Exactly! Hopefully with a spring for pristine water, preferably with an option for sparkling….
"smart" meter rant
- Thread starter slocumjoseph
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Exactly! Hopefully with a spring for pristine water, preferably with an option for sparkling….
It’s not free, every energy user is paying for the meter installations whether you have one or not.
We are spring fed....Still needs filters every 5 years or so but is free....the community micro-bacterial cesspit thing costs £30 a month. Pretty good deal really.
Gas is Flogas community tank and nor.
Mal electricity. Would love to talk the other 6 residents to go solar. We have a great roof for it
I live among a lot of old people that can hardly even read a clock. They have all been pestered to have a smart meter installed as “it will save you money”. They are led to believe the actual meter in some magic way will save them money. I can’t see the benefits to anyone with enough sense (and no kids still living in the house) 
to switch appliances off. In this world large corporations, or should I really say the fat cats running them, don’t suddenly become generous and benevolent. Hence my scepticism regarding the advantage to consumers and belief smart meters only benefit our energy companies.
to switch appliances off. In this world large corporations, or should I really say the fat cats running them, don’t suddenly become generous and benevolent. Hence my scepticism regarding the advantage to consumers and belief smart meters only benefit our energy companies.
Perhaps I should change my handle. 
I’ve not made much use of our smart meter, but last January/February I did make a note of the daily consumption figures (overall) to compare whether heating my small office individually with the 800W oil radiator (that I bought for the van when on EHU) was any cheaper than keeping the central heating on for the whole house. Our CH timer switches the heating off between about 8am and 3:30pm. Turns out that the CH was about 50p per day more, but the house was much warmer for when the Mrs got home from work.
I've fitted Drayton Wiser TRVs throughout so each room is in effect its own heating zone (provided you keep the doors shut). Kitchen gets a boost a meal times, lounge only in the evenings, offices heated in the day etc. Early days yet but looks promising
I have matched the water bills with when the kids were away / home / stuck here with an extra other half in lockdown and that was really frightening...
I’ve been thinking of something similar. Presumably the TRVs just replace the existing TRV “cap” on the valve?
Correct. They come with a few different adapters to suit different types. I did try the Hive equivalent but rapidly gave that up as a bad job - the Drayton system is so much better all round, and it all works locally so you can still use it when the internet is down.
If you are into automation, I have EVE Thermo valves on all our radiators. Allows for more time schedules and operations from the iPhone etc.
I've also fitted the Drayton Wiser. Having individual room control as opposed to a single stat (usually in the hall) is much better and apart from the odd stat needing reset, it's been fine. It wasn't that expensive either so don't think the payback period will be too long.
It also let me take advantage of Opentherm on the boiler which is another wee thing to help energy efficiency
No smart meter for me. They might talk about potential discounts at certain times, but it is the crippling costs at peak times that worry me. I know a lot of elderly people who don't get smart meters. Can you imagine trying to tell them if they use electricity between 5pm and 6pm for example, it's much dearer? That's a nightmare.
It also let me take advantage of Opentherm on the boiler which is another wee thing to help energy efficiency
No smart meter for me. They might talk about potential discounts at certain times, but it is the crippling costs at peak times that worry me. I know a lot of elderly people who don't get smart meters. Can you imagine trying to tell them if they use electricity between 5pm and 6pm for example, it's much dearer? That's a nightmare.
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Our Smart meter is great. Particularly it also measures and reports the outgoing current from our PV Solar, in half hour time slots. At the moment they sometimes pay more for outgoing than incoming. All facilitated by the Smart meter.
It even allowed a seamless change of supplier.
It even allowed a seamless change of supplier.
Octopus have steadfastly refused to install a smart meter at my rural address as they say it won't pick up the DCC WAN network.
I contacted the DCC Smart Network people who oversee the WAN network to see what the score was.
They asked for my postcode. Gave it.
Dcc"That postcode has no signal"
Me: "does the signal stop at the postcode boundaries?"
Dcc "We take a centric point in each postcode"
Me:"That's clumsy"
Dcc"Thats why Octopus won't install"
Me:" I've just booked them for 9th May to install"
Dcc:" can you let us know if it picks up the signal"
Me:"Sure. Can you check your computer to see if NE71*** gets a signal?"
Dcc: "Why?"
Me: "It's boundary is 0.25 miles from my house"
Dcc:" yes sir, that postcode gets a signal"
Me:" no wonder the system is rubbish!"
We also had a conversation about why my postcode isn't covered by a signal. There is no mast in the area they say.
I asked who the mast operator is? ARQUIVA they say. OK, well Chatton TV mast is 5 miles away, I'm looking at it now. That's operated by Arquiva? They reply," probably hasn't got the required transmitter on it".....
Puts phone down gently and walks to darkened room....
I contacted the DCC Smart Network people who oversee the WAN network to see what the score was.
They asked for my postcode. Gave it.
Dcc"That postcode has no signal"
Me: "does the signal stop at the postcode boundaries?"
Dcc "We take a centric point in each postcode"
Me:"That's clumsy"
Dcc"Thats why Octopus won't install"
Me:" I've just booked them for 9th May to install"
Dcc:" can you let us know if it picks up the signal"
Me:"Sure. Can you check your computer to see if NE71*** gets a signal?"
Dcc: "Why?"
Me: "It's boundary is 0.25 miles from my house"
Dcc:" yes sir, that postcode gets a signal"
Me:" no wonder the system is rubbish!"
We also had a conversation about why my postcode isn't covered by a signal. There is no mast in the area they say.
I asked who the mast operator is? ARQUIVA they say. OK, well Chatton TV mast is 5 miles away, I'm looking at it now. That's operated by Arquiva? They reply," probably hasn't got the required transmitter on it".....
Puts phone down gently and walks to darkened room....
I had been constantly badgered since long before the pandemic to get a smart meter. Although I was sceptical, as I believe it only benefits the energy company. It was free so I finally accepted one. It’s not made any difference to my bills as I’m tight arsed with heating, in fact, although I hardly had the heating on this winter they’ve more than tripled. I guess everyone’s had problems with energy bills recently, but, somehow I can still go out for an occasional pint. Phew! What is p*****g me off though is, I’m now getting two emails a week telling me to send British Gas my meter readings! Their computer software must be as useless as the Post Offices. How long before they start arresting people?
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