Smart meter

[Grumpy Owl]

On 11/20/2024 at 2:18 PM, NeoScota said:

Seems they are trotting out porky pies to customers in order to get these fucking things into peoples houses. 

 

The guff they said to me was that the radio signal that operates the off peak times will but shut off by next June so they will have to replace the meter with a smart one. Aren't I just so lucky?

 

I looked into this and it's apparently true. I assume you're on an Economy7 (or Economy11) tariff, with a dual-phase meter?

 

I had this at my previous property - there was no gas mains supply to the street so the house had electric storage heaters and Economy7 meter.

 

While reading the meter, I noticed that the time on the display was out by a couple of hours, however the storage heaters and immersion heater did come on at around 12am to 1am, and then off again around 7am. I queried this with my electricity supplier at the time, and I was assured that I could ignore the displayed time, and I was being billed correctly, as the switching between phases was controlled by a remote signal transmitted through the electricity network.

 

So yes, there is a 'radio signal' that switches the meter modes between day and night rates, but as far as I am aware this is not an 'over-the-air' signal, but sent through the mains supply itself.

 

Anyone who's ever used a 'powerline extender' for their home network while have an idea how this works, where your home mains circuit is used as network cabling!

 

There really can't be that much difference between sending a control signal through the mains electricity grid, and sending it via the internet.

 

 

On 11/30/2024 at 11:37 AM, Mr Crabtree said:

I kept deleting their{ EDF } emails every time without replying to their invitations to arrange a time for my 'new meters' to be  installed now they have me reading my own meters every two or three weeks and sending the readings to them, probably in an effort to piss me off and get me to have a new meter! They don't know me that well, obviously, I know I'll have to have new ones forced upon us eventually, but, I'll keep up my rearguard action for as long as I can! Opening my front door and reading the two meters next to it is no biggy, so, it could be a while before they win, because I'm a really stubborn old goat who'll take it right to the wire!

 

Yes, I keep getting email 'invitations' from EDF about having a smart meter fitted. Despite me telling them on numerous occasions that it is not physically possible to fit one in my meter cupboard as there is no room for one! And I know this because an nPower engineer tried to fit one a few years ago.

 

I agreed to a new 1 year fixed rate tariff with them back in September, so my prices are fixed for, erm, 1 year. But apparently this tariff "requires" a smart meter. They send me reminders every month to send them meter readings so I can be "billed correctly".

 

One of the things in the push for smart meters is how "convenient" they are - because it is really incredibly different to write down the numbers on your meter displays, and then log into your online account and enter the readings.  My electricity meter is in a small cupboard in the wall of my hallway, while the gas meter is in a large walk-in cupboard. Takes me less than 2 minutes, no hassle for me at all!

[peter]

On 4/14/2023 at 12:18 AM, webtrekker said:

Yeah, I've had that text too and had never arranged a bloody appointment. I contacted them and gave them a piece of my mind.

 

Tell them you want your prepayment meter fixed and NOT replaced with a 'smart' meter.

 

 

 

yes we got the letter saying we will be contacted to arrange a time for the installation of a smart meter ,lets just say it was a very unpleasant phone call for them and I will not be having a new smart meter installed on my property ,and I have the letter from the power company stating as much

[webtrekker]

1 minute ago, peter said:

yes we got the letter saying we will be contacted to arrange a time for the installation of a smart meter ,lets just say it was a very unpleasant phone call for them and I will not be having a new smart meter installed on my property ,and I have the letter from the power company stating as much

 

 Good on you, Peter. I have to say that since that post of mine a year ago, they have never contacted me again about smart meters. I think they got the message!

[Mikhail Liebestein]

On 12/4/2024 at 11:53 PM, webtrekker said:

 

 Good on you, Peter. I have to say that since that post of mine a year ago, they have never contacted me again about smart meters. I think they got the message!

 

I told them to get lost as smart meters are a rife target for Advanced Persistent Threat hackers. I suggested I'd only consider one if it was fully certified by both the National Cybersecurity Centre and John McAffee.

[NeoScota]

On 12/4/2024 at 8:36 PM, Grumpy Owl said:

 

I looked into this and it's apparently true. I assume you're on an Economy7 (or Economy11) tariff, with a dual-phase meter?

 

I had this at my previous property - there was no gas mains supply to the street so the house had electric storage heaters and Economy7 meter.

 

While reading the meter, I noticed that the time on the display was out by a couple of hours, however the storage heaters and immersion heater did come on at around 12am to 1am, and then off again around 7am. I queried this with my electricity supplier at the time, and I was assured that I could ignore the displayed time, and I was being billed correctly, as the switching between phases was controlled by a remote signal transmitted through the electricity network.

 

So yes, there is a 'radio signal' that switches the meter modes between day and night rates, but as far as I am aware this is not an 'over-the-air' signal, but sent through the mains supply itself.

 

Anyone who's ever used a 'powerline extender' for their home network while have an idea how this works, where your home mains circuit is used as network cabling!

 

There really can't be that much difference between sending a control signal through the mains electricity grid, and sending it via the internet.

 

 

 

Cheers....I am meant to be on economy 11 or something. I would see my heater charge outside ec7 hours and freak. The heaters connected to the meter via the mains so think you're right.

 

If there is a radio signal, what ticks me off is it being turned off so they can push people to get a smart meter installed. Even so, I take my own meter readings because it has to be manually given to them, as they dont know. So perhaps mine just has the signal to monitor the off peak/on peak usage hours ??

 

 

They are priming to fry us imho

 

[Grumpy Owl]

On 12/10/2024 at 1:15 AM, NeoScota said:

Cheers....I am meant to be on economy 11 or something. I would see my heater charge outside ec7 hours and freak. The heaters connected to the meter via the mains so think you're right.

 

If there is a radio signal, what ticks me off is it being turned off so they can push people to get a smart meter installed. Even so, I take my own meter readings because it has to be manually given to them, as they dont know. So perhaps mine just has the signal to monitor the off peak/on peak usage hours ??

 

 

They are priming to fry us imho

 

 

Check your bill or your online account, it will tell you exactly what tariff you're on.

 

The signal sent through the mains is what switches the meter between the day and night rates, as well as controlling the phasing. I believe my old storage heaters and immersion heaters had a separate mains feed, so they only became activated when the meter was set to night rate.