Our energy supplier, for both gas and electricity, is British Gas. We were "moved" to them when Scottish Power collapsed. We have "readable" meters for both, have had for decades. Before the internet, energy suppliers employed a company to read the meters. They then dispensed with their services and now those with these meters, are trusted to post their own on their website. The government want everyone to be on a "smart meter." They are encouraging suppliers to change the meters of those who have not yet got them. British Gas have used all sort of "ploys" to get people like me to change, like "we can no longer collect the readings, your meters are out of date etc.," I don't want a smart meter. It might make it more difficult to change supplier. But my main objection is that I don't want the disruption of workman in my house changing both the gas and electric meters. I'm quite happy to read them myself and post them on their website once a month, a five-minute job. Over the years British gas has sent me e-mails asking me to change, I've always said no and "stop sending me e-mails." They stopped for a bit, but I got another the other day. So I went on their website "complaints" section and said, "If I get one more e-mail saying I have to have a smart meter, I'll terminate the contract at the end of its period." This prompted, a phone call this morning from their "Complaints Department." Well a very polite Indian gentleman, with a poor command of the English language, probably working from home in the foothills of the Himalayas. Don't laugh, I had occasion a few months ago to phone the "service department" of Miele, a respected German manufacturer of domestic appliances. It turned out the "department" was a lady working from home in Greece. Anyway, I've had an apology from British Gas, the e-mails will stop (I won't hold my breath) and they've given me £40 off my account as compensation. That's a "spit in the ocean" considering I pay by direct debit, £200 a monthly.
I think it's pretty weird to have a meter inside the house. All our electric meters are on the outside of the house and the meter reader reads them without bothering anyone. We are changing, here in the States to the new ones that a guy, from the road, can point an instrument at the meter and it gives him a reading. That's even better since people who have dogs in the yard don't have to keep their dog inside on meter reading day anymore. Over here in my town you can complain all you like. No action follows and you definitely won't get money !!
You have two choices with old houses when it comes to paying for water. You can be on a fixed payment monthly, which I was when I had a koi pool, because as well as filtration, I changed 10% of the water through a trickle change to a drain. That would have been 300 gallons every week. I think I was paying around £80 a month. Since closing down the pool six years ago, I've been on a water meter. The cost of this has gone up considerably from thirty-odd pounds a month, to now £51.75. The water meter is in the pavement outside our house. It's read twice a year. The "reader" which is done automatically, is on the side of the "bin lorry," these of course visit every property once a week.
We get our water meter and electric meter read on the same day every month. Water meters are in the swale between the sidewalk and the road. Whatever you use in water is calculated into sewer usage so, we have a water bill and a sewer bill in my town. The water, sewer, electric and garbage collection are all on one "Utility" bill that comes monthly. My water bill is usually $20. but if I need to water the garden a lot, it's $40. sewer is almost as much as water bill. Garbage is $14.65 a month and electric, when not using heat or air, $65 but in winter it can be as much as $180 if it's really cold and around $100 in summer for Air conditioning. I keep the thermostat around 79°f in summer and 68° f in winter.
This has turned into a complaint department of sorts for household electric and water meter readers. OK .. well… In the case of changing meters and upscaling to online computer driven thermostat’s called Nest in this country, everytime the power goes out which has been 4 times just this week due to forest fires. Guess what ? I loose the ability to use my thermostat AC & heating due to the computer online upgrade. So I took it off the online computer upgrade and just use it manually as usual when the power comes back on. It’s a huge pain when we loose power gotta have all the usual info to get the system back online… passwords , Face ID, user name, address etc. drives me crazy. Plus we have no fiber optics here and it’s tricky to find a service available in my area that can offer a decent speed online. It takes forever to get back online. This last time took me 2 days. Even when we loose power we have no water, everything is electric even the well pump and the pressure tanks for water usage for the house, with one huge exception… and that is the winter oil furnace. This is a whole different story to manage which would take pages and pages of abusive stories from over the years to explain. Finding responsible maintenance for oil furnaces these days is impossible. Not to mention the extremely high oil prices . I have had so many issues due to irresponsible management and maintenance companies sending useless guys out which have been completely incompetent workers that have cost me more $ in repairs in the long run . So if this link is a repair complaint page sign me up . I promise to withhold a few choice words just to keep the peace. I have learnt over the years that you recover more compensation, compliance & better service by applying the sugar & honey treatment than trying to reason, justify or simply make sense of the issue. Keep it simple when dealing with any random department manager that the public utility company employs. I just skip the scripted responses offered. There is no win, win .. it’s usually a loss of energy and time on my part. So as the French say… “C'est la vie" .
I don't economise on water. Our garden gets all the water it needs. The difference it would make each year, wouldn't be as much as the cost of replacing just one medium sized plant that died through lack of water, if I didn't do it.
I have a brother-in-law who works for an electric company, and he won't do the smart meter in his own home which is supplied a different outfit. He told not to do it even if the add a fee for not doing it. He said that old meters don't properly register usage of LED and energy efficient lighting as well as the new meters. So, the switch is more for them bleeding every cent they can out of you. At least here in the states is the case for these meters.
We have no choice whether or not to upgrade to smart meters. We have a smart meter that the electric company installed free of charge to automatically read our electrical usage. An installed smart electric meter looks similar in shape and size to a traditional meter but features a digital, white LCD display with numbers instead of spinning dials, and has a small communications hub or module attached. We no longer need a meter reader to visit our home, as the smart meter automatically transmits our energy usage data to the utility company wirelessly. It’s easier for us in the long run. We don’t have to worry about the reader meter guy leaving the gate open for the dogs to escape or even worry about a huge climbing rose that has grown over the top and hidden the meter from view. Many studies show it is more accurate and in many cases newer home divisions even balance out the electrical usage in the entire division to keep the prices down for each homeowner. In many cases it is more economical than the old reader guessing especially when weather conditions in the past made the meters unapproachable. And when we loose power we are not charged for the time it is out. This is when I am thankful for the wood burning stove.
One of my concerns about smart meters, is that at the moment, some suppliers are offering electricity at discount rates for off-peak usage, to encourage people to have a smart meter. But people aren't going to change their usage by much, as they want the power to be available when they want it. i.e. early morning and evening meal times. Suppliers are under pressure to continually to cope with the increasing demand for power. To the extent that Britain has an arrangement with France to supply each other with some power at peak periods, when the time difference is an hour. Common sense tells me that if the government manages to get most people on these meters, it's likely that we will end up paying premium rates for peak usage.
I'm on a well for water, and septic tank / drainage field for sewer. I know where the drainage field is, because the grass is greener there, even in dry summertime. The well sometimes needs maintenance, and the septic system needs a check every three years, but otherwise, not too many issues. No real complaints about power either. I suppose they have a way to read it without leaving their vehicle. I don't know. I did have propane, mostly for the gas stove. A few years ago, they tripled the fee, overnight. I realized I could buy a new induction stove for the price of one year's propane supply. So I did. As for successful complaining, @Doghouse Riley really knows how to do it! I'm impressed. Also as @Anniekay says, no utility around here gives a #$¡!¥€£ about it!
