Internet Of Everything - is it just me?

[Lunar]

I'm sorry but when I see adverts like this it makes me wonder how intelligent we really are with this IOE stuff.

How long is it going to take to to save £45 (plus the fitting cost) on one radiator, even at the "bargain" discount price?

I recently got a letter from my energy supplier saying they had made me an appointment for them to come and fit a smart meter (if ever there was an ironic name) - well pardon me but they can just F off - how dare they make such assumptions - I thought I was their customer not vice-versa. It's all just misplaced target-led rubbish.

Oh, and happy Sunday everyone - feel better for that

Car thoroughly valeted yesterday and today is machine polish and wax day - I do enjoy my therapy...

[DaddyDarren]

Morning Lunar,

I’m a Plumber/Gas Engineer. Wait till pins start sticking. Kids, vacuum cleaners, snap them off. I’m all for modern technology but some of this stuff is more about having technology for technologies sake.

I’m off out for a drive & a coffee!

[cj10jeeper]

I'm sorry but when I see adverts like this it makes me wonder how intelligent we really are with this IOE stuff.

How long is it going to take to to save £45 (plus the fitting cost) on one radiator, even at the "bargain" discount price?

I recently got a letter from my energy supplier saying they had made me an appointment for them to come and fit a smart meter (if ever there was an ironic name) - well pardon me but they can just F off - how dare they make such assumptions - I thought I was their customer not vice-versa. It's all just misplaced target-led rubbish.

Oh, and happy Sunday everyone - feel better for that

Car thoroughly valeted yesterday and today is machine polish and wax day - I do enjoy my therapy...

TRV.JPG

The meter belongs to the utility company, not you. They can change it to what they want when they want. They make the appointment so you don’t get the power switched off without notice. One fitted in my current home years ago and one in my mother’s a month ago. Never have or will look at the consumption in such a crude manner.
If you chose to look at, read or bother with the display they give you it’s up to you. From their side they can read meters remotely whenever they want. I don’t see the problem.

Separately I switched to Hive and remote rad valves and other gadgets and am £500 a year better off, so don’t knock the tech too much. I can shut my heating and water down from anywhere in the world and back on as I board flights home. My office is not heated when I’m on client site, dining room cold in the day, etc. and I don’t need to touch anything. Pretty cool, but each to their own.

[Lunar]

Exactly Darren - I've been doing a bit of gentle pin tapping and TRV head v vacuum cleaner casualty work just recently!

And sorry cj but I can't believe they can come into my house as and when they want to, just to replace my room thermostat with a smart meter one. I'm more than happy to supply the reading myself, so it's just changing stuff for the sake of it. And when you change supplier isn't there an issue (maybe fixed now?) with some of the smart units not being compatible or easy to be taken over?

From your side £500 a year saving is certainly handy, you must be chuffed with that. That's either one big place you have there or it was not running very efficienty. Did the remote valves replace existing TRVs?

From my side I just turn the water and heat back on / up when I walk through the door and by the time I've unpacked it's where I want it again.
If it's particularly nippy there's always the gas fire or a jumper like people used to wear around the house in the olden days.

It's my carbon footprint offset for the money spent on Momentum 98 for the Jag

[cj10jeeper]

And sorry cj but I can't believe they can come into my house as and when they want to, just to replace my room thermostat with a smart meter one. I'm more than happy to supply the reading myself, so it's just changing stuff for the sake of it. And when you change supplier isn't there an issue (maybe fixed now?) with some of the smart units not being compatible or easy to be taken over?

From your side £500 a year saving is certainly handy, you must be chuffed with that. That's either one big place you have there or it was not running very efficienty. Did the remote valves replace existing TRVs?

From my side I just turn the water and heat back on / up when I walk through the door and by the time I've unpacked it's where I want it again.
If it's particularly nippy there's always the gas fire or a jumper like people used to wear around the house in the olden days.

Few comments to your points above:

May be different, but nobody came into either of my homes to install. They just changed the meter in the outside box which sends them remotely readings. It actually does it every 30 minutes so they can recommend better energy plans to suit. Nothing to do with my room stats., etc. The indoor piece is just a box they handed me that I can plug in and it gives me data on consumption. Never used it.

Very pleased with the saving. I replaced standard TRV's which my wife has all set to high level, so on a 5 bed 3 floor house the swap to Pegler that are remote programmed by hour by temp for each rad. really helped. Combined with Hive (sophisticated wifi boiler control and stat.) it gives full control of the water and heat, so in essence each room is at the right temp when likely to be occupied. You simply cannot do this stuff manually.

Totally get that we could turn on heat and water as we enter the house but I work overseas a lot and we spend a many weeks on vacation and with only 2 in a big house we find the tech great

[Dan_Veluwe]

Wow.. ...how 'smart' my 2006BY house must be then... .. not internet needed even..

- I do not need to change thermostat settings at all [ pre-setting depending on room orientation and projected heatloss ];
- I only read my electricity meter once a year ;

Since I have a very high level of insulation and floor heating throughout the house, with a closed-loop octaganal-lines feed,
I pay on average € 100,- per month in electricity for heating the house and tapwater...

No, its not a council flat.. .. its over 2000sqft [ including corridors and heated garage with stuff & no room for a car..].

[chicb]

Think the smart meter is a government led thing. Everyone has to have them in the next couple of years. They change something at the meter & install a small box, which as previously stated, you can read or not. They don't do anything to your thermostat or radiators. They collect the data remotely, so no more meter readers calling & if you have a direct debit, they can change the amount if you are using more/less power so you don't end up owing a fortune or having a large sum in the power companies bank account. Personally I think its a good thing

[SOLDES]

Smart meters are becoming obligatory here as well. I'm in the same camp as Lunar. They don't need to check my meter readings every half hour. I'm more then capable enough to control my consumption and send out the readings once and a while. I don't need that 3rd party invasion in my house. I never got offered a cheaper plan after the yearly bill, on the contrary. They sell it as a energy saving measure and giving you more control over your consumption. How? I use what I need to use and not going to freak out when the meter goes nuts while I turn on the one remaining filament bulb in my house.

[scm]

... having a large sum in the power companies bank account. Personally I think its a good thing

My power supplier pays me 5% interest for any credit balance I have.

[cj10jeeper]

Smart meters are becoming obligatory here as well. I'm in the same camp as Lunar. They don't need to check my meter readings every half hour. I'm more then capable enough to control my consumption and send out the readings once and a while. I don't need that 3rd party invasion in my house. I never got offered a cheaper plan after the yearly bill, on the contrary. They sell it as a energy saving measure and giving you more control over your consumption. How? I use what I need to use and not going to freak out when the meter goes nuts while I turn on the one remaining filament bulb in my house.

For sure they don't need to check meter readings every half hour. The last one I had installed gave options from 30 mins varying up to monthly
You don't have to have third party invasion, in fact surely the opposite that a meter that is remore read saves invasion, especially for people who have meters in their house?
Something is clearly very different by region as every year for electricity and gas I get offered different rate plans with an indication of which is the cheapest. For sure in general prices go up year on year so 'saving' is a relative term

I'm afraid in general I don't follow the indignation about the tech. Use it or ignore it, it will only get more and more as it does in our cars