Home smart-meter utility engineer checks whole house and condemns

Think I got you. Not mad at all. Friend of mine lives in a motorhome going round France & Spain and rents his place out on Hayling Island pops home now and then to check it's ok
 
Friends of ours have just done the same: renting a lovely farmhouse a field away from us, renting out their own house slightly inland.

If you’re lucky here you can rent a really nice place for a good price. Which is bizarre because house prices are utterly loony (I reckon this house would be at least £800k) and holiday rent costs are also bonkers.

It’s a very strange market here!
 
Just reinvigorating this old thread..
I had a phone call earlier offering me a Smart Meter... I didn’t realise it and so didn’t ask, but is it still the case that they’ll be tied in to the supplier? Has anyone that’s had one fitted had any issues?
If it saves me (forgetting to be) sending the meter readings every month then I’m happy for that, otherwise I can live without it.
 
@Ads_Essex Had them installed by British Gas 4 years ago. Just switched to Scottish Power, and have had to go back to giving meter readings, so guess they still all use their own versions.
 
tram said:
This is a sign of the times we live in. My girlfriend has her own house. She got a phone call from utilities that they HAD to change her meter for a smart meter, and that they were coming round to do change it.

When they came, they also looked in every room in the house, bedrooms, the lot, on the spot. In the kitchen they condemned her gas fire there and then, told her to go to a plumber about it, and litterally cut the pipe there and then, and put a danger sign on it.

I'm not a plumber, but the fire was fine, and was 20 years old. I used to vac it out from time to time. There was a slight yellow flame, but only slight. As an engineer I felt it was serviceable.

It was, because of its age, the type which didn't have the now required heat sensor that has to be hot to allow a gas flow. I understand such a sensor is a good idea, but to just use the excuse of fitting a smart meter to force appliance type change. Crickey.

Apparently, people have been less than happy and have 'thrown them out'.

Fortunately she keeps a very clean and tidy house.
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They did this to mine. They said they thought there were ‘products of combustion’ leaking and I pointed out that there was a CO alarm with a display showing 0PPM.

I further asked them if they could check for a leak, and they admitted that they weren’t qualified to check that, and that I’d have to call a Gas Safe plumber.

Nearly £4K for a new heating system later.....

But smart meters save you money!:uh run:
 
Gas meters used to be lifed at 20 years. In my early years at British Gas I used to plan the exchanges for the engineers.

Not sure if it is still a thing.
 
Smart meters are not fitted to help you in any way, they are fitted to gather information.
If you need a smart meter to tell you that turning the thermostat down or having a 4 minute shower instead of 20 minutes will save you money you shouldn't be living unsupervised.
 
The new ones will switch between suppliers, mine doesn’t work at all as there is no phone signal here and apparently they don’t use your home Wifi so although I have one installed it has never worked
 
The new ones are transferable between suppliers but I read some are still fitting the old ones - maybe to use up old stock
 
DaveD said:
Smart meters are not fitted to help you in any way, they are fitted to gather information.
If you need a smart meter to tell you that turning the thermostat down or having a 4 minute shower instead of 20 minutes will save you money you shouldn't be living unsupervised.
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Totally agree. I only got one as they offered me a good tariff (free electric on a Sunday) and that was a condition.
 
If its fitted for free and at the insistence of the supplier then I would say that it's fair to assume said supplier stands to gain in some way and as you're the one paying them it can only be you they stand to gain from. In which case don't think I'll bother while I've got a choice in the matter.
 
Can someone please tell me why smart meters are a good idea for the consumer? I get the the supplier can take readings remotely and save coats by relieving our friendly local retired Gurkha (?) of a job he enjoys and does with pride! I get that the supplier can throttle my supply at will or that they can introduce surge pricing models etc! Convince me why it’s a good idea for me though?!!
 
Our electricity supplier has been trying to bully us into having a smart meter for years now.
I am still resisting.
 
DaveD said:
All those who think it will be relatively cheap to charge their electric vehicle overnight while they sleep might be in for a surprise in a few years.
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i want to know how HM treasury is going to make up for the lost fuel duty
 
Ali-G said:
Our electricity supplier has been trying to bully us into having a smart meter for years now.
I am still resisting.
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Standing shoulder to shoulder with you on this!

(Oops, didn’t Bush and his poodle do that once....?!!! Never mind, all ended well there too!!!)
 
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