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Can I get my smart meter removed and replaced with a traditional meter?

  • 28 November 2020
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C
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4. When you say double, do you mean cost or £?

Yes, the smart meter display unit roughly displays a max of £22 per week (electric and gas), multiplied by 4 should be £88 per month as a rough estimate.  However, my invoice was £205 (26 days), which equates on average £50+ per week.  This is more than double.

Can you give us the kWh usage on your bill and on the smart meter? Post a image of both if you can? 

Bill:

Electricity

Standard Online - Monthly bill

23 Sep 2022 Smart actual read: 5573

30 Sep 2022 Smart actual read: 5618 Electricity

units used 45 = 45 kWh

Day rate 45 kWh x 36.085p

Standing Charge 7 days x 45.100p

Standard Online - Monthly bill 23 Sep 2022

Smart actual read: 1314 30

Sep 2022 Smart actual read: 1323

Electricity units used 9 = 9 kWh

Night rate 9 kWh x 15.857p

Standard Online - Monthly bill 30 Sep 2022

Smart actual read: 5618

20 Oct 2022 Smart actual read: 5747

Electricity units used 129 = 129 kWh

Day rate 129 kWh x 48.062p £62.00

Standing Charge 20 days x 46.290p

Standard Online - Monthly bill 30 Sep 2022

Smart actual read: 1323

20 Oct 2022 Smart actual read: 1348

Electricity units used 25 = 25 kWh

Night rate 25 kWh x 12.600p

Total electricity costs £95.24 (not inc VAT)

Gas

Standard Online - Monthly bill 23 Sep 2022

Smart actual read: 122

30 Sep 2022 Smart actual read: 145

Gas units used 23 = 254.15 kWh Unit rate 254.15 kWh x 7.342p 

Standing Charge 7 days x 30.500p 

Standard Online - Monthly bill 30 Sep 2022

Smart actual read: 145 20 Oct 2022

Smart actual read: 208 Gas units used 63 = 696.17 kWh Unit rate 696.17 kWh x 10.552p

£73.46 Standing Charge 20 days x 31.930p

Total gas costs £100.65 (not incl Total gas costs £100.65 (VAT)

 

Smart Meter Display:

This is what I have taken this week as a rough estimate Monday to Sunday (not quite a week)

Gas 54.14 kWh £4.54

Electricity 64.01 kWh £15.63

Total 118 kWh £20.18

 

I suspect end of Sunday ( a full week) will be approx. £23 for the week.  Multiply x 4 for the rough month estimate £92.  

 

Thanks

 

......................................................................................................................................................................... ................................. ................................. Total electricity costs £95.24

 

O
Rank

There are two reasons… First is that what is displayed on my display is lower (50%) than my actual bill.

 

Second reasons is health issues.

How can your health affect the meter readings?

All serious research shows that mobile phones, wifi devices, smart meters and microwaves have no significant effect on the health of people!

In what way is your health being affected by the smart meter. As far as I’m aware all the smart meter can use is wifi and the mobile phone network.

 

Blastoise186
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There are two reasons… First is that what is displayed on my display is lower (50%) than my actual bill.

 

Second reasons is health issues.

How can your health affect the meter readings?

All serious research shows that mobile phones, wifi devices, smart meters and microwaves have no significant effect on the health of people!

In what way is your health being affected by the smart meter. As far as I’m aware all the smart meter can use is wifi and the mobile phone network.

 

Indeed. I’ve had to explain that at least 50 times over the last two years to various people!

If you want proof that this stuff is safe, come stay in my flat overnight. With all this kit that I’ve got, it’s a sure-fire way to PROVE that this stuff doesn’t give you cancer or any other ill effects:

  • Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine Base
  • Ubiquiti UniFi AC-Lite
  • Ubiquiti UniFi nanoHD
  • Ubiquiti UniFi U6-LR
  • 2x Ubiquiti UniFi Switch 8 60W
  • Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE
  • ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition
  • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
  • SMETS2 WNC SKU1 Cellular Comms Hub
  • SMETS2 Aclara SGM1411-B Smart Electric Meter
  • 2x SMETS2 Chameleon IHD6-CAD-PPMID

And a bunch more stuff that I don’t talk about. I’ve had all of it for ages now and it does absolutely nothing to my health. Nor does it cause any of my neighbours even the slightest of issues.

