Can I refuse to have my ESB Meter replaced with a Smart Meter?

Leo said:
Even the current Indo headline "Thousands warned over 'malfunctioning' smart meters leading to overcharging" is nonsense. Reading the article it's clear the meters work exactly as expected, but they are in locations with no mobile coverage so can't connect to update, and then people are somehow surprised that bills based on estimated readings are not 100% accurate! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Just wondering out loud, if you're on a smart plan and in a bad reception area how do you provide meter readings
As in day night and peak readings, is there a button to push on the meter that gives you these readings
 
Whatever about how long a smart meter lasts, I would not be happy to have a ten years + smart meter which has not been recalibrated.
 
S class said:
Whatever about how long a smart meter lasts, I would not be happy to have a ten years + smart meter which has not been recalibrated.
Click to expand...

Do these metres need to be recalibrated? In the analogue metres the suspicion was that analogue metres was they would under read due to wear of bearings etc. Does similar wear and tear happen with digital metres? Also is there any plan to switch of the 2G network they are working on? I can't see it staying live forever.
 
Harvard said:
Do these metres need to be recalibrated? In the analogue metres the suspicion was that analogue metres was they would under read due to wear of bearings etc. Does similar wear and tear happen with digital metres? Also is there any plan to switch of the 2G network they are working on? I can't see it staying live forever.
Click to expand...
Digital electronic multimeters need to be recalibrated at regular intervals.
These read voltage and current. These are the two components which make up watts.
So I would imagine that an electronic meter reading kilowatts would also need regular recalibration.
 
S class said:
Digital electronic multimeters need to be recalibrated at regular intervals.
These read voltage and current. These are the two components which make up watts.
So I would imagine that an electronic meter reading kilowatts would also need regular recalibration.
Click to expand...
Read the link above.
 
Forumuser said:
I opted out of the scheme last year. Very easy. I phoned the ESB and told them that I do not want their smart meter. No problem for them. I got a letter from them as well confirming that I won't get the meter installed.
We use around 2300 kw per year. I monitor everything for the last 25 years. All old bulbs were replaced with LED lamps. All electrical items have been changed to low consumption items. Every socket has a switch to prevent anything being in stand-by mode by accident.
I read the meter every 60 days and sent in the reading via the ESB online facility. I am doing that for at least 5 years now- no meter reader around here anymore for a long time.
We do not intend to do our washing in the middle of the night or on Sundays or whatever funny times the power is for free. We want to use our energy when we want- and not, when a plan allows it for free.
I am well aware that at some day down the road our old analogue meter will be replaced with a smart meter due to old age. But we carry on till then.
I do not believe I would save anything with it. A bit of common sense saves you more than this gadget.
By the way- an analogue meter lasts for many decades. A smart meter lasts for about 10 years- and needs to be replaced regularly. A huge pile of electronic junk will be produced that way.
Click to expand...
Enjoy the feeling of ever-lasting inaccuracy. ESB are happy to keep overcharging you.
 
S class said:
Digital electronic multimeters need to be recalibrated at regular intervals.
These read voltage and current. These are the two components which make up watts.
So I would imagine that an electronic meter reading kilowatts would also need regular recalibration.
Click to expand...
No need to imagine they don't need recalibration.. In fact they use proprietary techniques to prevent the effects of drift by temperature and time. They are accurate to 0.1%...The firmware can also be upgraded remotely if ever required.

A certain USMC based here makes millions by designing, manufacturing and selling to the leading elec engineering metering companies of the world for last 20yrs

The spinning magnetic disk is analogous to comparing the POTs Ballyvourney 35 system with 5G Telephony, you would not prefer a 1970s meter to the precision of these instruments.
The issue of 2G comms to the meter does not affect the accuracy.
Kalstrup meters are used by ESBN .
 
