Smart meters

[Kwacky]

Is it with getting one? What are the pros and cons?

I'm with octopus and they're offering a smart meter. They reckon it can reduce prices but that just sounds like marketing spin to me

[C00kiemonster]

I'm a fan.

Pros:

You can tell each day what your costs are and compare.
You can see if something is left on or leaking energy.
You know what your weekly and monthly costs are


Cons:

If your not used to seeing live usage it can be scary to start with.


Overall I see it as positive as it will bring your usage down, but it will scare you at times.

[StMarks]

I'm a fan.

Pros:

You can tell each day what your costs are and compare.
You can see if something is left on or leaking energy.
You know what your weekly and monthly costs are


Cons:

If your not used to seeing live usage it can be scary to start with.


Overall I see it as positive as it will bring your usage down, but it will scare you at times.

Fwiw I agree with Mr Monster, however I would add that the greatest advantage of all is possibly the one that it gives to the energy suppliers.:
The ability it gives them to disconnect your supply remotely.
I wonder how may people will come to realise ^ that this coming winter of higher power prices.

If you do decide to have your meter(s) changed, make sure that they have confirmed they will be fitting the latest SMETS-2 type, as (unbelievably imho) they still seem to be fitting the original type when they can get away with it. -The SMETS1 meters have apparently proved problematic when changing suppliers.

Hth

[Cav]

I'm avoiding it for as long as possible.

Firstly, they use energy (more than companies wish to admit).

Secondly, it isn't impossible for energy companies to charge different rates for car charging given that they can see energy usage rates and charge according to wattage/ampage.

[Jack]

Dynamic pricing is what they call it .

[duke63]

Can’t see a downside tbh. I can check my daily usage by the half hour on my app.

Easy to see that the cooker is the biggest energy user so we have just ordered an air cooker.

[duke63]

[C00kiemonster]

I'm avoiding it for as long as possible.

Firstly, they use energy (more than companies wish to admit).

Secondly, it isn't impossible for energy companies to charge different rates for car charging given that they can see energy usage rates and charge according to wattage/ampage.

But they cant see what is using the power. It could be heating, a car, ovens or cooking / drying appliances at those rates.

They will save you more money than they use in energy. I've measured my smart meter usage (nerd) and it uses around a £1 a year.

[Cav]

They don't have to. They'll have all the data on energy trends associated with various appliances therefore anything that's different (and let's face it, commonly overnight and for 6-12 hours of high energy rate until fully charged) they'll charge as electric car charging. Its going to be incredibly simple for them to do so. They'll be right most of the time.

[C00kiemonster]

If that's the case all they will do is raise the tariffs if you don't have a smart meter to force you to.

If its that much of an issue I'd have solar to charge a car anyway.

[D6Nutz]

They don't have to. They'll have all the data on energy trends associated with various appliances therefore anything that's different (and let's face it, commonly overnight and for 6-12 hours of high energy rate until fully charged) they'll charge as electric car charging. Its going to be incredibly simple for them to do so. They'll be right most of the time.

They've been planning how to charge for ev charging for at least 3 years that I know of.

There was mention that they wanted EVs charged overnight when grid usage is lower. I reckon they will work with the charger manufactures to send them the data for charging, there have been smart ev chargers for years, we opted to install a dumb one.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[Monty]

Smart meters aren't really about the end user, the plan is to get everyone on them so they can use the data to map energy usage across the networks and schedule energy sources (generated and waste) and energy storage throughout the day.

Google "sector coupling".

[Kwacky]

Smart meters aren't really about the end user, the plan is to get everyone on them so they can use the data to map energy usage across the networks and schedule energy sources (generated and waste) and energy storage throughout the day.

Google "sector coupling".

Is that a positive or a negative thing though?

[Monty]

Smart meters aren't really about the end user, the plan is to get everyone on them so they can use the data to map energy usage across the networks and schedule energy sources (generated and waste) and energy storage throughout the day.

Google "sector coupling".

Is that a positive or a negative thing though?

Very positive, it will dramatically reduce the UK's reliance on fossil fuels as it has already in most of Scandinavia.

I did it on a small residential (50 apartment) project in Birmingham. Heat and hot water, not electricity in this case but the principles are the same and we managed to have the heat source (a communal heat pump) switched off 50% of the time. If you know when the peaks and troughs are through data you can charge thermal stores. The same is true for electricity and batteries, it removes the peaks and makes the baseline required much lower and therefore the power stations much smaller.

"Sector coupling" takes this to another level and uses the waste (or excess energy) from one process and feeds it into another. A good example is wind farms during the night when grid demand is low, this excess can be used for hydrogen production. Or at a local level, council buildings can install gas-powered CHP, use the heat and electricity to power and heat the building and the excess electricity to charge EVs in the car park. The possibilities are endless.