pleased as just can't see the point - if it shows a high reading what do you do - switch the washing machine off half way thro the cycle?

Our gas is a cylinder in the garden so either we order it or if it gets to a certain level they top up automatically if it is winter. :-D

We don’t want one either. Don’t get phone calls having to,ol them we don’t want one, however they are keeping the postman busy.

I don't have one and also changed supplier to avoid constant badgering. It is a fine line imo before they start saying electric or gas at a certain time will be more expensive, and I just know that will be the times I need it most.

ZZzzz, I was constantly pestered with letters, emails and even phone calls by Scottish Power, so I switched to Octopus. Apart from one email asking whether I wanted one, They haven't mentioned it since. :-)

I gather that if the current meter ever needs replacing, I shall have to have a smart meter, as the others are no longer available!

Don't want, and won't have, unless they make it compulsory - and even then maybe won't be able to, unless they've sorted out the poor signal problem by that time.

Signal here is too poor to allow a smart meter to work with Economy 7, a telephone engineer told me.

Don't want wont have. The letters we keep getting put pressure on us to have one but we just ignore them. :-D :-D

dont want dont have :-D