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Today's 3pm emergency alert

Black Hole said:
it's a back door for variable pricing (which is currently being trialled, offering discounts to those with smart meters if they turn off during peak demand)
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Yes, and absolutely screwing you if you don't. Who the hell wants to be sitting there monitoring such a device all the time. I certainly don't.
Owen Smith said:
if your meter is deemed as requiring replacing to remain accurate you cannot refuse. You can ask for a non smart meter and if they've still got some they might give you one, but you can't insist. The right to refuse smart meter installation expires when your old meter is life expired.
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Oh, I thought you could. You sound as though you're speaking with some authority on the subject, so have you got some documentary reference?
My gas meter from 1999 is probably overdue to be honest.
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Extrapolating backwards, mine are from when the house was built in 1988, so almost 35. The gas has recently started its second trip round the clock. Electricity must already be on it. They sent me something saying the gas one had to replaced 'shortly' a few years ago, and some blather about smart meters, but I ignored it, and the expected follow up never came.
 
Owen Smith said:
Agreed, the waste (and extra traffic on the roads to do it) constantly replacing all these meters is criminal. Personally I don't understand why many people feel it is so important to have constant meter readings, I manage fine reading mine about 4 times a year. The estimated bill will be corrected to the real usage anyway.

However if your meter is deemed as requiring replacing to remain accurate you cannot refuse. You can ask for a non smart meter and if they've still got some they might give you one, but you can't insist. The right to refuse smart meter installation expires when your old meter is life expired. My gas meter from 1999 is probably overdue to be honest. At least my electricity meter is only 11 years old.
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In the past I would have suggested their zeal on not having to pay for a meter reader coming round, Eon used to insist on a visit at least once a year claiming they had to by law as they were also doing a safety check at the same time and I had to book a time for when I was at home, all I ever saw them do was quickly read the meter. I have now been with EDF for two and a half years and have never had them read my meter or request to do so, My electric meter is dated 1982 and the gas is 2004. Do you have any idea of how long before they should be replaced? I too despise having a smart meter forced onto me, Eon used to endlessly pester me into have them but luckily EDF have a box you can tick to stop any pestering.
 
trog said:
I have now been with EDF for two and a half years and have never had them read my meter or request to do so,
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I am (now, due to merger, previously with SSE) with OVO, who expect us to read gas and electric meters every month. They are also now sending us letters saying the calibration of our electric meter is about to run out. I suspect that they will insist on replacing it with a smart meter, which we have been resisting by ignoring the letters offering an install as well as the calibration letters.
 
antipodean said:
I am (now, due to merger, previously with SSE) with OVO, who expect us to read gas and electric meters every month. They are also now sending us letters saying the calibration of our electric meter is about to run out. I suspect that they will insist on replacing it with a smart meter, which we have been resisting by ignoring the letters offering an install as well as the calibration letters.
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Switch to EDF, there's plenty of evidence (me and trog on this thread) that they're not bothered about smart meters. And they certainly don't ask for a reading every month.
 
prpr said:
Oh, I thought you could. You sound as though you're speaking with some authority on the subject, so have you got some documentary reference?
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My parents have been forced onto smart meters due to their 20ish year old meters being deemed due for replacement. Dad really didn't want to, but the only way to avoid it would have been to switch supplier and he's part way through a fixed term contract. I spent quite some time searching online and reading various documents, I got into an enjoyable rabbit hole reading how the smart metering networks work. I also found the document that says if your meter is deemed life expired you can be forced to change meter and you do not have the right to refuse smart meters at that point. You can ask, and the supplier can oblige if they feel like it, but you don't have the right.
 
Black Hole said:
It's being pushed as a means to monitor your instantaneous power usage and thus economise, but actually it's a back door for variable pricing
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It's also a back door for being able to remotely command your smart meter to become a pre-payment meter. No need to break into vulnerable people's homes any more, they can shaft them remotely.

How long before Russian hackers work out how to use smart meters to disconnect half the nation from electricity? And then brick the meters in such a way that 10 million smart meters all have to be replaced to reconnect everyone, so we all freeze while the roads hum with vans of engineers working all hours swapping meters while someone back at base refurbishes them all back into a working state by reflashing the firmware? Don't think it can't happen, these are the risks we run as more of our vital infrastructure is put online.

At one stage there was a plan to connect our nuclear power station controls to the internet, thankfully someone realised that maybe there were some dangers there.

sine24 said:
Well well well. I had no idea we're a bunch of refuseniks
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Liar :)
 
trog said:
Or on a smaller scale hacked to track when your home is always vacant in order to burgle it.
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Given the number of automatic systems like fridges, boilers, etc, in most homes, and that the meters only report every half hour, that would be a pretty unreliable indicator in most cases.
 
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