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T
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Hi I would just like to confirm to those asking if you can change back to analogue meters from smart meters, that you can infact change back.

If your supplier says they cannot or refuses to do so then I would advise you to change supplier.

I literally just made the change back and remembered this thread when I was trying to find out information on the subject.

The cost was a little over £200 for both meters to be replaced with analogue meters and the company was British gas.

I hope that helps

T
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As for those claiming it does not effect health and using their own examples..

Please be aware that every person can reach differently and have different levels of sensitivity..

Our smart meters caused our two youngest children to wake up with bloody noses regularly and caused me and my partner constant migraines and headaches, my pregnant partner even went to hospital with suspected pregnancy hypertension but all of these issues went away once the meters were removed..

Thats a hell of a lot of coincidences wouldn't you say?

Blastoise186
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Those are all just coincidences at best. What I’m about to say is completely true as well.

Both myself and one of the forum moderators were in OVO’s Smart Meter Lab at the OVO HQ in Bristol yesterday (HUGE thanks to the mysterious internal smart meter experts who let me into the lab!) with at least 20 Smart Meters active on just one wall alone. Plus a giant cabinet stuffed full of pretty powerful Arqiva kit used for testing the Arqiva WAN. And that’s on top of the Wi-Fi in the building from 100+ access points.

So not only exposed to lots of RFI and EMI, but much more of it than you’d ever normally be exposed to and we were both totally fine despite several hours of exposure to the stuff.

Oh, and then there’s all the RFI and EMI from having something like up to 100 electric and gas meters and comms hubs on test at the same time in a small area. Smart or not, that’s one BIG dose of the stuff and still nothing bad happened. Every single one connected to DCC via either the Telefonica WAN directly like in real-life (Bristol is after all, in the Southern Territory) or specially configured Arqiva WAN simulator machine that creates a special version of the Long-Range Radio setup that Arqiva uses AND pumps out tons of RFI/EMI via a giant aerial on the roof of the building (it has to do that in order to get heard by the Arqiva network and also so it can hear the Arqiva network). If I was going to get my brain fried by basically anything, that lab would have probably done it. The only part of it I wasn’t allowed to stand near in person? That would be the giant aerial on the roof of the building because I wasn’t allowed on the roof of the building at all for my own safety (mainly to prevent me falling off).

Getting ill effects as a result of too much EMI/RFI exposure by sleeping on the roof of OVO’s Bristol HQ right next to the big giant Arqiva aerial all night? Yeah, I’d totally agree that would make sense and be very much possible due to the power levels involved (and you’d have to be extremely foolish to even try it!). But given that the power levels used for basically anything that isn’t a giant transmitter tower that you’re not allowed to climb are far lower, it makes a lot less sense for a tiny smart meter to cause those same effects. I’m sorry, but it just doesn’t work that way.

There’s a thing called the Placebo Effect as well. Sometimes if you believe something is happening, it will make it seem that way even when it actually isn’t.

If you really are that sensitive to RFI/EMI then to be completely and totally honest with you… Chances are you probably wouldn’t even be able to post to this forum without suffering a splitting headache or migraine. Computers, smartphones and tablets all emit EMI/RFI even if you turn off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC and Mobile Data and even if you just use wired networking rather than Wi-Fi in the house. It’s still there anyway.

