Electricity and gas meters

Wed 9 Mar 2016, 09:14

Peter - there is an excellent article in March 'Which' entitled "Is your Energy Meter Faulty" (in 2014 14%) were not)and includes a review of 'Smart Meters' Well worth reading.

Wed 2 Mar 2016, 07:24

I will John, just need find best place get one from asap. Thanks for that information. :) Pearl

Tue 1 Mar 2016, 23:27

Do invest in a monitor,they are a quick way to check your consumption,I must say my heating is by gas,but my combinded bill is still less.It will be the fan and oil heaters that take up the bill. My Daughter had a similar problem. John

Tue 1 Mar 2016, 18:16 (last edited on Tue 1 Mar 2016, 19:01)

I believe the previous one was estimated Alan according to young man who read it this time. I just seem get letter every so often saying need to up my monthly payment. Then there was an occasion while back when they paid some credit into bank account must been last summer. I think I will get an account on line so I can check these details.

Tue 1 Mar 2016, 18:01

Pearl, when did you last have a meter read before the latest reading? I think all my bills for the past couple of years at least have been estimated since SSE can't be bothered ever to send someone out to read the meter. I've no idea whether if they ever actually get round to reading it my next bill will be astronomical or tiny....

Tue 1 Mar 2016, 17:47

I will definitely have to sort something out I wasn't expecting there to be such a difference. Thank you for that Andrew.

Tue 1 Mar 2016, 16:47 (last edited on Tue 1 Mar 2016, 18:37)

You can of course buy your own electricity monitor if you want to get a sense of how much power you use on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. These work with a clip that goes on the main supply to your meter, and broadcast data to a display monitor you can keep in your house. Flashy ones typically cost £30 to £50, but there is an Owl one, for example, which only costs £10.

Tue 1 Mar 2016, 16:33

Haha no John! I've always thought it was high. We only have heat on in some rooms and then not high cos don't like be too hot. We had central heating put in years ago but I don't like humidity and smell of it so we don't use big one's just small one in bathroom and landing on low some warmth upstairs in winter.. Other than that have mobile oil heaters that work from Electric as background in lounge and then top up with fan heater for a short while if very cold. I know they're expensive. Then there's daily shower, all the washing machines, dryer etc. so thought maybe it was right. We did have looked at while back sure they said ok, and also have some night low cost charges but the only thing on then is 2 central heating low. I'm confused. Perhaps one those new meters would be ideal for me see what's going on . :)

Tue 1 Mar 2016, 16:15

Cor- Blimey Pearl!! thats a lot, my last 6 month bill was a little under £300.00, and my house is the same size as yours. Mabe you need to get your meter checked,or buy a bigger jumper!.(not growing strange plants are you?)

Tue 1 Mar 2016, 15:51

Whilst on subject of meters etc. do other readers consider £900+ to be very high for recent bill from SSE? I always think maybe could get it cheaper but then not keen on getting involved.

Tue 1 Mar 2016, 13:48

Hans I think the expenditure would be much better spent especially in reducing wastage in making sure all the housing stock is properly insulated. The potential reduction in carbon emissions would be huge making green energy more viable in terms of meeting the amount that would need to be generated from conventional sources.

A 2006 UK Government Review of the Sustainability of Existing Buildings revealed that 6.1 million homes lacked an adequate thickness of loft insulation, 8.5 million homes had uninsulated cavity walls, and that there is a potential to insulate 7.5 million homes that have solid external walls. These three measures alone have the potential to save 8.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year. Despite this, 95% of home owners think that the heating of their own home is currently effective.

There are schemes running that have tried to address this but I believe to take advantage you have to be on SC benefits so only a very small proportion of people take this up.

Tue 1 Mar 2016, 11:34 (last edited on Tue 1 Mar 2016, 11:35)

I think smart meters are a good thing. You may be able to save some 10% by having realtime information of your energy consumption.

Real time pricing such as a higher price when demand is highest e.g. during Eastenders should make consumers delay their usage of tumble dryers, washing machines and dish washers to times of less demand e.g. late in the evening or at night. This is a good thing as the peak generating capacity could be reduced.

On the supply side at present the electricity generating companies use best guess algorithms to estimate demand. As these can't be perfect there is always more electricity generated than needed sometimes as much as 25%. It is hoped this waste can be considerably reduced with realtime information on demand.

The supply side is also becoming more complex with wind, solar and heat pumps, sometimes with quite variable generation capabilities. Smart meters are needed integrate these in to the grid with minimal wasteful fossil fuel back up.

Tue 1 Mar 2016, 09:01

Thank you Andrew and others for your comments but SSE has told me I must have new meters so I cannot wait to see how things settle down. It seems I have to choose now whether I have old style meters installed (against the advice of SSE) or allow them to fit smart meters. It is a bit of a dilemma! Peter

Mon 29 Feb 2016, 23:08

Peter, It has always been the case that there is rolling programme of exchanging meters after a number of years to ensure accuracy etc, but there is now an industry programme to move over to smart meters and Simon's suggested weblinks give useful information. A key question you should ask SSE is what happens if you wish to switch suppliers if you have their smart meters? The key jargon word to use is 'interoperability'. Unless they say it is OK in all circumstances I personally would wait until the industry sorts this issue out as otherwise you maybe effectively locked into taking your energy from SSE in the future, as suppliers may hesitate to quote

Mon 29 Feb 2016, 14:54 (last edited on Mon 29 Feb 2016, 14:56)

Whilst those with a vested interest might say its the end of estimated bills, many believe its just an excuse that will benefit the energy companies in the longer term and will work against the consumer. I have a very cynical view of the so called benefits.
Its believed that energy companies want to charge consumers different tariffs for their energy at different times of the day. So peak periods of usage when people are at home will of course attract a higher tariff, but at other times the tariff would be lower. Its just a ploy for energy providers to extract even more money from us for heating and lighting our homes. In order for them to do this smart meters will be essential.
In addition; it will eliminate the need for them to employ people to come and read meters in many cases. This saving will of course wont be passed onto the consumer but will inflate their profits even further.
Personally I have declined to have a smart meter and will continue to do so unless it becomes compulsory and i'm sure the energy providers will be lobbying government for this!

Mon 29 Feb 2016, 14:46

I'm not sure you will persuade an electricity company to supply you with unmetered electricity, though!

Mon 29 Feb 2016, 14:43

Our friends at Bledington had their electric meter blow up at 2am catching the garage on fire, if they had not been there the house would have burnt down!So perhaps we should be wary of any meters.

Mon 29 Feb 2016, 13:44

Peter - this is all part of a government plan to get these smart meters installed throughout the country. You can see the official information at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/smart-meters-how-they-work, and SSE's information at https://www.southern-electric.co.uk/HelpAndAdvice/SmartMeters/ The main advantages are said to be an end to having to read meters (or have estimated bills), and consumers can see for themselves how much energy they are using. The meters automatically send readings to your utility company at regular intervals, which may be where the half-hour bit comes in. You only have to look at them if you want to.

On the flip side, there are people out there who consider that having this sort of information sent back to the utility company automatically is a breach of personal privacy, although whether these concerns are justified if you are getting billed more accurately is hard to say. The bottom line is that you don't have to have them fitted if you don't want them, and SSE can't force you to do so.

Mon 29 Feb 2016, 12:09

I have received a letter from SSE who supply my energy, saying that my meters must be replaced and advising me strongly to go for 'smart' meters. I know nothing about these and wondered if anyone else has had them installed and whether there are any problems to look out for. They advise half hourly monitoring which seems a bit excessive and intrusive. What do other people think? Peter Bridgman