Smart Meters

Leo said:
With the battery though, is it not more likely that a smart plan could be a lot cheaper for you? Fully charge your battery overnight for ~7c per kWh rather than using excess during the day that could be sold for 24c, make sure underfloor heating is on a schedule to avoid the peak hours and you're laughing.
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Might be a good summer plan but not really for winter unless you have a massive battery, HP can use 20-30 KWH on a cold day.
 
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Blackrock1 said:
you are probably aware but they are installing smart meters now that allow you to remain on a legacy d/n plan and indeed switch to a new d/n plan. We are also on a d/n plan, have ufh and an ev so works for us but have a smart meter.
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I have a smart meter and a legacy d/n plan; and I regularly check the electricity marketplace hoping to identify a smart package that would be economically attractive to me.

By the way, I'm not in any way opposed to Smart Plans, but they've got to make some economic sense to me before I'll consider switching. And thus far, none of them do.
 
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Marsupial said:
I have a smart meter and a legacy d/n plan; and I regularly check the electricity marketplace hoping to identify a smart package that would be economically attractive to me. By the way, I'm not in any way opposed to Smart Plans, but they've got to make some economic sense to me before I'll consider switching.
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Energypal.ie will help you there. As you have a smart meter you can download your data from esb networks. Upload it to energy pal and it tells you exactly what plans would save you money based on your usage
 
rustbucket said:
Energypal.ie will help you there. As you have a smart meter you can download your data from esb networks. Upload it to energy pal and it tells you exactly what plans would save you money based on your usage
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like Marsupial there isnt a smart plan that betters my current d/n offering from Bord Gais ( i have used energy pal to check)
 
rustbucket said:
Energypal.ie will help you there. As you have a smart meter you can download your data from esb networks. Upload it to energy pal and it tells you exactly what plans would save you money based on your usage
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And when the answer is "none of them" then the best option is to remain with my current plan!
 
peemac said:
I presume she also has a microwave, hairdryer and washing machine in addition to a mobile phone. All produce small levels of RF Radiation - but at a high rate than smart meters.

If she is on public transport or in a busy office she will be in close proximity to dozen of people with mobile phones constantly emitting rf radiation at several times the level of smart meters.

The problem is flat earth / covid denier types coupled with daily mail type sensationalism that you see far too often. Usually a non-peer reviewed piece of "research" by dubious "experts" add in the word CANCER to get headlines and notice.

Example was the headline a few years ago that "eating minced beef can cause elevated chance of cancer". This is actually true - HOWEVER, when peer reviewed they said you would need to be eating 1kg (7 quarter pounders) of minced beef every day for over 20 years for it to have a noticeable increased chance of cancer - an elevated risk of cancer will be the very least of your health issues if you consumed that many burgers. But the daily mail and flat earth types "forgot" to mention that part :D :D :D
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Thanks for that. I will mention to her your comment to try to assuage her fears regarding the amount of smart meters affixed to the (block concrete) outer wall of her apartment.
 
AJAM said:
The hysteria around smart meter plans is confusing to me.
People are spending hours reading message boards convincing themselves that Smart Meters are the devil.
When 10 minutes research on the Energy suppliers site clears up all most of the misconceptions.
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It's probably been said before but, the EnergyPal site, especially once you have a suitable sample of smart meter data via the My Smart Data site, is really the go to place to make sense of the available smart plans and find the best one for your needs and usage profile...

EnergyPal.ie

Use smart meter data, visualise your energy usage. Take control of your energy costs with EnergyPal.ie! Compare and find the best energy plans based on smart meter data - all for free. Start saving money and optimizing your energy consumption today
energypal.ie energypal.ie

 
ClubMan said:
It's probably been said before but, the EnergyPal site, especially once you have a suitable sample of smart meter data via the My Smart Data site, is really the go to place to make sense of the available smart plans and find the best one for your needs and usage profile...
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Well said ClubMan. EnergyPal showed me all the available plans and the cost difference between the best and worst was massive. Best plan for my actual historical usage was roughly 1000 euro per year. The worst plan was roughly 2500 euro. That's some amount of saving!
 
Current fixed price contract up for renewal with Flogas in next couple of days. Looking at last 12 months data on EnergyPal, I’m actually potentially better off switching to a Smart Plan with a 24 hour standard (but variable rate), so obviously a risk if the standard rate goes up but surely electricity rates are more likely to go down in next 12 months?
Whereas if I stay on a non smart fixed price plan it will cost me 100 euro more even if the standard rate on the smart plan doesn’t drop.

Aware I can’t switch back to a non Smart plan if I do switch once.
Is there a possibility once a high majority switch to smart plans then they will suddenly become less attractive as you cant go back?
 
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JimmyCorkhill said:
Is there a possibility once a high majority switch to smart plans then they will suddenly become less attractive as you can go back?
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The regulator is currently voicing concerns about the lack of movement to smart plans, They're increasing the number of smart plans that providers are allowed to offer in the hopes that will allow for more compelling offerings.
 
Leo said:
The regulator is currently voicing concerns about the lack of movement to smart plans, They're increasing the number of smart plans that providers are allowed to offer in the hopes that will allow for more compelling offerings.
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While that sounds hopeful, I really hope that the electricity market won't end up like the Private Health Insurance market where there appears to be a different policy for every day of the year.
 
Marsupial said:
While that sounds hopeful, I really hope that the electricity market won't end up like the Private Health Insurance market where there appears to be a different policy for every day of the year.
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Unlikely, they're increasing the limit from 4 to 6.
 
Leo said:
The regulator is currently voicing concerns about the lack of movement to smart plans, They're increasing the number of smart plans that providers are allowed to offer in the hopes that will allow for more compelling offerings.
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Maybe my views are old school but anything that people in general require to either live or are required by law to have like electricity, gas, car insurance should be run by the Government so as to ensure fair rates and not greed.
 
JimmyCorkhill said:
Maybe my views are old school but anything that people in general require to either live or are required by law to have like electricity, gas, car insurance should be run by the Government so as to ensure fair rates and not greed.
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There are plenty of examples of where things run by the government here cost a lot more than private alternatives. It costs Dublin City Council 40% more to build housing (even where they already own the land) than they can buy a privately developed home.
 
Leo said:
There are plenty of examples of where things run by the government here cost a lot more than private alternatives. It costs Dublin City Council 40% more to build housing (even where they already own the land) than they can buy a privately developed home.
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That’s all part of a wider conversation about our Governments inefficiency. I purposely didn’t mention housing when I gave examples but something like car insurance would be a good place to start imo.
 
JimmyCorkhill said:
That’s all part of a wider conversation about our Governments inefficiency. I purposely didn’t mention housing when I gave examples but something like car insurance would be a good place to start imo.
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Give me an example of a country where that has worked? Remember when the government ran Aer Lingus and it cost hundreds to flay anywhere?
 
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