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Yet another reason I'm glad I've been refusing my energy suppliers' repeated offers to install a smart meter over the past 10 years.

hk1337 3y ago
Depending on where you are they’ll likely just come and replace it or they’ll start charging you for having to send someone out to read your meter.
- francisofascii 3y ago
  Or they will estimate the monthly bill, and send meter readers less often than once a month.
  - hk1337 3y ago
    Yeah, if you’re not costing them money they’ll probably leave it alone.
  - rcxdude 3y ago
    Or basically never. I don't think I've ever not self-reported the meter readings.
Waterluvian 3y ago
It’s nice of them to ask. Typically it’s theirs for running their side of the contract with you, and oftentimes they’ve got a right to come service it.
sschueller 3y ago
Why would you refuse if you can get detailed information out of a smart meter about your usage? You can save a lot of power by knowing what is going on and if you have solar you definitely want a smart meter. You also don't need people coming by every so often to check how much electricity, water and gas you have used. Here in Switzerland 80% of homes are supposed to have smart meters by 2027 but it looks like it will take longer, we are at 20%[1]. Once you have one the energy company has to give you access to (by law[2]) it (rs232, Ethernet what every the device offers) so you can read the data from it. [1] https://www.srf.ch/sendungen/kassensturz-espresso/kassensturz/schleppende-digitalisierung-smartmeter-nutzung-noch-nicht-intelligent-genug https://www.srf.ch/sendungen/kassensturz-espresso/kassenstur... [2] https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2008/226/de#art_8_a https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2008/226/de#art_8_a
- jjgreen 3y ago
  Do you want people to know when you're at home? Fairly easy to do from electricity or water usage patterns. Supposedly only the utility supplier would have that information, but they are so incompetent at security, who knows who else? Certainly the police have access to that. Looks like a sensible security measure to avoid that exposure.
  - rcxdude 3y ago
    Fairly easy to do with internet traffic as well. It's non-zero but more most people not likely a meaningful decrease in their privacy.
  - sschueller 3y ago
    That is what laws and regulations are for.
  - andylynch 3y ago
    You can also drive/walk past in the evening and see if the lights are on inside. Snooping a smart meter signal wouldn’t give away much more, and would be much for effort for a typical burglar
- chrisandchris 3y ago
  > [...] You can save a lot of power by knowing what is going on [...] I'm really curious how you go from "smart meter" to "save a lot of power". Just because I have a smeter, I won't save money. My regular meter already shows power consumption (not that convenient, that's true) and my smart meter won't tell me what actually uses my power. So, regarding saving power, it's the same as with a regular meter? How do you save energy by having a smart meter?
  - daveoc64 3y ago
    I can easily see from the in-home display or an app on my phone how much electricity is being used in real time. This acts as a great reminder to switch off anything that's using a lot of power.
crooksey 3y ago
The newer generation smart meters operate on their own network, so that its critical and separate infrastructure so this won't happen again in the future. Also you have to be pretty set on not getting a smart meter as it removes you from a lot of competitive energy deals, especially ones with a cheaper night rate.
- andylynch 3y ago
  In Scotland yes but most most of England and Wales no; the latter used O2’s 2/3g even for new SMETS2 meters.
sanderjd 3y ago
Why? What does this matter to you? It's not like these people are going to lose their electrical service due to this. It's a problem for the utilities, and a cost that will be borne by all their rate payers, but I don't see any individualized cost or benefit here that is dependent on having or not having one of these meters.
mikelward 3y ago
I don't understand how their problem affects you? Does installing a newer radio module require turning off your supply?

hk1337 3y ago

Depending on where you are they’ll likely just come and replace it or they’ll start charging you for having to send someone out to read your meter.

francisofascii 3y ago
Or they will estimate the monthly bill, and send meter readers less often than once a month.
- hk1337 3y ago
  Yeah, if you’re not costing them money they’ll probably leave it alone.
- rcxdude 3y ago
  Or basically never. I don't think I've ever not self-reported the meter readings.

Waterluvian 3y ago

It’s nice of them to ask. Typically it’s theirs for running their side of the contract with you, and oftentimes they’ve got a right to come service it.

sschueller 3y ago

Why would you refuse if you can get detailed information out of a smart meter about your usage? You can save a lot of power by knowing what is going on and if you have solar you definitely want a smart meter. You also don't need people coming by every so often to check how much electricity, water and gas you have used. Here in Switzerland 80% of homes are supposed to have smart meters by 2027 but it looks like it will take longer, we are at 20%[1]. Once you have one the energy company has to give you access to (by law[2]) it (rs232, Ethernet what every the device offers) so you can read the data from it. [1] https://www.srf.ch/sendungen/kassensturz-espresso/kassensturz/schleppende-digitalisierung-smartmeter-nutzung-noch-nicht-intelligent-genug https://www.srf.ch/sendungen/kassensturz-espresso/kassenstur... [2] https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2008/226/de#art_8_a https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2008/226/de#art_8_a

jjgreen 3y ago
Do you want people to know when you're at home? Fairly easy to do from electricity or water usage patterns. Supposedly only the utility supplier would have that information, but they are so incompetent at security, who knows who else? Certainly the police have access to that. Looks like a sensible security measure to avoid that exposure.
- rcxdude 3y ago
  Fairly easy to do with internet traffic as well. It's non-zero but more most people not likely a meaningful decrease in their privacy.
- sschueller 3y ago
  That is what laws and regulations are for.
- andylynch 3y ago
  You can also drive/walk past in the evening and see if the lights are on inside. Snooping a smart meter signal wouldn’t give away much more, and would be much for effort for a typical burglar
chrisandchris 3y ago
> [...] You can save a lot of power by knowing what is going on [...] I'm really curious how you go from "smart meter" to "save a lot of power". Just because I have a smeter, I won't save money. My regular meter already shows power consumption (not that convenient, that's true) and my smart meter won't tell me what actually uses my power. So, regarding saving power, it's the same as with a regular meter? How do you save energy by having a smart meter?
- daveoc64 3y ago
  I can easily see from the in-home display or an app on my phone how much electricity is being used in real time. This acts as a great reminder to switch off anything that's using a lot of power.

crooksey 3y ago

The newer generation smart meters operate on their own network, so that its critical and separate infrastructure so this won't happen again in the future. Also you have to be pretty set on not getting a smart meter as it removes you from a lot of competitive energy deals, especially ones with a cheaper night rate.

andylynch 3y ago
In Scotland yes but most most of England and Wales no; the latter used O2’s 2/3g even for new SMETS2 meters.

sanderjd 3y ago

Why? What does this matter to you? It's not like these people are going to lose their electrical service due to this. It's a problem for the utilities, and a cost that will be borne by all their rate payers, but I don't see any individualized cost or benefit here that is dependent on having or not having one of these meters.

mikelward 3y ago

I don't understand how their problem affects you? Does installing a newer radio module require turning off your supply?