BEWARE Smart Meters Coming

[Mups]

@JBR

Perhaps, but then we still have the right to change supplier - as often as we like with no penalty - and it is very easy to do. Competition is still the best thing for the consumer.

Won’t all suppliers do the same as British Gas eventually though?

[Meg]

@JBR

Perhaps, but then we still have the right to change supplier - as often as we like with no penalty - and it is very easy to do. Competition is still the best thing for the consumer.

At the moment the smart meters are not compatable between companies, switch suppliers and the meter may have to be changed too :shock:

1.5 million smart meters won’t work when you switch energy supplier
Smart meters will lose functions if householders switch to another energy firm, with a one-year wait before the problem is resolved

1.5 million smart meters won't work when you switch energy supplier

I am hoping the natiowide roll out of meters will be halted when it becomes clear the whole project is being done to benifit the power companies not the public :twisted:.

[Rehab44]

@Mups

Yes, I feel much the same way Rehab.
They have asked me several times already if they can change me over but I’ve managed to fend them off so far.

They have yet to ask me, I am composing responses in my head, most of them seem to end in off

Have I got this right …I am sure I read/heard that each energy company has a different smart meter? Making it very difficult to swap providers, something I tend to do on a regular basis, any comments on that?

[Mups]

@Rehab44

They have yet to ask me, I am composing responses in my head, most of them seem to end in off

Have I got this right …I am sure I read/heard that each energy company has a different smart meter? Making it very difficult to swap providers, something I tend to do on a regular basis, any comments on that?

Yes. Read Meg’s post 22 about this. Seems they are all different. Stupid! (not you I meant the meter companies).

[Realist]

@Meg

I am hoping the natiowide roll out of meters will be halted when it becomes clear the whole project is being done to benifit the power companies not the public :twisted:.

Seriously doubt that will happen. Too much money involved. Gov’t as ever will be bought of with backhanders.

[Rehab44]

@Mups

Yes. Read Meg’s post 22 about this. Seems they are all different. Stupid! (not you I meant the meter companies).

Thanks Mups, I missed that, it would seem that we are between a rock and a hard place then?

[JBR]

@Meg

At the moment the smart meters are not compatable between companies, switch suppliers and the meter may have to be changed too :shock:

1.5 million smart meters won't work when you switch energy supplier

I am hoping the natiowide roll out of meters will be halted when it becomes clear the whole project is being done to benifit the power companies not the public :twisted:.

So there’s the answer: change companies every week!

[Mups]

@Rehab44

Thanks Mups, I missed that, it would seem that we are between a rock and a hard place then?

Looks pretty much like it at the moment anyway.
It’s all wrong isn’t it.

[Shadowman]

If it is the alleged health impacts, then one might want to worry about other sources of electro magnetic radiation. Your computer router for example, and that electric razor, you may want to give up shaving.
https://www.safespaceprotection.com/emf-health-risks/emf-health-effects/wi-fi-router-dangers/

[SilverTabby]

One of my neighbours has ‘pay as you go’ meters - how will Smart meters cope with that?

[Realist]

@Shadowman

If it is the alleged health impacts, then one might want to worry about other sources of electro magnetic radiation. Your computer router for example, and that electric razor, you may want to give up shaving.

Not really comparing eggs with eggs there shadowman.

The key point is that the impact to one’s health depends on the frequency of the transmission and the strength of that transmission.

Your average home router is sending a low strength WiFi signal just a few meters to cover your house area.

A smart meter is sending a very strong signal that may be covering miles of distance in order to communicate with the base station wherever that happens to be.

Your mobile phone is a danger to you primarily when you are making a call, when it is actively transmitting. You only do that every now and again.

A smart meter is a very high strength signal, more akin to that you would experience if you stood next to a BT mobile phone mast. They appear to be constantly transmitting too, sending your energy usage info back to that base station. People have monitored these meters and found they transmit every minute rather than every few hours like they state in the brochure.

Essentially having a smart meter is like having a super strength mobile phone that is always switched on and transmitting at very high strength bolted to your house.
A very silly idea indeed and utterly unnecessary.

[Realist]

@Silver Tabby

One of my neighbours has ‘pay as you go’ meters - how will Smart meters cope with that?

They have a “Pay as you go” equivalent smart meter. The difference is that instead of plonking physical coins in a meter, you top it up electronically using your mobile phone or computer. The added downside is that if you fail to top up, the company will remotely switch off your supply.

[SilverTabby]

@Realist

They have a “Pay as you go” equivalent smart meter. The difference is that instead of plonking physical coins in a meter, you top it up electronically using your mobile phone or computer. The added downside is that if you fail to top up, the company will remotely switch off your supply.

The neighbour in question is 91, doesn’t own either a computer or a mobile phone. He uses a plastic card in the Gas Meter and a special Key in the Electric one. Takes them to the village shop to be credited with money.

[Realist]

@Silver Tabby

The neighbour in question is 91, doesn’t own either a computer or a mobile phone. He uses a plastic card in the Gas Meter and a special Key in the Electric one. Takes them to the village shop to be credited with money.

British Gas offers a range of options for paying:

• The British Gas App – download it to top up easily, whenever and wherever you want.

• Online by creating an online account.

• Over the phone - just call 0800 980 0162. Choose option 1, and answer a few automated questions.

• At the shops – simply swipe your smart card at your local PayPoint outlet

All of which is academic. If your neighbour opts for a Smart Meter then they will end up paying far more for their energy.

[SilverTabby]

Thanks Realist - I will pass the information on along with your excellent advice on the health issues.

[galty]

Just had one fitted…felt a lot better health wise:twisted:…till I found I had used £1 in lighting and heating my house in 8 hours.

[Shadowman]

How much do people pay for a Kilowatt Hour? In my area the rate is .10 (ten cents) per KWH. It changes seasonally and in the Spring it reverts to almost .13/KWH. Plus there is a Daily .69 fixed charge for the service. So last month my bill was $51. That is the daily plus 290 KWH@.10.

[Realist]

Whatever you pay now will increase dramatically once Smart Meters are rolled out. If people fail to object and fight back then everyone will lose out.

[Julie1962]

We’ve asked several times for one it woud make reading our meter so much easier and safer, but if you live in flat more than a certain distance from your meter you can’t have one. I’m too worried about health risks if the microwave and wifi router and mobile phone hasn’t got me I doubt this will either.

[galty]

@Shadowman

How much do people pay for a Kilowatt Hour? In my area the rate is .10 (ten cents) per KWH. It changes seasonally and in the Spring it reverts to almost .13/KWH. Plus there is a Daily .69 fixed charge for the service. So last month my bill was $51. That is the daily plus 290 KWH@.10.

Depends on your supplier and your payment method.

My new smart Meter tells me I am paying 3p a Kwh with a standing charge of 26p aday.

My new Smarter meter tells me today my Lec/gas has cost me £1.83.

So taking that into account my bill for the Month will be around £60 which is about $70+