Scottish Power Old Non Smart Meter Replacement Question.

JD2012

JD2012

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I have resisted getting a Smart Electricity Meter installed. Last week a man from Scottish Power came out to do a equipment check and said we must get a replacement meter as our non smart one is now old. It must be a least 30 year old by my guess. He asked me how I did my meter reading and I told him I write the readings down and put them in the Scottish Power Website once a month.

He said this was fine and wrote the details down. He also said the new meter would send in the readings if i forget. I got a email from Scottish Power about the Smart Meter appointment. My question is though is this a full Smart Meter which I don't want or just one with some smart functions? I take it I have no choice about getting the old non smart meter replaced anyway.

Thanks

P.S. I had to change the date as I have been ill. Oh yes they now going to change the Gas Meter also which we were never told about.
 
Yes, but do I have a choice? I have been told by some that I don't as they are saying its old and has to be replaced even though its working fine.
 
No, just keep refusing to have a smart one installed.
However, you may be limited on what tariffs you can access.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk

Getting a smart meter installed

What smart meters are, when you can get one installed, whether you can refuse a smart meter, smart meter specifications and how to save money with a smart meter
www.citizensadvice.org.uk www.citizensadvice.org.uk
 
conny said:
No, just keep refusing to have a smart one installed. However, you may be limited on what tariffs you can access.
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In the final analysis, I'm not convinced that they necessarily have to offer any tariffs for people without 'smart' meters, do they?

As for 'refusing', as I've said many times, although I have yet to find the contract/Agreement that I am deemed to have signed, I'm pretty sure that it involves my agreeing that the supplier may install in my house whatever metering and other equipment they deem to be necessary to provide me with an electricity supply, and I recall nothing which allows me to 'veto' any particular type of equipment.

Kind Regards, John
 
The CAB says otherwise.
Have a look at the link I posted.
(sorry, that sounds a bit terse. It isn't meant to be)
 
It has nothing to do with whether its still working or not. Meters drop out of calibration and the supplier has an obligation to change it before the certified life ends.
 
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conny said:
The CAB says otherwise. Have a look at the link I posted. (sorry, that sounds a bit terse. It isn't meant to be)
Click to expand...
I looked at that a long time ago and we have discussed it here at some length.

We know that the CAB (and very many others) hold that view but, as I said, if my recollections about my contract are correct (I'll have another go at finding it!), I have given them (am deemed to have given, since I've never actuaklly signed any Agreement/Contract with my current supplier) permission to install whatever metering equipment they may say fit!

Kind Regards, John
 
I think the "your meter is out of calibration and we need to replace it" is how they are going to install more smart meters.
You could avoid all contact with the electricity company to dodge the smart meter, but I imagine it will get to the stage of them forcing entry to fit a smart meter?



Someone mentioned before about having a smart meter fitted, but with the "smart" part turned off..........if you believe they would do that
 
People drive "smart" cars, watch smart tv's, wear smart watches and use smartphones; whats the problem with having smart utility meters?
 
scbk said:
I think the "your meter is out of calibration and we need to replace it" is how they are going to install more smart meters.
You could avoid all contact with the electricity company to dodge the smart meter, but I imagine it will get to the stage of them forcing entry to fit a smart meter?
Click to expand...
One might think so. However, fairly recently I inherited a house which had been unoccupied for about 25 years but, for reasons that obviously made no sense, had maintained an electricity supply (paying only the Standing Charge) for all that period. When I first saw the place, amongst the pile (probably about 12 inches high!) pile of mail in the hallway were 20+ years worth of letters saying that "we need to replace your electricity meter", but no 'action' had been taken during those 20+ years. - and with ~25 years of zero apparent usage, they presumably had even more reason than usual to want to see the meter!
scbk said:
Someone mentioned before about having a smart meter fitted, but with the "smart" part turned off..........if you believe they would do that
Click to expand...
If it is true (and I'm far from convinced) that one currently has a legal right to 'refuse' to have a 'smart' meter, if the supplier cannot source non-'smart' ones, they might have no option other than to do just that!

Kind Regards, John
 
Mister Banks said:
People drive "smart" cars, watch smart tv's, wear smart watches and use smartphones; whats the problem with having smart utility meters?
Click to expand...
We often quibble here about terminology, and this is one of the bees in my particular bonnet.

Like you, I always put "smart" in quotes when referring to energy meters, and I use the word only because everyone else does.

However, all of the other things you mention really are very smart (without the quotes) - using highly sophisticated and complex technology which was totally unthinkable just a small number of decades ago.

In contrast, all a 'smart' meter does (at least, at present) is measure energy usage (which we've been able to do for at least a century) and store the answers in a number of registers and then communicate those answers to elsewhere via a 'wireless' link (with a small amount of possible communication in the other direction) - activities that I would not classify as 'smart' in the 21st century. Any of the other things you mention are 'more smart' by a number of orders of magnitude!

Kind Regards, John
 
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