Old Energy Meters obsolete

[Mups]

Just a quickie question if I may.

Does anyone know if, when an energy company come and put you a new meter in,  do they charge us  for it?

I am a bit worried because they've been saying on the news yesterday and today,  that the old style energy meters will stop working at the end of  June.

 I have resisted having a smart meter all this time,  but now, I don't know if my present meter is the type they are switching off or not?  
I presume they would notify me first and not just leave me with no power?

Anyway,  does anyone know whether there will there be a charge if they make me have it changed now?
Ta muchly. 

[klondike]

Meters come free.  Or rather you won't be charged for one directly the cost is borne by all from the standing charge part of the bill.

While all meters have a limited lifetime I think the meters they are saying will stop working are actually smart meters and the only thing that will stop working is thd smart part of them. I remember reading some time ago that the mobile phone network was dropping either 2G or 3G support to free up some bandwidth for newer technologies so you won't be impacted anyway. When they decide your meter needs replacing due to age I think they'll put in a smart meter.

June 06, 2025, 11:34:57 PM
I looked it up and it isn't that but you are still not likely to be impacted.


The electricity meters being phased out are those that use Radio Teleswitch (RTS) technology, which is the BBC radio service that controls these meters. This includes Economy 7 meters and other multi-rate meters that use RTS. The RTS service will be switched off on June 30, 2025.

[Scrumpy]

I have old meters for gas and electric..
My gas meter is outside ... my electric one in the porch..
I do  meter readings online..  
I will not have a Smart meter.. even though they continue to offer it... 
I have a fixed rate (payment) over two years.. 

Mups... Don't let things scare you.. They are a crafty lot and will try all the tricks in the book to get you on a smart meter..  They are NOT compulsory..

[JBR]

I have old meters for gas and electric..
My gas meter is outside ... my electric one in the porch..
I do  meter readings online.. 
I will not have a Smart meter.. even though they continue to offer it...
I have a fixed rate (payment) over two years..

Mups... Don't let things scare you.. They are a crafty lot and will try all the tricks in the book to get you on a smart meter..  They are NOT compulsory..

I am exactly the same.  I have never been interested in so-called 'smart' meters, in my case because I was aware of the possibility of them being able to cut your electricity off remotely in the case of a shortage.
I go for a walk down our front path once every month, read the two meters and post the readings online.
They trust me not to lie, but they are free to pop over and have a look themselves as both meters are openly accessible outside.

[Mups]

Thank you so much Klondy, Scrumps and JBR. 
Having looked now,  mine doesn't seem to the RTS type, and I haven't heard anything from Octopus either,  so I think I will be alright . .  this time anyway!

I have no doubt it will come to us all at some point though. I just think that if something aint broke, leave well alone as long as its still doing its job alright.

I prefer to pay my gas & electric monthly,  same as the water bill.   
I read my meters and send the reading through online.  They usually tell me same day what the bill is and take the appropiate amount.   Job done.  Its so easy.   I don't want them meddling.

Its same as Nationwide this week.  They have send me two letters for two differernt accounts, telling me my account number and sort code have changed.   Why?  Was it a scam was my first thought.
So I phoned their Head Office to ask if changing my accounts like this will affect my direct debits going out, or me paying in, if the account details have been altered.   
They said No. It won't affect anything.   So why meddle with it in the first place then??

I told the young man I am not a 15 yr old technical kid,  and older people often don't understand all this meddling.   He admitted he had received two calls before mine too!   I said to expect a shed load more by weekend as well, no doubt.     He just laughed.

Anyone else with Nationwide here?  Have you been told old savings accounts details are changing?

[klondike]

Worth a look if this bothers you...

https://octopus.energy/blog/meter-certification-date/

I opted for a smart meter a long time ago when occupying a static caravan on a close to permanent basis during at least half of the year triggered lots of meter "safety checks" i.e. they though the seriously low bills were because I bypassed the meters and that got on my nerves.

