We live in a building divided in three, two of the properties being holiday lets. I finally gave in to the nagging and agreed to have smart meters installed for our property.
They didn't turn up on Monday for no reason and were rebooked for today. The engineer then said he coudln't install our meters because there is a shared neutral for the three properties.
A waste of time and a farce. Shan't be bothering to make another appointment.
Jonathan
Is this a case of the 3 properties having separate meters but only one big cable coming in and one "head end" with a big fuse (see the photos in the link below) which serves all 3? If so the engineer couldn't do anything because it would have meant pulling the fuse and cutting off power to all 3 properties*. Without the permission and presence of their owner(s) that could have unknown and consequences.
Well now you can inform the ****lords that they will have to dig deep into their well-lined pockets and pay to have their properties given its own separate supply. :-)
It is normal for electricity supplies to be cut off. There are planned and unplanned power cuts. Even in the planned power cuts you may get a warning but they don't ask if you mind.
I do refuse to have a smart meter. I would like to see those that have them being charged more to cover the operating cost.
I?m delighted to have a smart meter. Means that I can be on an innovative tariff that?s saving me a lot of money.
Tim
They would want to charge me more for cooking after 5pm!
Yep, I have that. The quid pro quo is that I get cheaper electricity the rest of the day and at night (which is handy for EV charging). All depends on your consumption pattern. Overall I?m better off.
Tim
Sorry, I don't really get it at all. Seems to me that the fix for this is not that hard to achieve, but then again, he might only be insured for his narrow bit of the job. Brian
Yes but I got the impression that these were holiday lets and as such are empty at the moment, or should be. Brian
It would be very handy to have one with the electronic reading and the talking consumer device which they keep on mentioning, but never seem to be able to supply. Brian
I am the landlord. The guy from the elctricity company didn't seem to upset by the arrangement and there are three fuses.
Jonathan
Yes they are. Jonathan
No his problem was that he hasn't had the 'training'
For now
Nothing lasts forever but why would they want to penalise the very customers who are helping to stabilise the grid?
Tim
Do the maths. Over the longer period you will end up paying far more in standing charges than the cost of the 'smart' meter. We had innovative tariffs before the EU decided everyone must have a smart meter.
Octopus would charge you more between 15:30 and 18:00 most days.
I heard on the radio this AM that the government will lose £30 Billion annually thanks to the switch to EV's that only pay 5% vat and no fuel duty. This *is* going to affect the cost of either charging EV's or via road pricing at some point, and those 'smart' meters are the ideal tool to collect more tax.
Because these customers are still only a minority.
If they become sufficiently popular then given time these tariffs could become the only types available and then they're in a position to penalise you as much as they like.
If too many people use off-peak electricity it won't be off-peak any more.
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