Talk Quesada forum

Hello,

It seems that more and more areas are now being notified of the impending electricity meter change, and i wondered if anyone has flat out refused to have one installed. Apparently it is a legal requirement but due to the extensive issues caused by these devices which i am reading about, i simply do not want one. The very principal that someone can come on to my land and install something i do not not want on my property without my permission should be enough cause for concern on it's own, let alone the reasons not to have one.

There are strong concerns about the safety of these devices and the emittance of high amounts of radiation. So much so that people are reporting that they have had to move because of the health issues they now have. There are also other major concerns such as the fact they can be hacked, they effectively spy on you and report if you turn on your kettle etc, the smart appliances can be remotely shut down for whatever reason and they have been known to be a fire hazard. Bills have been reported to increase drastically. They say that they're to save us money but how is a smart meter going to change my energy consumption requirements? My life experience tells me that if a company tries to sell you something which would "save money" and (in theory) lose them profits, then it's a con to begin with. The meters are said to be free but i don't buy that for a second.

Has any body had issues with these things and/or denied having one installed? Don't we have any rights any more or do we just have to bend over and take it up the jack with everything these days.

I do think you will find, when a power company decides to upgrade meters you will have no option either in Spain or UK to deny access to their meter on or off your property.

My meter is 50 yards away from my property. I now have monthly accurate bills which allows me to budget.

I have had no issues over the last 12 mths every bill reflects the usage and when I have been there.

Why would I not want a smart meter. What is there to have a problem with. Barking mad levels of paranoia.

However in the UK I have refused it as I have to be home for them to do it. As the meter is in my home..

Roach - where do you get the information for your outrageous claims? I have had a smart meter for over three years, get accurate bills and have not been ill or suffered a fire in that period. If Iberdrola want to know when I put the kettle on I'll invite someone round.

This is an excellent topic which I will be keeping my eye on.

We are being hassled by British Gas to have smart meters fitted in our house in the UK (they run both our gas and electric), and I would dearly love to have them fitted, however recent reports on Watchdog are putting us off for two reasons. Firstly there are quite a few reports of them catching fire due to poor installation by insufficiently trained engineers and secondly you cannot currently switch provider easily if at all. As we are in Moneysavingexpert's Energy Club we switch providers every year.

I am not saying any of this is applicable in Spain, and I can see the benefits of a smart meter, so hopefully Roach's comments will prove to be unfounded.

The replacement of the old meters with a smart one is by Royal Decree so I doubt you'd be allowed to refuse to have one fitted. Of course, you could always offer to pay the wages of the worker that has to come out and read the old meter.
As an aside, my bills have been reduced by about 30% since we had it fitted.

Roach wrote:Hello,
There are strong concerns about the safety of these devices and the emittance of high amounts of radiation. So much so that people are reporting that they have had to move because of the health issues they now have. There are also other major concerns such as the fact they can be hacked, they effectively spy on you and report if you turn on your kettle etc, the smart appliances can be remotely shut down for whatever reason and they have been known to be a fire hazard.

If you truly believe this then I suggest you go and live in a cave and go 'off grid'. You'll get great anti-radiation shielding from all that rock and there's no risk of those nosey people at Iberdrola taking bets on what time you're going to have your early-morning cuppa.


The only issue that you're likely to have when a smart meter is fitted is that if your existing contracted Potentia is too low then your smart meter will detect your excessive power usage and disconnect the supply until the load is reduced/disconnected. This process was previously handled by the main circuit breaker in your 'fuse box', but as these devices are much less sensitive they can allow you to draw up to 40% more current than your contracted limit.
If it turns-out that your contracted potentia was too low, and you need to increase it, then Iberdrola will want to see a report from a qualified electrician which states that your domestic wiring is capable of handling the extra current. A very sensible and safety-oriented approach, which is likely to reduce the risk of an electrical fire in your home - rather than increase the risk as you seem to believe.
Increasing your Potentia will increase your bills, but in reality you've been exceeding your contracted power limits for years, so you've been ripping-off Iberdrola without knowing it.

Pete.

I think if you suggested refusing to fit a new meter they'd probably just cut you off until you came around to their way of thinking. The existing boxes still belong to iberdrola and presume they must be allowed access in case you are bypassing the meter. High amounts of Radiation from a simple meter with perhaps the worst being wifi??? We are surrounded by radio signals unless you want to sit in a lead lined box. Appliances can be switched off by switching the power off by taking the fuse out, something Iberdrola has done for years.

A UK smart meter saves money by highlighting your usage and helps you look at options to switch to dual tariff or not.

Companies will save money by not needing meter readers.

PeteKnight wrote:

Roach wrote:Hello,
There are strong concerns about the safety of these devices and the emittance of high amounts of radiation. So much so that people are reporting that they have had to move because of the health issues they now have. There are also other major concerns such as the fact they can be hacked, they effectively spy on you and report if you turn on your kettle etc, the smart appliances can be remotely shut down for whatever reason and they have been known to be a fire hazard.

If you truly believe this then I suggest you go and live in a cave and go 'off grid'. You'll get great anti-radiation shielding from all that rock and there's no risk of those nosey people at Iberdrola taking bets on what time you're going to have your early-morning cuppa.


The only issue that you're likely to have when a smart meter is fitted is that if your existing contracted Potentia is too low then your smart meter will detect your excessive power usage and disconnect the supply until the load is reduced/disconnected. This process was previously handled by the main circuit breaker in your 'fuse box', but as these devices are much less sensitive they can allow you to draw up to 40% more current than your contracted limit.
If it turns-out that your contracted potentia was too low, and you need to increase it, then Iberdrola will want to see a report from a qualified electrician which states that your domestic wiring is capable of handling the extra current. A very sensible and safety-oriented approach, which is likely to reduce the risk of an electrical fire in your home - rather than increase the risk as you seem to believe.
Increasing your Potentia will increase your bills, but in reality you've been exceeding your contracted power limits for years, so you've been ripping-off Iberdrola without knowing it.

Pete.

Spot on Pete as usual

Some people have been ripping off Iberdrola for years and DID know it by illegally installing a higher amp ICP.

Roach, you state that having a smart meter enables the electricity company to spy on you when switching on the kettle etc. I'm pretty sure that the Spanish government are in cahoots with the CIA, to see how many tea junkies their are in the world???