Hi HelenP,
You are not mistaken on that point. I have had several letters over the years and I have ‘resisted’ to this point. However, with energy costs running rampant, I think it would be wise for me to be more cautious about our energy usage, not that I wasn’t in the past, but I think just running the tumble dryer just once every few days will be a luxury.
I have never quite got this as a reason, I don’t have a smart meter but Origin Energy sends me an email or a letter telling me they are changing the rate at which they charge for electricity. If that isn’t messing about with the tariff remotely I don’t know what is.
They still send a bloke around every three months to read the meter and sometimes he gets it right.
I have been ignoring the letters etc that say I need a smart meter. I read my meters when they send me an email to say I need to & send the result to my supplier. I am against having a smart meter due, like others, to all the horror stories I’ve read.
My gas isn’t high except during the coldest weather, only got central heating on it, electric is more, but I can live with that.
They are obliged under law to tell you that you need one and encourage you to get one, but so far, they can’t force you to install one, thankfully.
Painless.
We have refused to have a smart meter in our house but there is one in a house we rent out and it has been nothing but trouble. Previous tenants had it installed but didn’t notify us.
The energy firm sent us a bill for £2,000ish saying we hadn’t paid them since 2020. Of course we had and had evidence. We sent them the details and they still said we hadn’t. It is hell trying to get through to them on the phone and we must have spoken to at least 6 people who all promise to sort it but never do. We managed to find a very senior person who finally agreed we owe them nothing and confirmed that in writing.Success at last! A few weeks on and yesterday we received a letter saying we “only” owe them £800!!! The time we have wasted on trying to get this sorted is staggering.
Hi RoseRed,
It is stories like this that gives me pause for thought. 
Despite all the adverse replies in this thread I am going ahead and getting a smart meter installed. I think it will give me a better idea of what I am using.
Does that have anything to do with the smart meter or is just the incompetence of the supplier? Anyway why are you paying an electricity bill for your tenants? Surely that is their responsibility?
When I had rental property the only blll I was responsible for was the council rates.
If it works for you and you’ll feel better for keeping an eye on things, then go for it, Scot.
We now have a Smart looking Meter.
Do it in writing rather than on the phone.
The tenants paid their bills. They left late 2020. We then took over paying the bills as we let it for holidays.
We sent countless emails as this was their preferred method of communication.
that’s a load of rubbish. They are simply under pressure to switch people to smart metres.
easy to do that using the old fashioned torch and notebook method
I wonder how you would go if you invoiced the electricity company for reading the meter for them. It would be very tempting to try it. Say 15 minutes at $21.38 per hour plus a 25% loading for casual work - they might object if you tried for the minimum of 4 hours work.
Once I received a bill which was an estimate together with a letter asking me to remove the spider’s web obstructing their readers approach to the box, I did (it was an Orb Weaver) but I also wrote back suggesting that they should employ people who are prepared to work in ordinary Australian conditions and that people unable to cope with a spider’s web should be kept in the office. Never heard anything back though.
Oh for god sake, it uses a mobile phone SIM card and has to comply with the same regulations as a phone. I hope you avoid people with a mobile phone or walking past vending machines then.
Send them a picture of my meters (above) they even have the date Oct 1992 on them and still going strong.
Hi scot37,
I was originally on the fence, only because of the issues raised here and many other sites I have been on. I am compiling a communication to my supplier to query some of the issues raised. It will give me a peace of mind going forward. I have had excruciating experiences with miscalculated payments, and I am pre-empting any concerns now.
When are you getting it installed?
Hi AnnieS,
Yes, absolutely agree. We have been ignoring the letter for years, so I know that it is a big ‘push’. But now, with the current climate, I believe it’s time to take greater control of our energy usage, not that we weren’t before, but a greater idea of our daily spend.
