Octopus ‘Free gas safety check’

I haven't had that one from Octopus but I did have the one that said my meter is too old and possibly out of calibration but failed to say which meter, gas or electric. (1984 & 1978 respectively, so probably some justification!)

Anyway I ignored them.

My current supplier (Pun!) OVO sent me this

I'll probably be switching again in July, so they better hurry up if the' re sending the heavies round.

PS the subject line in this post may look like the one in your OP but the quotation marks are different, the ones you used are illegal in Eternal September BTSTGTTS.

I haven't had that one from Octopus but I did have the one that said my meter is too old and possibly out of calibration but failed to say which meter, gas or electric. (1984 & 1978 respectively, so probably some justification!)

Anyway I ignored them.

My current supplier (Pun!) OVO sent me this

I'll probably be switching again in July, so they better hurry up if the' re sending the heavies round.

PS the subject line in this post may look like the one in your OP but the quotation marks are different, the ones you used are illegal in Eternal September BTSTGTTS.

It's usually there, but not prominent at all.

A few years ago my (different) electricity company called me to say my meter was out of calibration, and they wanted to replace it.

"Fine", I said, "but I don't want a smart meter. Anyway it probably won't work here as the mobile signal is rubbish."

Tap, tap, tap "Oh yes, we have has some failed installs in your area. Goodbye"

"Hang on", I said, "what about the calibration"

"Oh, that doesn't matter".

It was a lie to make me take a smart meter.

Andy

I believe power companies have government mandated targets to meet for upgrading householders to smart meters so you can’t really blame them for trying.

As long as you don’t want any of the advantages conferred by having a smart meter, fine. The day will come though when you’ll find that you’re excluded from “smart tariffs” that could potentially save you a lot of money.

Tim

They are fined when they don't achieve them...

Those seem to be a bit thin on the ground at present

Dave

There’s a lot of it about, unfortunately.

I’m quite willing to spend good money not having to load the washing machine at two in the morning, or have malevolent actors turn off the electricity remotely.

I agree with that.

"The Government" (whoever it was at the time) mandated that power companies had to meet targets for smart meter installs - but there is no compulsion on householders to have one.

Enough meters have now been fitted so that the majority of untouched households fall into the "Sod off! I don't want one!" category.

It was always destined to end in tears before bedtime.

Eh? There are lots of smart tariffs for folk who have invested in the appropriate tech, EVs, solar, home battery etc.

I virtually never pay more than 7.5p per kWhr for my power consumed and my exports to the grid more than cover the cost of my import for 6 months of the year.

Tim

If you have a home battery +/- solar, you don’t need to.

Of all the things I worry about these days, that’s *way* down the list.

Tim

Let’s crunch some numbers…

We use about 8kWh per day at 22p/kWh, or £642 per year, but have lost the interest payable on a piddly 4kW system at £12000, which itself comes to £500.

So, if the installation could supply all my electricity, which at 4kW it won’t, there’s a gain of £142, and payback time will be 12000/142, or not far short of 90 years.

Of course, there is the gain from selling surplus electricity back to the grid, perhaps that might halve the payback time to a mere 45 years.

Oh! But in that time I’ll need two battery replacements, at 10 grand, perhaps a failed inverter or two, and the panels will be shagged out anyway.

I hope you did your costings before signing up…

That’s an OK philosophy, until the power goes off. Just look at how long M&S are taking to get their systems back on track. Two weeks of no electricity and the streets would be a bloodbath.

The figures above for system costs are from a brief internet search. If anyone had more appropriate numbers, that would be interesting to look at.

Is there a 'smart tarrif' comparison site or a good place to look at the options?

I've chosen quite a conservative option with Eon, but I'd like to look at other options like overnight battery top-up and variable pricing.

Let's :-)

That's about double what I'd expect a good quality installation to cost - mine was £7000.

My 8 panel system, which is far from south facing, generated 2400kw/h over the past year. So 6.5kW/h/day

My total for the year is £470 (£130 direct solar to home, £170 solar to battery, £170 solar to grid). So, crudely, £7000/£470 - 15 years.

Battery and inverter guaranteed for 10 years. Replacement costs about £1200/£1500 after that at today's prices.

Yes, but as explained here and elsewhere, there's usually more to it than cost and finacial return. If that's your sole reason for adopting solar. you're less likely to do it. Unless you can lash up an extensive array, and/or you can DIY.

If you have solar/battery, it's possible to run off-grid for about 7 months (I don't have that option). Domestic solar is highly unlikely to ever be a year round proposal in the UK until some form of storage better than the current system (of batteries) comes about.

Evidently.

Or going hungry waiting for the cheaper rate to apply so I can cook dinner. (What if the *standard* rate is ten times the cheap rate, and the latter is what I pay now?)

Or someone at the suppliers tapping the wrong thing and cutting you off by accident, as happened for the common area supply for my flats - took three days for it to be reconnected.

Don’t the inverters shut down if there’s no mains?

But the food and water supply industries can’t service the population for seven months, if the electricity goes off. Much the same goes for public services.

If your house is showing lights at night, or there’s cooking odours wafting about, you’re likely to have some very unwelcome visitors.

Phone the police? No electricity…

One had to start somewhere…

Thanks for posting those numbers.

Presumably that's why the Leftpondians stock up on firearms as well as food and fuel!

nib

Such a scenario would result in street riots, with people demanding to know where the cheap renewable energy, promised for at least the last twenty years and that’s cost us trillions, has actually got to.

Ouch.

They would blame in on the Tories Brexit climate change anf *not enough renewable energy*.

You know that.