Meter readings

[oddoneout]

Now there's a coincidence. I've just had an email from OVO wanting meter readings. Having got through to the relevant bit for submitting same(much more of a faff than with SSE) it would appear that they have noted(but didn't acknowledge - I suppose that's expecting too much) the readings I sent last month - which makes their various comments abut accuracy and "bill may be higher than expected"(cue raised DD presumably) a tad redundant. It's also a bit silly because if they hadn't changed the billing and payment arrangements then that isn't something that would arise - their decision their problem, but unfortunately also by association mine.

[smittims]

I've stoutly resisted attempts by my energy suppliers to coerce me into having a smart meter. Apart from their being unecessary and possibly unreliable and even hackable, I've been enraged by the devious and bullying methods they've used, exploiting the 'gentleman's agreement' that existed before, where we accept we're obliged to let them into our homes to read, maintain and sometimes replace the meter, to trick us into thinking that fitting a smart meter is just another of those occasions.

They've phoned me repeatedly to say 'we're just calling to arrange a date to fit your smart meter', and when I say I've told them repeatedly that I'm not having one, they get hurt and say 'oh, all right, I'll cancel the order' as if I've cause them a huge inconvenience. Their leaflets make no mention of the possiblility that I might not want one; the whole tone is 'we're coming and as long as you stand back and let it happen you won't get hurt'.

More ludicrous, and expensive, were the full-page magazine adverts showing an elderly obese man sitting with an imbecilic smile, watching his display device. The caption said that he'd saved so much time not having to search for the meter when the man called to read it, that he'd learnt to play the piano!

[oddoneout]

I've stoutly resisted attempts by my energy suppliers to coerce me into having a smart meter. Apart from their being unecessary and possibly unreliable and even hackable, I've been enraged by the devious and bullying methods they've used, exploiting the 'gentleman's agreement' that existed before, where we accept we're obliged to let them into our homes to read, maintain and sometimes replace the meter, to trick us into thinking that fitting a smart meter is just another of those occasions.

They've phoned me repeatedly to say 'we're just calling to arrange a date to fit your smart meter', and when I say I've told them repeatedly that I'm not having one, they get hurt and say 'oh, all right, I'll cancel the order' as if I've cause them a huge inconvenience. Their leaflets make no mention of the possiblility that I might not want one; the whole tone is 'we're coming and as long as you stand back and let it happen you won't get hurt'.

More ludicrous, and expensive, were the full-page magazine adverts showing an elderly obese man sitting with an imbecilic smile, watching his display device. The caption said that he'd saved so much time not having to search for the meter when the man called to read it, that he'd learnt to play the piano!

I don't think the energy company has either a landline or mobile number for me (I am on the register to be notified about power cuts but that isn't the supplier) - I certainly don't get verbal messages - and I don't get emails about it either although there is always the mandatory "get a smart meter it's good for you" at the bottom of any communication. Perhaps different companies have different approaches to getting their government money? I would have thought the calls you get are bordering on harassment give that you have repeatedly refused their offer. Can you block the number or do they contact you about things you do need to know?

[Sir Velo]

Slight variation on a theme: we have a smart meter and the company duly takes an automatic reading by which we are billed. However, each month I also receive an email with an "urgent" reminder to submit my meter reading.

[DracoM]

[oddoneout]

Slight variation on a theme: we have a smart meter and the company duly takes an automatic reading by which we are billed. However, each month I also receive an email with an "urgent" reminder to submit my meter reading.

The meter may be smart but the company ain't!

[Pulcinella]

Slight variation on a theme: we have a smart meter and the company duly takes an automatic reading by which we are billed. However, each month I also receive an email with an "urgent" reminder to submit my meter reading.

E.ON by any chance?
I had an email telling me to ignore such requests.

With some trepidation I'm about to switch to Octopus: my excellent 2-year fixed deal with E.ON runs out soon, and Octopus gives 15p per unit exported rather than E.ON's miserly 3p.
I'll get £50 reward as I've been recommended by the replacement faulty solar battery installer guy, who'll also get £50!

[DracoM]

The meter may be smart but the company ain't!

Yes, yes, YES!

[Sir Velo]

E.ON by any chance?

SO Energy. They also have one of the most ridiculous tariff systems I have ever come across. There must be about 35 all named after a different fruit (eg banana; melon; pomegranate - you get the drift). There's barely a fag paper between them as far as I can tell - so what the point is is anyone's guess.

They did purport to get the energy from renewable sources - a "fact" which I must admit I haven't checked lately.

[Dave2002]

E.ON by any chance?
I had an email telling me to ignore such requests.