Last edited:
clinteastwood said:
Mad. Enjoy your inaccurate bills for perpetuity .
Click to expand...
According to a headline in yesterday's Irish Independent at least 80,000 of the shiny new digital devices are giving inaccurate readings, who'da thunk? I mean all the high-paid help, expensive contractors and the Greens and they end up back on square one for the poor consumer - over-paying again!

www.independent.ie

Thousands warned over ‘malfunctioning’ smart meters leading to overcharging – ESB admits ‘connectivity issue’

Thousands of homeowners who have smart electricity meters have been warned the devices may be malfunctioning, leading to them being overcharged.
www.independent.ie www.independent.ie
 
Last edited:
Usual appalling journalism from the Indo.

People have been sent estimated bills because the smart meter connectivity is poor, which for anyone who lives in rural Ireland is probably no surprise. Report does not say the meters are giving innaccurate readings, just that people are getting estimated bills for a period

Easily resolved if someone was sent out to read the meter mannually the old fashioned way.

Having said that, I have no idea how to use my smart meter to get the best package as it is just overly confusing
 
mathepac said:
According to a headline in yesterday's Irish Independent at least 80,000 of the shiny new digital devices are giving inaccurate readings, who'da thunk? I mean all the high-paid help, expensive contractors and the Greens and they end up back on square one for the poor consumer - over-paying again!

www.independent.ie

Thousands warned over ‘malfunctioning’ smart meters leading to overcharging – ESB admits ‘connectivity issue’

Thousands of homeowners who have smart electricity meters have been warned the devices may be malfunctioning, leading to them being overcharged.
www.independent.ie www.independent.ie
Click to expand...
You clearly didn't read that article, the headline is misleading at best, pure Indo clickbait. The readings are perfectly accurate, just the meters are installed in locations where there is no coverage, so they are unable to send those readings.
 
clinteastwood said:
Mad. Enjoy your inaccurate bills for perpetuity .
Click to expand...
Some people prefer horses to cars, for now it's their choice. In time when their analogue meter finally gives up the ghost, ESB Networks have reserved the right to charge for installing a new meter, which will be a smart meter.
 
But are old meter bills inaccurate? Or are you referring to the estimation of bills as the inaccuracy? I still have an old meter but never get an estimated bill obviously as I submit the reading regularly plus my meter is actually read occasionally by a real live person.

On the other hand and obviously must be a bit of a one off I hope I spent 9 months of last year back and forth with Electric Ireland disputing a bill where a new meter had been fitted for storage heaters, it looks like those pics of the smart meters and definitely isn't the same as the old one already there for daytime heating. It was a hard slog with them threatening disconnection and insisting the person got a pay as you go meter and take a payment plan to pay the arrears. However it was just impossible that the units shown on the meter which EI said was installed new with a zero amount could possibly have been used over the time period and eventually they agreed it was impossible and refunded nearly 900 euro. The customer would have given in early on and paid up as they were just not able for the fight or good at putting their side but their partner agreed with me that it should be disputed so the correspondence was left up to me.
 
Leo said:
In time when their analogue meter finally gives up the ghost, ESB Networks have reserved the right to charge for installing a new meter, which will be a smart meter.
Click to expand...
Where do you see this? It's not mentioned in the ESB FAQs. It's not a new connection installation.

Surely if a meter is broken then ESB would have to provide a replacement free of charge? Isn't that what the standing charge is for?
 
Monbretia said:
However it was just impossible that the units shown on the meter which EI said was installed new with a zero amount could possibly have been used over the time period and eventually they agreed it was impossible and refunded nearly 900 euro.
Click to expand...
I don't have a smart meter installed so I'm not familiar with the process. As part of the installation process, do they not get the property owner to sign off on a zero meter reading? If they don't, are property owners advised to take a meter reading themselves?
 
Páid said:
I don't have a smart meter installed so I'm not familiar with the process. As part of the installation process, do they not get the property owner to sign off on a zero meter reading? If they don't, are property owners advised to take a meter reading themselves?
Click to expand...
In this case they definitely didn't anyway and the customers didn't even think of looking at it, I asked EI had they taken a pic for example after installation that would prove it was zero but they hadn't, they just said it was at zero!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top