Smart Meters??
- Thread starter Will
- Start date
Yep, they are all in it to make money out of people. Gotta check what they offer and compare them, and if not happy down the line then switch, they shouldn't change prices mid term if you are on fixed, and if they do then surely you have the law on your side to switch without paying a 'get out' fee.This does make me smell a rat that electricity suppliers are inclined to be crafty!
Jumbot
Member
Now I am confused and somewhat disappointed in Scottish Power, phoned them, when they eventually answered I put the question of the price difference to them, the woman was not at all helpful, she explained that the rate was set when I registered and if it was not what I was expecting I should of mentioned it at the time?? Now as I was solely relying on them for clarity and best advice I now know I have been ripped off, as for the assumption of I only use half of what's generated, so that's all they pay me for, when queried all I got was laughter, I so wished I had recorded the convo, this prompted me to ask the energy provider I am with (Octopus) if they will take over the service? The lesson here is do not be so naive!!
Being paid for half of whats generated is normal, on one of the lines on your invoice for the export generation. I did look into this at the beginning, and you have to register for a different meter to accurately measure what is being put back into the grid and its usually solar farms that do this not home users. For me it worked out it is about 50% I'm putting back into the grid, so there was no point in me chasing down that route any further, as there would probably be a fee for that special meter.
However the Generation line on your invoice, price per unit is way under what the government say you should be paid. Your Fit payments can be paid by an energy supplier you are not with. I used to be with British Gas for Electric, Gas and FIT payments. After a few years I moved my gas and electric supply away from them but kept the FIT payments with them.
I believe you should be receiving 3.96p per unit for generation according to the government website. Giving you a £15.22 payout(including export). Okay not huge, but its 3 times more than what you got. This will be a bigger difference in the summer months.
The 5.39p for export price is correct to the government website.
However the Generation line on your invoice, price per unit is way under what the government say you should be paid. Your Fit payments can be paid by an energy supplier you are not with. I used to be with British Gas for Electric, Gas and FIT payments. After a few years I moved my gas and electric supply away from them but kept the FIT payments with them.
How would you know what to expect when registering there are so many new things when setting up the solar panel payments, you almost need to trust the energy supplier is doing the right thing. You wouldn't know until you chat to others.
I believe you should be receiving 3.96p per unit for generation according to the government website. Giving you a £15.22 payout(including export). Okay not huge, but its 3 times more than what you got. This will be a bigger difference in the summer months.
The 5.39p for export price is correct to the government website.
saleen 192
Core Member
How did I know you were going to say Scottish Power all the ones I got money back were scotch power and they have expensive tariffs in Wales I am not with them.
Will
Core Member
QUOTE="renchero, post: 92187, member: 1265"]
i got a smart meter never used the pointless plastic box. good part is i dont get pestered to allow somebody in to read the meter.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that's an advantage. How long have you had it? Did you notice any changes in your bills after they fitted it?
i got a smart meter never used the pointless plastic box. good part is i dont get pestered to allow somebody in to read the meter.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that's an advantage. How long have you had it? Did you notice any changes in your bills after they fitted it?
renchero
Well-known member
sorry for the late reply we have had the meter 2 years [ i think ] now as we where part of there trial. did not notice any change in the bill apart from the usual annual increase of everything. however when we go the the water meter i did notice a big jump in that bill even though i make an effort to use less water. 3 water butts so no longer use tap water outside
Will
Core Member
No worries, thanks for replying. Ah, OK. So I guess maybe the electric suppliers just get their installation costs back from not having to pay guys to read the meters.
Yeah, I had heard that about water meters.
Yeah I agree with that,t hey would be saving money by not having to read the meters.
However on the water meter we actually saved money, we pay around a 3rd of what we used to be pay before the meter installation.
saleen 192
Core Member
they are saying turn of the vampire devices as draining your electric well the smart meter that little unit most people have plugged in and resting on kitchen worktop is draining the electric at the tune of about £3 per year mybe more now the costs have gone up
Little Deuce Coupe
Active member
I must say, I had never thought of that! I have always thought the meters were not needed because, if I have all my appliances and lights on, I know I am using a lot and if I have only one light on, I'm using very little, I don't need a meter to tell me that. I am with Bulb and I submit my meter readings online which I find convenient. I have so far avoided having a meter.
I had a smart meter instaled with British gas for both gas and electric, this was around 9 years ago. since then i have used a couple of other energy supplies, and all of them said they cant read the smart meters. I'm with Shell and have been for a couple of years(discounts on petrol), and up until 6 months ago, they couldn't read the meters, and I had to submit online. Now the Gas seems to be working most of the time and Electric I may need to submit every couple of months manually. Perhaps a bad mobile network connection.
I guess the meters are using a few mA, so over the year could be using a few quid. You dont mind a few losses here and there, thasts like giving your car a rev in a tunnel, exchanging fuel for the lovely sound. Although not much reward for a smat meter apart from not having to crawl into the meter cupboard with a torch trying to read the 3 meters.
I guess the meters are using a few mA, so over the year could be using a few quid. You dont mind a few losses here and there, thasts like giving your car a rev in a tunnel, exchanging fuel for the lovely sound. Although not much reward for a smat meter apart from not having to crawl into the meter cupboard with a torch trying to read the 3 meters.
saleen 192
Core Member
smart meters the part that sits on your kitchen worktop plugged in using small amount of power (vampire) the ones i have seen show usage on a graph and tell you how much you are using , ie turn kettle on 14p turn shower 78p and so on, i tried to explain to a customer anything with a heating element will cost more than just leaving lights on now a days but not in the old days, (remember we all used to have 500w halogen flood lights) in the good o days , she was struggling to understand then her daughter said they have a smart meter and air source heating, so i showed them by putting the kettle on cooker next then the shower it was the cooker that hit home has they do alot of cooking couldn't afford to use heating, so for a smart meter for this can help a person understand how much it costs
i remember the 50p and 1pound slot meters or check meters for landords and sublets fek showing my age lol,,,
i remember the 50p and 1pound slot meters or check meters for landords and sublets fek showing my age lol,,,
Yes agreed, it can save money by educating people what uses the power. Then they become more cautious of whats left turned on.