With some trepidation I'm about to switch to Octopus: my excellent 2-year fixed deal with E.ON runs out soon, and Octopus gives 15p per unit exported rather than E.ON's miserly 3p.
I'll get £50 reward as I've been recommended by the replacement faulty solar battery installer guy, who'll also get £50!

This raises questions in my mind. Is that a FiT - and is that different from the feed in payment paid by the network operator (DNO)?
We use Octopus who I assume are not giving us any payment for the electricity generated by our PV panels which were installed earlier. There is a small payment from the DNO for electricity generated.

The PV panels do clearly offset some of the costs during very sunny periods, which is a benefit - but we don't have an export meter [or if we do, it doesn't AFAIK relay any information back to the supplier], but could we somehow change the arrangement with our DNO to get a larger FiT payment? We had the PV panels installed just before the last deadline for the low FiT payments. The payments - though small - are guaranteed for quite a long while. I don't want to make changes which could lose some of the [possibly meagre] benefits we have now without greater understanding. The administration details for electricity are murky and confused/confusing. For some people the DNO is the same [administratively] as the supplier, but that is not always - perhaps quite often - the case.

We had PV panels installed at our previous abode, and it was somewhat debatable whether in the end we benefited financially from having them at all, but OTOH it probably helped to sell the house.

[Pulcinella]

This raises questions in my mind. Is that a FiT - and is that different from the feed in payment paid by the network operator (DNO)?
We use Octopus who I assume are not giving us any payment for the electricity generated by our PV panels which were installed earlier. There is a small payment from the DNO for electricity generated.

The PV panels do clearly offset some of the costs during very sunny periods, which is a benefit - but we don't have an export meter [or if we do, it doesn't AFAIK relay any information back to the supplier], but could we somehow change the arrangement with our DNO to get a larger FiT payment? We had the PV panels installed just before the last deadline for the low FiT payments. The payments - though small - are guaranteed for quite a long while. I don't want to make changes which could lose some of the [possibly meagre] benefits we have now without greater understanding. The administration details for electricity are murky and confused/confusing. For some people the DNO is the same [administratively] as the supplier, but that is not always - perhaps quite often - the case.

We had PV panels installed at our previous abode, and it was somewhat debatable whether in the end we benefited financially from having them at all, but OTOH it probably helped to sell the house.

The FIT (Feed in tarriff) scheme has been replaced by the SEG (smart energy guarantee) scheme:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-and-social-schemes/smart-export-guarantee-seg

I suggest that you contact Octopus to find out what's happening to the excess energy you produce, and get yourself onto one of their schemes!

[Dave2002]

The FIT (Feed in tarriff) scheme has been relaced by the SEG (smart energy guarantee) scheme:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-and-social-schemes/smart-export-guarantee-seg

I suggest that you contact Octopus to find out what's happening to the excess energy you produce, and get yourself onto one of their schemes!

Thanks. That's perhaps useful to know - though surrounded by gobbledegook.
From the link you supplied, it looks as though we could apply for a SEG scheme, but would have to abandon our FiT scheme, which notionally at least has quite a long while left to run.

At the moment I suspect that "excess" energy just simply goes towards reducing our bill, but does not give us any additional revenue. Thus on sunny days [today is one] we can run our dishwasher and washing machine without noticing any electricity consumption. We haven't been too unhappy with that arrangement so far.

We are trying to get an air source heat pump installed, and that requires some not inconsiderable administrative figuring out too. Whether that will turn out to be a good thing or not - I can't say. Further, we haven't been convinced yet that it's worth installing battery systems into our home, or not - a delicate balance. The potential advantages have to be balanced against costs and disruption during the installation, not to mention the pain of form filling etc., and just making sure that things actually happen - which may actually turn out to be the most significant thing. We now desperately need a new boiler/heating system. If the ASHP scheme doesn't work out, I'll simply have a new oil boiler fitted - which I really don't want to do, but the installation would be quite cheap - though oil is variably expensive, and not a great way to heat houses [though still cheaper than electricity using more conventional electricy devices]. However it is now looking as though we may get success in the next few months.

Some of the supposed benefits of these incentive schemes are slightly dubious. For an example consider our neighbour. I have suggested that she would benefit from having PV panels on her roof, but several factors deter her.
Several of which are encapsulated in "what's the point - I'm XX years old [older than I - d2k am] and can't really afford it right now, probably wouldn't get the money back, and it's really too much trouble."

[Pulcinella]

Thanks. That's perhaps useful to know - though surrounded by gobbledegook.
From the link you supplied, it looks as though we could apply for a SEG scheme, but would have to abandon our FiT scheme, which notionally at least has quite a long while left to run.

