Smart meter, switch to daily from half hourly metering.

[Laurie61]

I have just had a notice form British Gas to say they will switch me to daily metering from the half hour meter readings they do now. Does anybody know what's behind this, it appears to be a change forced onto BG rather than them choosing to do it ? I have the option to stay on half hour metering but need to tell them within ten days.

 

[Perrier]

i would stay on the half hour metering. daily tends to screw around with the graphs etc on the site and doesnt give you an up to date true reading of your itemised usage.
i have shaved well over £30 per quarter since monitoring my gas and electric usage so its well worth having the smart meters installed.

i havent heard from my supplier regarding any changes yet though.

 

[proactive]

You definitely need to stick with half-hour metering. There should be a number to ring on the letter for you to let them know.

As far as I understand it the reason for confirming with all their customers is that several customers have complained to the ombudsman that half hourly metering is an invasion of privacy. So to placate the fcukwits, tens of thousands of letters have to be generated, sent out and responded to.

 

[Laurie61]

Thanks all, I will get in touch and ask to stay on the half hour meter reading scheme. I must admit I didn't know I was on half hour metering, when the smart meter was installed I assumed it would read the usage every quarter and send the info back to British Gas who installed it. I thought the itemised info displayed on the unit was for my benefit only.

 

[proactive]

Thanks all, I will get in touch and ask to stay on the half hour meter reading scheme. I must admit I didn't know I was on half hour metering, when the smart meter was installed I assumed it would read the usage every quarter and send the info back to British Gas who installed it. I thought the itemised info displayed on the unit was for my benefit only.

You can access it all online as well if you use the app, as well as increase or decrease your DD or see how much you owe them or they owe you. But only with accuracy on half-hour metering.

 

[tek-monkey]

If its not regular its not useful, it just tells you averages?

 

[Jonah]

So does half an hour meter reading also mean you get a bill to pay every half hour?

 

[c0tt0nt0p]

Thanks all, I will get in touch and ask to stay on the half hour meter reading scheme. I must admit I didn't know I was on half hour metering, when the smart meter was installed I assumed it would read the usage every quarter and send the info back to British Gas who installed it. I thought the itemised info displayed on the unit was for my benefit only.

On this "half hourly metering" were you still billed to meter reading (from xxxxx to yyyyy = zzzzz units) or were you billed on total consumption for each of the registers (ie 1/2/3 rate) ?

 

[c0tt0nt0p]

As far as I understand it the reason for confirming with all their customers is that several customers have complained to the ombudsman that half hourly metering is an invasion of privacy. So to placate the fcukwits, tens of thousands of letters have to be generated, sent out and responded to.

Bloody ridiculous !!

 

[c0tt0nt0p]

In respects to Smart Metering the only advice i would give people is to make sure their supplier are installing the right kit. The Smart metering mandate which means that all UK homes can have a Smart meter by 2020 states that the meters have to be a certain specification called SMETS 2. Some suppliers, (especially British Gas) tried to jump the gun a few years ago by installing meters that they believed would fit the SMETS 2 standard (which had yet to be agreed). It turned out that they got it wrong and a great deal of what they installed were classified as SMETS 1 metering. If you have a SMETS 1 classification meter it will need to be swapped out before 2020 to a meter that is of a SMETS 2 specification.....

 

[Laurie61]

On this "half hourly metering" were you still billed to meter reading (from xxxxx to yyyyy = zzzzz units) or were you billed on total consumption for each of the registers (ie 1/2/3 rate) ?

I was billed (from xxxxx to yyyyy = zzzzz units)

 

[c0tt0nt0p]

I was billed (from xxxxx to yyyyy = zzzzz units)

Cheers

 

[Jonah]

Can someone with a 'smart' meter please tell me what alleged benefits they bring?

 

[tek-monkey]

Can someone with a 'smart' meter please tell me what alleged benefits they bring?

Knowledge. They just let you see exactly what you use, and when as long as you aren't on the daily submission nonsense. I guess you also never do a metre reading again, and all bills are accurate rather than estimated.

 

[Jonah]

So as you know what you are using, you sit there and fret about just how much you are using.

No thanks.

 

[c0tt0nt0p]

Can someone with a 'smart' meter please tell me what alleged benefits they bring?

What @tek-monkey said, and in addition it gives the industry the ability to offer more unique/bespoke tariffs and offers to customers.

 

[Jonah]

Forgive me for being cynical but giving the industry more ways to fleece money from its customers isn't a good thing.

 

[c0tt0nt0p]

Forgive me for being cynical but giving the industry more ways to fleece money from its customers isn't a good thing.

Please carry on you've got my attention....

 

[staffordjas]

In respects to Smart Metering the only advice i would give people is to make sure their supplier are installing the right kit. The Smart metering mandate which means that all UK homes can have a Smart meter by 2020 states that the meters have to be a certain specification called SMETS 2. Some suppliers, (especially British Gas) tried to jump the gun a few years ago by installing meters that they believed would fit the SMETS 2 standard (which had yet to be agreed). It turned out that they got it wrong and a great deal of what they installed were classified as SMETS 1 metering. If you have a SMETS 1 classification meter it will need to be swapped out before 2020 to a meter that is of a SMETS 2 specification.....

We had them installed after being badgered by British Gas as few years ago. Neither of them worked and they replaced both of them. Then a further 2 teams were sent out one after the other to replace the still faulty ones. Each time they never stayed long enough to see it it would actually start working, they just kept lying and reckoning "it takes a couple of hours to kick in...." At first they reckoned it was because their Vodafone signal wasn't getting through, then we got a letter a few months after saying that the meters they had installed were out-dated ones and we would need to eventually have relacements installed 'in a few years time when the program is being rolled out'. The electricity one only started working last year, and the gas one has never worked.
I just keep reading the meters each week myself to check on how much we are using and the cost so far that quarter.

We also received the letter about ringing them to stay on half hourly readings, but it's gone in the bin because it doesn't make any difference to us. We can see what we are using by reading the meters ourselves.

 

[tek-monkey]

Just found out my electricity supplier (GB Energy) has gone bust, lets see where this goes!