The saga of my new smart meters

[alan_m]

Possibly because to offer the service of replacement meter is not without cost.

Some of the smaller suppliers have been reluctant to sign up to the meter exchange program and even after threatened sanctions by the regulator have still delayed signing on the dotted line.

I'm with Avro and have just renewed to another fixed price contract but note that they are no longer being offered on sites such as the cheap energy club @ money saving expert. Also note their customer service response time is not too good at present although pre covid lockdowns it was good.

[alan_m]

Isn't the "official" figure for the energy saving now around £12 per annum for each household?

[Tim+]

Nope. They enable variable tariffs (as in, varying every 30 minutes) that can?t be implemented any other way.

These can be an advantage to some users. Tim

[Jimmy Stewart ...]

this swapping is just a waste of time in my opinion with problems like that ...your just giving crappy jobs to salesmen ...I have stuck with British Gas for gas and lecy for decades and avoided all the hassle.....and I hate the chuggerers that accost you in the street and ask who you have your gas and lecy with....I just tell them it is none of their effin business.....

[Bob Eager]

Strange. I was offered Avro by moneysavingexpert about an hour ago!

[Chris J Dixon]

Your choice to spend your money as you see fit, but not one I would make.

Chris

[Andrew]

With less and less 'spare' leccy at night as coal powerstations get the chop, people on economy7 might be cutting into their margins, assuming that there is a profit margin on an E7 tarriff these days.

[Andrew]

They are certainly loading more increases onto the daily standing charges, which over 2 or 3 decades will cost the consumer a lot more than the cost of a 'free' smart meter.

[Andrew]

even if the design is correct, you then have the problem of sloppy workmanship, sometimes motivated by the need to cut costs and time, sometimes just down to lack of training and/or oversight.

A block of newish flats built near Sutton turned into a fireball so fast, the occupants only just got out, and only then because a resident put his own life at risk by banging on flat doors. The national-builder hadn't bothered with firestops above and around windows in the cavity. The building was timber-framed so that was a deadly oversight.

[Andy Burns]

For now.

The octopus agile tariff increasingly frequently hits the punitive

35p/unit at peak times, and their average 24h price often exceeds my all-day rate ... I expect the advantage will continue to be eroded.

[Andrew]

Well the OctopusAgile tarriff gives the houseowner the chance to manipulate his/her own price/KwH based on data supplied in advance. Swings and roundabouts.

[Andrew]

Some people can avoid most of the 39p/unit periods. I used to leave the house at 06:45 and not get back until 19:30 so that sort of tarriff would have suited me.

[Jethro_uk]

As soon as the little man can leverage this to their advantage, it'll be disappeared.

Many years ago I was chatting to someone from the Dot about LPG conversion for cars - which could save a lot of money if you could spare the tank. He said that obviously the moment enough drivers switched, the duty would rocket (and he was surprised if anyone thought otherwise).

Luckily, for various reasons, LPG cars never became a thing. But they were certainly plugged with grants for conversions.

[Andrew]

I thought 'everyone' had a smart phone these days, which is all you need. No computer access needed. (I don't have a mobile phone, but I have suitable digital cameras).

[Andrew]

You cannot take a vehicle with retro-fitted LPG through the Channel Tunnel.

[Jethro_uk]

While true, and noteworthy, I suspect it would not have been mentioned by any of the 10,000,000 car owners who chose not to have their cars converted :)

When I worked in logistics software, we had to prepare maps for Messr, BOC and Calor Gas that avoided tunnels.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I attended an alternative energy conference for corporate investors. A German banker chatted to me over lunch

"Tell me, is any of this viable without government subsidy"

I thought for a minute checking off each 'new technology' in my head.

"No".

"Ach! then back to London I am gone. I haf been here before. They make subsidy to get us to invest then when we make profit they tell us is too much, and they take the subsidy away and we lose all our money"

[alan_m]

Hmm

I checked 5 weeks ago and recently as 2 weeks ago and Avro were not offered.

I've just been in and even setting the filters to show only my current supplier (with various combinations of other filters) reveals no results. This is on the "DIY selection" option rather than "auto switch" or "pick me a tariff"

My new rates will be Elect 15.225p/unit and 15.75p standing charge Gas 2.546p/unit and 15.75p standing charge

12 months fixed with zero exit fees (starting the middle of this month when my old contact ends). I managed to change before the prices increased - Avro seem to have a new fixed price contact updated monthly and I got the January prices for opting to renew then.

This will be my third contract with Avro. I terminated one after about 8 months (with zero exit fees) because they offered a cheaper deal which I switched to.

[Jimmy Stewart ...]

I certainly don't have any of those .....

[Jimmy Stewart ...]

I have and love my nokia 1100 best phone ever made....