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Post by MartinT on Apr 3, 2023 9:34:05 GMT
I wonder how many members have these and what you're finding with regards to your system's sound quality? I personally will not have one installed. My concern is this: I've gone to great lengths to remove noise from my system, which improves sound quality. Why, then, would I allow a smart meter to be installed, which blasts all manner of noisy data packets down the mains line? I know HD Music & Test has views on it, too. |
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Post by HD Music & Test on Apr 3, 2023 9:41:52 GMT
NO but not just for SQ
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Post by Tim on Apr 3, 2023 9:59:03 GMT
Absolutely refuse to have one for so many reasons, never considered SQ as a reason before, but it's another one I can add to my list of objections, so thanks for that Martin  |
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Post by MikeMusic on Apr 3, 2023 10:00:23 GMT
Assume one day it will be mandatory
Maybe they will be cleaned up by then
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Post by MartinT on Apr 3, 2023 10:06:38 GMT
Assume one day it will be mandatory Maybe they will be cleaned up by then I doubt that they would care in the slightest. Eon have pushed like hell for me to have one installed, I have refused and cancelled 'appointments' they have made. They now will not give me a tariff except for the default one, which doesn't matter at the moment due to the government energy relief. I will eventually vote with my feet and have my eye on Octopus, who do not require a smart meter. |
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Post by MikeMusic on Apr 3, 2023 10:52:23 GMT
Assume one day it will be mandatory Maybe they will be cleaned up by then I doubt that they would care in the slightest. Eon have pushed like hell for me to have one installed, I have refused and cancelled 'appointments' they have made. They now will not give me a tariff except for the default one, which doesn't matter at the moment due to the government energy relief. I will eventually vote with my feet and have my eye on Octopus, who do not require a smart meter. Octopus impress me. Could be the least worst of a bad bunch They do keep asking if I'd like a smart meter |
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Post by brian2957 on Apr 3, 2023 10:53:27 GMT
I got an electricity and gas smart meter fitted last November. Our meters are in an awkward cupboard and if I wasn't able to read it the wife wouldn't have a clue how to do it. I did get a new consumer unit fitted quite a few years ago and did notice an improvement in SQ, however, I didn't notice a change in SQ when the smart meter was fitted, but my hearing isn't the best these days so who knows |
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seanm
Rank: Trio
Posts: 169 
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Post by seanm on Apr 3, 2023 11:01:26 GMT
Back before my nomadic phase, (and before the price cap/relief) I used to change every year around the last week of the school summer holiday*. For 3 reasons:
1. Regardless of how good your current deal is, they all with always try and screw you by putting you are a terrible tariff at the end of the fixed bit... (anti-loyalty bonus!)
2. There was money to be saved by choosing the best tariff for your ACTUAL consumption pattern (I keep records)
3. There was often more money to be had from cashback (quidco)... often a few hundred... this is stoopid! but I play along
Ironically, the savings from 3 were always bigger than 2. So the act of just changing Energy/Insurance/breakdown saves more than the new lower price itself!!!
* I always paid by monthly direct debit on a budget plan. I chose this timing since it is before the bigger winter bills which means you go from zero, to negative and back to zero by the end of the year.... Many of the companies would fight tooth and nail to up the DD to prevent it going negative... I always fought back with facts and figures (which they hate) and often it ended up being reduced slightly!
It is making me smile as I write this.... my mum would have kittens reading this.... "Never a lender of a borrower be"... I was brought up to avoid debt. However, there is no reward for loyalty and they will shaft you at every opportunity and so I just play along.
In terms of smart meters... they are very disappointing the original idea was so much more than reducing costs and increasing their profits by saving on meter readers.... It was supposed to allow national grid load balancing by remote control of smart devices like fridges, freezers, washers and car charging etc.
Sean
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Post by MartinT on Apr 3, 2023 11:30:28 GMT
I have just switched to Octopus. Fed up with Eon never getting the DD correct so we're building up credit as we're approaching the summer months!