The amusing thing to me was this was in the days when it was actually worth switching supply companies every year to get the best price and HMG's rush to fall in line with EU directives lead to us having meters that stopped being smart every time you changed supplier. I had at least 3 different smart meters until the energy market went mad and my supplier went bust and I ended up with Octopus as a default switch. Initially the meter I had stopped being smart but they did eventually get to support it and lo it was once again smart.

[JBR]

Worth a look if this bothers you...

https://octopus.energy/blog/meter-certification-date/

I opted for a smart meter a long time ago when occupying a static caravan on a close to permanent basis during at least half of the year triggered lots of meter "safety checks" i.e. they though the seriously low bills were because I bypassed the meters and that got on my nerves.

The amusing thing to me was this was in the days when it was actually worth switching supply companies every year to get the best price and HMG's rush to fall in line with EU directives lead to us having meters that stopped being smart every time you changed supplier. I had at least 3 different smart meters until the energy market went mad and my supplier went bust and I ended up with Octopus as a default switch. Initially the meter I had stopped being smart but they did eventually get to support it and lo it was once again smart.

Oh, bad luck, sir!

[Mups]

Worth a look if this bothers you...

https://octopus.energy/blog/meter-certification-date/

I opted for a smart meter a long time ago when occupying a static caravan on a close to permanent basis during at least half of the year triggered lots of meter "safety checks" i.e. they though the seriously low bills were because I bypassed the meters and that got on my nerves.

The amusing thing to me was this was in the days when it was actually worth switching supply companies every year to get the best price and HMG's rush to fall in line with EU directives lead to us having meters that stopped being smart every time you changed supplier. I had at least 3 different smart meters until the energy market went mad and my supplier went bust and I ended up with Octopus as a default switch. Initially the meter I had stopped being smart but they did eventually get to support it and lo it was once again smart.

Thanks for that info Klondike,  I'll have a read.

I have declined having a smart meter all this time, for three reasons:

1. This old one still works fine.
2. I've heard how many of the early smart meters installed were nothing but trouble.
3. I have also read about them giving off loads of radiation, and I don't like the sound of that.

[klondike]

1. Fair doos but there ard no ongoing accuracy tests
2. I've not heard that but as you've read above I've had quite a few of them and apart from the various SMET1 types which are now discontinued not being compatible with all providers so that the smart functionality stopping when I switched none were any trouble. I never bothered with the pointless current usage displays that came with any of them and they may give been unreliable I suppose.
3. I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories but a tinfoil hat would doubtless protect against these along with some crystals which should stop the aliens using those radiations to spy on you.

[Mups]

Klondie,  do you HAVE to have one of those things stuck indoors that tells you what you're using?

[klondike]

No. Pointless. I use what I need when I need it. I know which things use a lot and which are trivial already and in any case am I going to drink cold tea because heating it up costs £0.007p?

All the smart meter does is report usage every 30 minutes to the supplier

[Mups]

No. Pointless. I use what I need when I need it. I know which things use a lot and which are trivial already and in any case am I going to drink cold tea because heating it up costs £0.007p?

All the smart meter does is report usage every 30 minutes to the supplier

Thanks again.  I feel a lot better about it all now.  

[Raven]

We got a Smart Meter just over a year ago, not had any bother with it. It came with the wee box that tells you everything but it's something else to dust so it's in a drawer. My pal has one too but it's a pay as you go one, she needs to have her wee box plugged in to see her balance. She doesn't go to the shop to top up she does it on the App, again had no bother with it. She was forced to take one though as her old meter stopped taking payments for some reason, she was in hysterics over having to get a Smart one, but soon realised there was nothing to worry about.

[Mups]

Thanks Raven.  

[klondike]

Just came across this video on them. Not watched it very far yet but look at the blokes eyes. One blue one brown just like those dogs. Forgotten breed but look like huskies