Quote:
Originally Posted by peanut
I don't disagree that's there's more to life, but this thread is about smart meters therefore you're wrong to shut it down.
Smart meters was on BBC news this morning. The result was it's not the smart meters that's the problem but it's dumb companies.
Some people have been told that they have to pay to replace their non working meters. That's wrong to start with. I don't have a problem with smart meters, but they should do the job they're designed to do. But they aren't.
There's is a for and against. One of the reasons I won't have one is I do not want to have something I would keep watching for the fear of watching the costs of something I use every day. This could be helpful for a lot of people that are struggling but for me it'll just add to my anxiety and would be pointless. Without a smart meter I get a bill, I pay for it, so no worries and no anxiety or stress. But now you hear of people turning off their fridge freezers due to the amount they cost to run due to having access that monitors such items.
What I do object to is that I get a bill bi-annually. I pay direct debit monthly and every 6 months I get a bill and hope that I've paid in enough to cover any excess. The problem is I can't give a meter reading say 3 months in just to get a statement to see if I'm on target incase I need to increase (or decrease) my monthly payments. That's made the company dumb in my eyes. If I could give a meter reading at any point and get a statement but not a bill, then that would be better than a smart meter for me.
I have Tapo smart plugs that tells me the wattage of whatever I plug into them. That is helpful and has changed my usage of certain things. But smart meters I can certainly do without.
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First of all, Hello to a fellow City supporter. Premier League, here we come, with or without Vardy.
I wasn't trying to shut the conversation down, only expressing the view that I have few feelings about smart meters as long as they work. I get it that you have particular anxieties about billing and being over aware of energy use. I would argue that if we are to conserve energy and keep our bills down we need a touch of anxiety. My parents were always right on it in the days of old meters.
You expressed the negative side of being aware of the consumption levels of certain household items. Isn't that mostly a good thing, rather than something that creates excessive anxiety? We still have a 60 inch, 3D Plasma TV that just won't die. We noted on our smart meter how much juice it uses up. Anyone who leaves the room empty without switching off the TV now gets a right rollocking! We don't suddenly stop using something we really need, just because it uses multiple KWs. We just modify our use, like not emptying out the kettle every time and filling it with fresh, icy cold water. I remember my parents doing that even before smart meters. They used to draw my attention to the wheel whizzing around on an old-style meter when a kettle was on.
I know that sometimes smart meters fail or stop working properly. We agree that the cost of replacement must fall to the grid owner or the energy provider. Also, we can override the automated meter read and billing, by reading the metre monthly and entering it on the provider's web site.