I do not need a smart meter - I have a brain !
This isnāt going to help us Rehab. Itās pretty much the same model as the Cash Back websites like TopCashBack and Quidco. All that will happen is the energy companies will have to pay bonuses/commission to WeFlip in return for them generating sales. So the energy companies just inflate their prices to cover those bonuses. The net result is that everyone ends up paying more for their energy.
Itās pure kidology.
I have just returned home from a conference - one of the speakers was from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.
The speaker was Thea Bray who is the policy officer in Energy and Water and her subject was, āWhy are Energy Prices so High?ā
Her talk was very interesting and among the recommendations she made for saving money on electricity was to have a smart meter fitted BUT as has been stated previously the electricity providers are going slow on fitting these money saving devices.
She also advised using government comparison sites (not commercial ones), fitting solar panels (which save the average consumer $535 p/a) and swapping providers whenever a contract expires.
Smart Meter are not need for households to save money.
My total energy bill for the year is less than Ā£300 (Ā£260) and mart meter was not used.
I will be posting in Money Saving Tips ways in which households can save money.
I changed to one of the suppliers on a comparison website ā OVO Energy, this was also mentioned at some time by either Realist or Realspeed, sorry cannot recall which. However, I digress, they e-mail me every month suggesting a meter reading and that it may be easier with a Smart meter. Maybe it would be but their T&Cs require readings only every three months but insist on that monthly e-mail, probably just to put a little more pressure on for a Smart meter.
As it is they give a bonus each quarter if you submit readings on time and if you donāt have any queries with them, Ā£30 over the year in total. To submit the readings is so easy, I just diarise it to get a reminder on my mobile every month and on that day or the next when getting the car out of the garage, where the meter is situated, take the reading and submit it online, no problem at all.
The whole company seems to be almost 100% computerised, itās very efficient and works well. Why on earth would I want a Smart meter to make them even more money by doing away with the few staff they already have! 
You are doing the right thing Baz
Smart Meters ARE NOT money saving devices. It is a total CON.
For NOW and only now, in the very short term they might help you identify where you are wasting electricty however the whole real purpose of Smart Meters is to bring in VARIABLE RATE BILLING in which the day will be divided up into separate periods and they will charge you horribly for the energy you use in peak periods which will most obviously be afternoon evening when kids are home playing on consoles, watching TV, when you need the lights on, when youāre cooking tea and so on.
I repeat, Smart Meters are a TOTAL CON and they exist for only one reason which is to enrich the pockets of the energy moguls.
Anyone who is stupid enough, gullible enough to fall for the lies and BS will, I guarantee, come a real cropper because your energy bills WILL double or triple as soon as they bring in Variable Rate Billing.
The Smart Meter is needed to record how much energy you use at different times of the day. Your existing meters canāt do that. Hence if you stay with your old existing meter YOU CAN NOT BE BILLED on Variable Rate Billing. All it tells them is the total number of units you have used, NOT when you used them.
THAT is your saftey blanket. That old meter is absolutely ESSENTIAL to your ability to control your energy usagae and bills.
DO NOT ACCEPT A SMART METER. You will lose tons of money if you do.
My neighbour started a text convo this afternoon.
F. Did you get letter about smart meter? Getting mine changed over in July.
Me. No but would refuse anyway. Donāt want one. Be aware you can never go back to the original if you are not happy!
F. All meters being changed over old ones wonāt exist.
Me. That is not true at all. The energy companies are under pressure by the Govt to TRY to get us to switch over, but we have the absolute right to refuse. They are not being changed over at all.
F. edf are so I am going to get one.
Me. Iām with edf and am still refusing. Donāt be pressurised into it. You cannot be forced into changing. Know your rights.
F. I am happy to change, way forward.
End.
Way forward my eye! She is arguing with me that our mutual supplier, edf, is changing over, when I know for absolute certain we can refuse.
Like others, I read my own meter, submit readings on line, see how much it costs, then either pay by Visa, or by Energycard, with money set aside each week. I donāt need to know what is costing me money.
Only this afternoon I had a call from my supplier OVO Energy, a very pressurised āchatā it was to try and persuade me to have a smart meter.
Every reason under the sun was given, and given three times in all. But no, I didnāt want one and never have, the caller even went to offering me a free appointment where I could refuse and there would be no cost or if they didnāt turn up I could claim Ā£30. It was all quite comical really as there would be no way would I be persuaded. Top marks for trying though!
Some comments made me smile. One reason given was for more accurate bills as the readings would be more accurate. I asked āwhat could be more accurate than me on 21st of each month, after being reminded by my mobile phone, going to my meter, reading it and then getting on my laptop to submit the reading online?ā
He went on āWell, there are other benefits, like knowing what device is using most electricity so you could turn it off.ā
āI donāt leave anything on that I am not using so why would I want to turn something off that I was using?ā
Finally, after 15-20 minutes he had to give up. I did not want a smart meter and there was no way of persuading me otherwise!
Electricity supplier nil, customer one!
Without a smart meter you cannot take part in the demand response market nor can you sell surplus solar power to the grid.
No solar panels on our estate Bruce, so itās immaterial.
I seem to recall the government taking away the real incentive to have solar panels some time ago? Prior to that solar panels seemed to have been installed on rooftops everywhere, now all that appears to have stopped, I wonder why that was?
People getting too much out of it perhaps? 
You donāt need solar panels to save money with a smart meter. Power companies donāt like them and had to be ordered to install them when demanded
I think there was another smart metre thread but I could not find it. I recently tried to change our energy tariff and they are now forcing you to agree to a smart metre in order to take advantage of offers. This is totally wrong.
I found this article today about non-smart metered providers, but have not heard of any of these companies so wondered whether anyone here has used them :
The smart move is not to have one, love to see them try and fit one here. What people donāt realise that if you change the supply company you have to have a new meter and you pay for it
Itās a real scam which means we now have no choice at all! Apparently you can say you donāt want one after changing tariff, but the tariff says you are agreeing to one. This is totally outrageous.
The choice is there ā donāt be bullied into accepting this, go elsewhere. If enough people boycott these companies they will suffer a lack of customers meaning less profits. Money talks, especially the lack of it by way of profits. They will quite quickly have to stop this way of forcing people into accepting that which they do not want.
Hi
The new ones are industry standard, so no problem swapping suppliers.
I still donāt want one and will not be bullied into having one - ever!
Hear hear, Tabby. 
I feel exactly the same as you - and have told 'em to stop pestering me about it too!
I was reading that one of the companies on the list is being bullied by Offgem for not rolling out smart metres. We are being bullied as customers into installing these nasty contraptions because otherwise we will end up paying a fortune in rubbish tariffs. There is hardly any choice if you donāt want a metre. Iām worried going to a small provider. They often have poor reviews and they may go out of business. Then if we try to go back to one of the big six I bet they will make it conditional on having the horrid thing. Iāve only just managed to get rid of the annoying phone calls trying to persuade you to install a metre.