I fail to see how the symptoms you describe are related. OVO’s HQ staff work in that building all the time and get blasted with the stuff, yet I didn’t see anyone suffering any ill effects whatsoever.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
I
Rank

Hi all, newby here. Tetrad you are very correct in saying you CAN switch back to analogue meters from smart. I am also with British Gas and after 3 days worth of chat logs i am having my smet 1 meters exchanged back to analogue in a few weeks time. It is a fight to get them to agree but it is your choice at the end of the day, just hold your ground. The cost quoted to me will be  £120 electricity and £125 gas. The reason for my exchange is that for the 4 or 5 years they have been fitted, they simply do not stay connected to the home display which leaves me having to unplug/plug back in to reconnect. Plus the app is a waste of time, never has it showed me my daily or weekly usage, only allows me to view monthly or yearly. They never fix the issues no matter how often i ask them. I was told they would save me money, they have caused nothing but stress and worry whilst saving nothing. Nobody has mentioned the possible future introduction of energy firms being able to charge more at peak times for smart meter users too (from what i read). This would not be possible with analogue meters. Anyway, back to the good old analogue meters for me, no stress, no worrying and no being controlled !  Dont be bullied by them.

nealmurphy
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@IanR so you're paying to swap a meter that sends readings ok but doesn't connect to your in home display for a meter that won't send readings and also doesn't connect to an in home display?

Was your meter set up to send 30 minute readings or just monthly readings?

As you are aware smart meters open up opportunities for time of use tariffs. Tonight for instance, customers on this type of tariff are being paid to use surplus electricity. Yes, you pay more at peak times but lately this has been equivalent to the EPG capped rate.

Nonetheless, I hope you get the meters swapped successfully to the setup you prefer and that it all goes smoothly.

I
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Yes Neal i also hope it goes smoothly. British Gas tell me that it sends readings everyday to them just fine but not to the home display. I'm lucky if it connects for 10 mins before loosing connection. It has never recorded daily or weekly usage, not even on the app either. It's got to the point where it seems as long as British Gas where getting their info, they aint bothered about anything else. So for me, as with many more people out there, i do not want all this stress of it not working as it should so i would sooner not have it at all. After all everybody managed perfectly fine before smet1's didnt they?  Maybe i'm one of the unlucky ones but i've reached a point where i just want them gone, sick to the back teeth of them, they can send their meter reader round instead !

juliamc
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Or you could save yourself £245 and request that the meter sends half hour readings. Then throw away the ihd.

I
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I would of thought British Gas would have suggested this but they haven't.

The point is though, whatever an individuals reasons may be, you can revert back to traditional meters albeit at a cost to yourself.

M.isterW
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You're really paying £245 to get a worse customer experience????

At the moment you have a meter that sends readings to your energy provider so you don't have to. After you've paid £245 you'll have to send the readings yourself.

Why?

1992 4 bed detached house. Solar PV + battery, Zappi EV charger, Mitsubishi Ecodan ASHP and i-life2 fan assisted radiators.... No gas 😊
I
Rank

Not yet ive not. Why would it be so hard to give my own readings again?  I get your point about it doing the readings for you but in my case thats all it does. Theres no saving any money as stated when they push these things on you, i dont even have the ability to check what i use properly so whats the point of them other than not having to do 5 min meter readings once a month which i dont mind doing anyway. Tell you one thing though, if my roof was big enough to have enough solar panels on there, they could come and collect their not so smart meters and that would be that. I can only live in hope though 😀.

Blastoise186
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Sigh… I guess I have to explain this yet again...

That policy won’t exist for much longer however. And I maintain that it does NOT exist with OVO. I really do think you are just wasting your money by downgrading.

But as I’ve said so many times, OVO’s policy is that once you’ve upgraded there is NO going back under any circumstances - the same applies if you move into a property with pre-existing smart meters or you’re a landlord and a tenant moves out after having smart meters installed while the supply was under their control. It was that customers choice to install them, so you just have to accept it and live with them.

To the best of my knowledge, the existing best answer on this thread remains valid with OVO and every other supplier I’ve looked up.

As for the peak time thing? Welcome to Economy 7 that’s existed for nearly 50 years. Or the Time-of-Use Tariffs that you have to EXPLICITLY OPT-IN before being charged more at peak times. We’ve discussed that many times on the forum and it has had wider discussion for years. You just have to know where to look.