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Post by stellabagpuss on Apr 3, 2023 11:51:25 GMT
I have just switched to Octopus. Fed up with Eon never getting the DD correct so we're building up credit as we're approaching the summer months! Know what you mean ref EON , l'm about £900 in credit on Electricity...which is stupid. Unless they change the law, l won't have a spart meter, they can't offer me any deals, and EON even offered me £50 to have one fitted |
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Post by MikeMusic on Apr 3, 2023 12:44:39 GMT
I'm still around *minus* £800 with Octopus
Coming down very slowly.
Not sure how I got there as they took over from (thingy) when they went bust
£650 a month and that figure is only coming down slowly
We really are low usage - I thought
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Post by Slinger on Apr 3, 2023 13:21:34 GMT
I've had a smart meter for ages, mostly for my own convenience, Correcting British Gas's "readings" every time was a pain in the arse. Their website and their app allow me to keep an eye on how much credit I've accrued, and when I think it's a bit too much I simply tell them to credit my bank account with whatever figure I decide upon and buy something nice. It doesn't happen often, but it's nice when it does.
As for SQ, if I had a system where a Smart Meter might make a difference detectable by my 69-year-old ears I might consider the ramifications, but I haven't, so I wont.
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seanm
Rank: Trio
Posts: 169
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Post by seanm on Apr 3, 2023 14:35:54 GMT
Historically, I believe that energy companies made a fair proportion of their profit by simply sitting on the balances of people in credit. I wouldn't mind if they viewed this as a fair way to offset people struggling and in debt... but oh, no! until the rules changed recently they would slap people on pre-payment meters at the drop of a hat to avoid any possibility of them being "Out of pocket".
I hear good things about Octopus, particularly their off-peak tariff (economy 7 for the pepsi generation).... People are using it with their own battery storage.... charge cheaply at night, use during the day... To the point where some people are doing "solar" backwards... in that initially, they get the battery storage and move over to electricity only with the actual solar bit coming later in phase II
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Post by stellabagpuss on Apr 3, 2023 17:57:22 GMT
That's interesting point in regards to Solar...I think it will be become bigger.
Another point, is it possible, via battery storage and solar, to have a cleaner power supply for your Hi Fi ?
Tony can advise? But l'm guessing you would need a lot if filtration, but aren't a lot of us doing this already?
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seanm
Rank: Trio
Posts: 169
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Post by seanm on Apr 3, 2023 18:27:01 GMT
The way which "solar electricity" is piped around the house is probably waiting for someone to come up with new standards for distributing DC power around the home... nearly everything "electronic" in the house works internally using low voltage (5, 12 maybe up to 20V) DC and yet it often draws it power from the 240 AC mains. Meanwhile, the solar panels produce and batteries store something like 12, 24 or 48V DC which is then converted to 240V AC by an inverter. There are significant loses every time you convert and I am curious about the quality of the "inverted 240 AC"
You have simiar choices with campervans etc... Where you can have several sources and flavours of electricity to choose from. Where possible, for low power devices, I favour either USB powered devices or things where the output of the power supply is 12V DC and so can be powered directly from the batteries.
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Post by stellabagpuss on Apr 3, 2023 18:58:36 GMT
l guess the real challenge is low noise inverters, l actually don't know if they are noisy,but suspect they may be?
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Post by naim1425 on Apr 4, 2023 9:50:59 GMT
I doubt that they would care in the slightest. Eon have pushed like hell for me to have one installed, I have refused and cancelled 'appointments' they have made. They now will not give me a tariff except for the default one, which doesn't matter at the moment due to the government energy relief. I will eventually vote with my feet and have my eye on Octopus, who do not require a smart meter. Octopus impress me. Could be the least worst of a bad bunch They do keep asking if I'd like a smart meter Been with Octopus for years,good customer service also when you put the meter reading in you can have two free spins on the wheel of fortune.lol. |
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Post by MartinT on Apr 6, 2023 7:10:05 GMT
I have to say, all communications so far with Octopus have inspired confidence. They seem friendly, explain the hand-over process in their blog and give every impression of being professional. Good start!
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Post by MikeMusic on Apr 6, 2023 8:56:24 GMT
I may well stay with them even if their prices become less good
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Post by assisi on Apr 9, 2023 6:53:17 GMT
Where I live smart meters are compulsory and have been so for some years. The fuss when they went was whether the meters where a health issue. That issue still exists for some people. I never considered whether the meter was a system SQ issue. Maybe the House Regenerator is beneficial.
John
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