| Topic: | Re:Re:Smart Meters - Any Thoughts? | |
| Posted by: | Tony Heath | |
| Date/Time: | 08/11/19 10:27:00 |
| There is no immediate, or even mid-term, benefit to the consumer in having any form smartmeter fitted. Smartmeters (SMs) are being 'marketed' as being of benefit to the consumer because the SM comes with a small monitoring screen, with which the consumer can monitor their consumption of household electrical and gas energy. But small 'clip on' remote reading electricity usage monitors have been available (cheaply if not totally free) for many years. However, as 'old style' mechanical meters start to become unrepairable/unserviceable and no longer manufactured, at some point in the future there will be no choice for anybody but to have an electronic SM fitted. But that time in the future is some years away. Having said all that, energy companies are slowly introducing allegedly cheaper tariffs, but only to customers who have a SM fitted. And, yes, as NV has previously posted, the series 2 (so-called SMETS-2) SM is the one to have installed, not first generation SMETS-1. In addition, there is a lot of murmuring that the SMETS-2 meters are not consistently reliable with their energy measuring function, with some consumers arguing that the meters are over-reading. Personally, I see no advantage whatsoever in having a SM fitted, unless there is no alternative. Which, as I say, is some years away. |