can't have solar panels, the spreadsheet worked out i would only make £750 over 20 years

I go my first lot of LED bulbs from HK and they have been ok, but the next lot i bought from LRHut and they have been great so far Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I just priced up domestic solar and indeed got permission from the leccy board (not straight forward as my transformer already has my commercial solar on it)
I decided against, return isnt great anymore and the house roof is slate a bit fragile At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Lost for Words wrote:

I'm extremely wary of these "smart" meters. Basically, you find that you end up paying more down the line, and then, apparently, it's illegal to fit a dumb meter to a property that already has a smart one fitted - and if you want to switch suppliers, they'll charge you to transfer the meter. Once it's fitted they've got you on their puppet strings.

Sort of weird being on a Freelander forum and reading comments about smart and efficient use of electricity! If we were vaguely interested in efficiency and money saving surely we wouldn't be driving Freelanders??

What we need is a smart meter for our Freelanders to warn us when we're getting less than 25 mpg. Oh wait no, then it would be on all the time!

Carbon offsetting!

I get 21/24mpg most fill ups to fill ups

I should buy a set of marigold to keep in the car, instead of all those forecourt plastic gloves I go through Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

RichP wrote:

Carbon offsetting!

Bibendum wrote:

Lost for Words wrote:

I'm extremely wary of these "smart" meters. Basically, you find that you end up paying more down the line, and then, apparently, it's illegal to fit a dumb meter to a property that already has a smart one fitted - and if you want to switch suppliers, they'll charge you to transfer the meter. Once it's fitted they've got you on their puppet strings.

Not sure how you get to that conclusion.

The metrology itself has to be certified, so that a kWh is measured within tolerance. That bit hasn't changed at all. Dont see how having a smart meter will make any difference to that.

It makes a difference when peak time rates and the like are inroduced... They give their customers figures based on "average" use which shows a completely different effect to the real world. It's no different to their tariffs - I get an email saying "your tariff's expiring..." with a choice of new ones, and surprise surprise, the one they suggest as cheaper for me is not cheaper once I calculate for my actual usage.

Quote:

If you swap suppliers then you keep the meter. At the moment it would become "dumb" as the different supplier systems aren't interoperable. That will change after Oct 2016 when the Data Communications Co comes on stream and all meters fitted after that date will have to use that system.

As I say, I'm only going on what I've read re changing meters etc. Once they're all on the same system, will they be charging to transfer? Presumably there's an issue for those with existing, non-compatible ones too?

The energy companies are in it for themselves and no-one else. At it's core, it doesn't beneft them if everyone starts using less energy. They use goverment initiatives to reduce energy consumption as a lever to engineer more money while trying to appear oh-so-holy to both the government and consumer.

Call me cynical all you like but that's the way things go... Freelander 2 2007 TD4 Manual HSE Tambora Flame
Discovery 3 2006 TDV6 Auto HSE Zambezi Silver
Previously: Freelander 2 2007 TD4 Manual SE Santorini Black