Unless you deliberately pick one of those, you’ll be charged flat rate. Smart Meters will not change that.

Ultimately, stocks of non-smart traditional meters are rapidly running out across all suppliers and will no longer be replenished. If the downgrade fails for that reason, you’ll just have to accept it. Once the stocks run out across all remaining suppliers - assuming any still have a few left at all - there really will be no going back.

Your real problem is that you probably have British Gas installed SMETS1 Landis-Gyr E470/G370 meters with a SMETS1 Trilliant SEAP-2001-V Comms Hub. Those things are nothing but trouble, however they’re no longer installed. Just because you got a dodgy unit, doesn’t mean that all smart meters are bad - you just had them installed by a bad choice of supplier. On average, smart meters that weren’t installed by British Gas seem to be a lot more reliable.

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M.isterW
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It's not hard to supply your own readings but why would you bother when your meter is already doing it for you, and why would you pay £245 to do it? It makes no sense.

 

In most cases smart meters work perfectly and connect to the IHD without any problems. I appreciate that your IHD doesn't work but that doesn't change the fact that for most people they do. Being able to monitor your energy use can help you reduce your use because you can see what appliances are using the most electricity and gas. You can then make decisions based on that information, which can help you save money. That's why they can be useful for customers.

 

You can also get your smart meter data exported to other apps, which can give you a better view of the data than the energy company app. I use "Bright".

1992 4 bed detached house. Solar PV + battery, Zappi EV charger, Mitsubishi Ecodan ASHP and i-life2 fan assisted radiators.... No gas 😊
I
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Dont get me wrong, i bet they are useful if they work but i'm yet to experience that. Tried using an app to export data so i can throw this display in the bin, the app (cant remember the name) said it wasn't compatible, maybe as i'm on smet 1's? I've messaged BG back asking if i can get this monitor issue fixed AGAIN. 

juliamc
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Maybe your best bet is to move away from British Gas ? 

Blastoise186
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Dont get me wrong, i bet they are useful if they work but i'm yet to experience that. Tried using an app to export data so i can throw this display in the bin, the app (cant remember the name) said it wasn't compatible, maybe as i'm on smet 1's? I've messaged BG back asking if i can get this monitor issue fixed AGAIN. 

Trilliant Comms Hub will be the reason why. If anything, I’d push to get the meters replaced with SMETS2 kit at this point.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
I
Rank

Well after yet another morning of online chat, traditional meters are now cancelled, saving the £245, the in home display will not be replaced they said even if i pay for replacement and they advised not to buy from elsewhere as it will not work. They still say they are aware of tech issues with the daily logs on the app but because they are getting their readings everyday, theres nothing they can do. Oh and they confirmed they are on every half hourly too.  They are as much use as a bike with no wheels. 

Blastoise186
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There’s workarounds for that issue. British Gas clearly didn’t read my IHD guide. :)

Firstly, can you try this tool for me? https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/

This will help me figure out whether you can get a new IHD.

And thanks for reconsidering! We’ll try to advise you here on what you can do next as best we can.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
I
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I checked my gas meter on the link you sent with my meter point reference number and postcode. My gas meter is not found it says. I will check the electric now.

I
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Done the same with my electricity and that meter cannot be found either. I have no idea what this info means though im afraid.

Blastoise186
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Ok. That’s fine. The tool isn’t perfect and it sometimes chokes on edge cases.

I’d suggest getting in touch with Hildebrand as they’ve got a more powerful capability to check things over. You’ll need their advice before buying a Hildebrand Glow IHD anyway because of your comms hub.

Try https://shop.glowmarkt.com/pages/customer-service or support@glowmarkt.com . Let them know you’ve stopped by this forum as well. It helps them out.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
I
Rank

Im sorry, at the risk of sounding a bit thick, i dont know who they are or what im asking them to do? Are they part of British Gas or something?

I
Rank

Ive emailed them with info on the ihd/app problems to see what they recommend and to see if their monitors would work. I shall come back when i get a reply. Thankyou for this, fingers crossed.

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