At the moment I suspect that "excess" energy just simply goes towards reducing our bill, but does not give us any additional revenue. Thus on sunny days [today is one] we can run our dishwasher and washing machine without noticing any electricity consumption. We haven't been too unhappy with that arrangement so far.

We are trying to get an air source heat pump installed, and that requires some not inconsiderable administrative figuring out too. Whether that will turn out to be a good thing or not - I can't say. Further, we haven't been convinced yet that it's worth installing battery systems into our home, or not - a delicate balance. The potential advantages have to be balanced against costs and disruption during the installation, not to mention the pain of form filling etc., and just making sure that things actually happen - which may actually turn out to be the most significant thing. We now desperately need a new boiler/heating system. If the ASHP scheme doesn't work out, I'll simply have a new oil boiler fitted - which I really don't want to do, but the installation would be quite cheap - though oil is variably expensive, and not a great way to heat houses [though still cheaper than electricity using more conventional electricy devices]. However it is now looking as though we may get success in the next few months.

Some of the supposed benefits of these incentive schemes are slightly dubious. For an example consider our neighbour. I have suggested that she would benefit from having PV panels on her roof, but several factors deter her.
Several of which are encapsulated in "what's the point - I'm XX years old [older than I - d2k am] and can't really afford it right now, probably wouldn't get the money back, and it's really too much trouble."

If you're on a FiT scheme (which may indeed be quite profitable: we were on about 50p per unit in the house we had previously, and the purchaser benefitted from that!) then you must be getting paid for your excess exported energy (over and above what you use for the washing machine etc); otherwise why are you registered for such a scheme?

[Dave2002]

If you're on a FiT scheme (which may indeed be quite profitable: we were on about 50p per unit in the house we had previously, and the purchaser benefitted from that!) then you must be getting paid for your excess exported energy (over and above what you use for the washing machine etc); otherwise why are you registered for such a scheme?

We used to be on a high FiT rate at our previous house. That's not the case now, but it's still better than nothing. I calculated the costs based on a number of factors, and the FiT was relatively low in the considerations. I reckoned it would reduce the break even time by perhaps 15%, but compared with our previous installation the new one was very significantly cheaper at around £6k. We have been quite surprised at the effectiveness of the PV at reducing our bills. Another fortunate factor for us was locking in good tariff rates when they were available, and also changing them at opportune moments before price rises. No insider dealing - but we were very lucky.

I don't want to open up new cans of worms before seeing if we can get the ASHP up and running, and even then it may actually turn out to be more expensive than what we have now - but given our situation with the boiler clearly on its last legs, we have little real choice if we are to avoid freezing next winter.

[oddoneout]

Thanks. That's perhaps useful to know - though surrounded by gobbledegook.
From the link you supplied, it looks as though we could apply for a SEG scheme, but would have to abandon our FiT scheme, which notionally at least has quite a long while left to run.

At the moment I suspect that "excess" energy just simply goes towards reducing our bill, but does not give us any additional revenue. Thus on sunny days [today is one] we can run our dishwasher and washing machine without noticing any electricity consumption. We haven't been too unhappy with that arrangement so far.

We are trying to get an air source heat pump installed, and that requires some not inconsiderable administrative figuring out too. Whether that will turn out to be a good thing or not - I can't say. Further, we haven't been convinced yet that it's worth installing battery systems into our home, or not - a delicate balance. The potential advantages have to be balanced against costs and disruption during the installation, not to mention the pain of form filling etc., and just making sure that things actually happen - which may actually turn out to be the most significant thing. We now desperately need a new boiler/heating system. If the ASHP scheme doesn't work out, I'll simply have a new oil boiler fitted - which I really don't want to do, but the installation would be quite cheap - though oil is variably expensive, and not a great way to heat houses [though still cheaper than electricity using more conventional electricy devices]. However it is now looking as though we may get success in the next few months.

Some of the supposed benefits of these incentive schemes are slightly dubious. For an example consider our neighbour. I have suggested that she would benefit from having PV panels on her roof, but several factors deter her.
Several of which are encapsulated in "what's the point - I'm XX years old [older than I - d2k am] and can't really afford it right now, probably wouldn't get the money back, and it's really too much trouble."

The government sales patter on ASHPs really isn't helpful I think - it gives the impression that it is a straightforward substitution for a fossil fuel boiler, which it isn't in a great many cases. I have a combi boiler so no hot water tank,(or indeed any water tanks) and live in a mid-terrace so the unit can't be 1m away from the boundaries - unless I decide not to have a back door anymore! Other issues, such as the radiators, are more easily dealt with - at a cost and with disruption - but it certainly doesn't compare with just replacing the gas boiler with a new one, which is what I hope to do next year as the current one is now 11 years old and is beginning to need repairs rather than just an annual service.