Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Electric smart meters

Anyone experienced changing from old style electric meter to the new smart meters please?
I booked an appointment to do this with my energy supplier EDF who when they came told me the meter cupboard, recessed into the external wall, wasn’t big enough.
Apparently it’s down to me to provide a large enough cupboard to fit the new smart meter.
Struggled to get the dimensions they require for the new meter, but now discussing with local builder and electrician.
Seems much more difficult than I realised, anyone had the same issues or was it a walk in the park if you’ve done it?

I don’t think you are obliged to have a smart meter, so I would politely decline it.

Of course if everyone had a smart meter, there would be a saving in meter reading costs which would be shared by all customers, but I don’t think this saving would compensate for your expected costs. I would wait till it’s made mandatory, as by then it might be someone else’s problem. In the meantime invest in a larger laundry basket as a means of reducing electricity costs

We declined the offer of a meter swap.
From what I hear the smart meters do not operate if you switch suppliers - as we did recently.

I think we made the right decision - for now at least.

That's not the way they are planning it. Smart meters certainly reduce the cost of reading, and that saving is going to be passed on to those people who have them, but people who remain with old meters aren't going to see any saving, quite the reverse in fact.

Expect to see a separately itemised reading charge on your bill if you stick with an old meter. Also expect not to be able to take advantage of new Time of Use / Demand Response tariffs as and when they come onto the market.

Ours (Scottish Power) was a walk in the park as you put it since it was internal, but other than not having to have the meter read on a regular basis, it was a complete waste of time! The read out provided is unintelligible. I only tried it on a couple of occasions and rapidly gave up.

That was the old SMETS-1 standard meters. Current smart meters are SMETS-2 compatible and can therefore be software-upgraded remotely.

That's strange, what display unit did you get given? Ours does current use in KWh or £, use against budget, Use to date, all sorts of handy info. Maybe your unit is faulty?

I think someone on here has been very knowledgeable on this in the past and should be able to answer.

Best guess based on comments above.

Ask them what model of meter they fit and the information should be available through Google like just about everything else on the planet.
https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/smart-meters-explained/

I understood that the first generation smart meters (SMETS1) did indeed have a supplier lock in and so went dumb if you changed suppliers.
https://forum.ovoenergy.com/smart-m...tility-are-they-compatible-with-ovo-5460

I think the new generation (SMETS2) have cross supplier capability and so if you swap billing agents it remains working. Worth asking what they plan to install.
The size of the smart meter in MiL and our home is really not that big. See bottom for link and specs.

An example would be the Secure Liberty 100 is a unit installed in MiL internal closet. I believe it is SMETS1 and has been used by a lot of companies.

The first installation of a smart meter is government subsidised/funded but replacements will be chargeable from my experience of our MiL's installation.

You will gain from having one in the future as the tariffs will benefit from cheaper overnight charges when there is a surplus (at least until we all start charging our electric cars).
an eco point of view it has real benefits so is not to be ignored.
The more we think about it the more we should reduce consumption all being well.

I totally agree re reading the bill requiring a Diploma. The only bill I hate more is the BT bill for the phone line, what a farce.

Dimensions (W x H x D) 140 x 175 x 60 mm
Manual - http://www.securemeters.com/files/6314/7531/1232/liberty_100.pdf

I think your provider is talking Bo11ocks, the new smart / digital meters are way smaller than old style rotarys especially the projection out from the rear mounting board

I have just had a new electricity meter fitted by E-ON but not a smart meter. My electric supply is in the house but my gas is up the drive in one of the garages. The fitter told me that the smart meter wouldn't work so I don't know what will happen in the future but unless there is a reduction in charges due to the fitting of a smart meter, I fail to see the point. I am quite capable of switching off lights etc when I don't need them thereby keeping my bills as low as possible.