Smart Meters.

[missprim]

Tomorrow I am having a smart meter fitted for my gas and electric so I can see how much I am using and so my bills will not be estimated.

Does anyone know if the Water Utility Companies will be fitting these meters in the future?

[douglas9401]

Don't know about water missprim but I'd recommend that you put your in-house display somewhere that you can't see it every minute of every day.
I know to the penny how much a teenage shower costs.
Better just to wait for the bill (for your health)

[missprim]

It has been pointed out to me that if I can see how much gas/electric I am using I would probably use less, well I don't know about that but apparantly we all have to have them by 2019?? and because I got a letter to say they are in the area ,I decided to get it done.
The reason I would like a smart water meter fitted is so I can check to see if I'm using as much water as the Utilities company say I am.

[Old_Geezer]

I don't understand why anyone would want to give such control to the utility company and hackers. I'm sure if you wanted to cut down you can do so anyway, and estimated bills are not so bad, and avoidable if the meter is accessible from outside anyway.

[missprim]

OG the reason I want to find out if water companies fit these smart meters is because although I have cut down on my water consumption as much as I can, I still feel they are charging me too much.
I had a big debate about it last night on smurfchops thread about Water Meters.

[Old_Geezer]

I was referring to the other meters, but yes the water one as well I suppose.

So you can not cut down without access to a figure telling how much you use ? The giving total control of your supply to an employee sat in an office somewhere, and the risk of malicious individuals also gaining control, hardly seems worth it.

[whiskeryron]

I have NEVER paid an estimated bill, if I received one I would always immediately phone the correct reading in. After all I don't go to a Supermarket checkout & ask for an estimated bill for my groceries.

Ron.

[HowardKennitby]

Apparently some of them don't work very well

http://www.dailymail....d-warns-watchdog.html

[dotty.]

I don't know how mine works cos it tells me what i am using at any given time (freaks me out when i boil the kettle!) and it tots it up over each day, but i can't see any clue as to the cumulative amount used.

[missprim]

Well I have the smart meter fitted for the gas and electric now and I honestly believe it will encourage me to use less as there is a traffic light sysem on the front which if it shows green, everything is good, Amber obviously using more and Red shows perhaps you may have left something on or you are just using more at that time.
The meter was in green before I switched my computer on and now it's turned to Amber.
Usually I switch my computer on when I get up and off when I go to bed, I even leave it on when I go out but this has taught me to switch it on when I need it and off when I don't.
Common sense I know but being able to see the light on the meter will remind me to switch off.
I'm hoping that this will reduce my energy bills.
I asked the man who fitted it whether he thought the Water Utilities companies would do this in time but he didn't think they would.

[buildersmate]

There's plenty of unmetered domestic properties in the UK which need water meters installed before the utility companies are going to get excited about fitting smart meters.
And for domestic use, there's no big deal for water companies being able to know when (in the day) customers use their water - unlike energy when the system has to be able to cope with the peak demand.
So I can't see this happening anytime soon.
But your question is somewhat flawed in any event as merely having ANY water meter enables you to monitor your own consumption - so there's no reason why the bill has to be estimated at all.

[DaisyNonna]

Apparently got water metered today. Not going to be charged for metered water for 3 months until I have got used to it ! What on earth does that mean? No choice in the matter. Just a letter to say that this is happening. On whose say so? Yes, perhaps my water bills will decrease but who is in charge of these decisions?

[buildersmate]

It means that you will continue to be charged for unmetered water for 3 more months whilst the meter is tested. At that point the meter will be read and an assessment of the likely monthly bill made.

[boxtops]

missprim, you can get a water meter fitted if you switch to metered water - ours is in the shed, we can read it any time we want.

[missprim]

I think my thread is a bit misleading.
I already have a water meter but it's in the ground in the pavement, so to see how much water I'm using I would have to go out there on my hands and knees which I can't do.
What I was hoping for is some sort of easy access meter that I can easily read like this smart meter for gas and electric I've had installed today which is in my kitchen.
Think I might just phone United Utilities to see what they have to offer.
Thanks for all your replies.

[buildersmate]

Small boy, on the promise of a sixpence reward for his efforts?

[boxtops]

Ah, missprim, we have one of those out in the road - but because we pay on the meter reading now, we have an internal one as well on the incoming waterpipe.

[missprim]

Only small boy I know is my grandson who s only 5yrs old.
Boxy that sounds just what I would like. On either side of my front door is a box.
One has the gas meter and the other the electric.
One of these also houses a water meter but it doesn't work.
When I enquired about it I as told these meters are not reliable and so they disconnected them.
I will enquire some more and if I get no joy from them I will ask offwatt.