Speaking from my own experience, the smart meter in-home displays can be a little confusing at first.  For instance, the display for gas consumption intermittently goes blank for a few hours (I assume related to mapj1 point 2 about lower frequency updates), and the unit rates etc. seem to take several days to change when new ones come in to force.  In turn, that means the spend values displayed are more of a guide than an absolute.

What is spot on though are the consumption readings, they are always in step with what the meter itself says.  So once you get over that the in-home remote display is just a rough estimate for everything else, users become less anxious about what they see.  Alternatively leave it showing just the current electricity consumption, which I find a useful hint to go scouting for things left turned on that don't need to be.

Overall, I can't really see why you wouldn't want the convenience of a smart meter to submit accurate readings to your supplier, even if you leave the display in a drawer.  They measure the same consumption after all, but more convenient, especially if your meter location is other than in a meter box on an accessible outside wall or you have mobility/ eye-sight difficulties or perhaps look after a property on behalf of an elderly relative as examples.  I'm sure there are issues as John Radley notes, but I don't think very common.  Weigh that risk versus everyday convenience.

That said, you might have a concern about the potential drawbacks of variable pricing if that were to be introduced in a serious way, which a smart meter does enable.  If that does gain any traction, I think that there are now so many installed that it would be a political hot potato for anyone proposing it unless it were to affect bills downwards.

FYI, in a related sphere of water meters, they were treated with suspicion as a way to extort more money versus an unmetered supply.  The reality today however is that anyone without a water meter is highly likely to be paying way over the odds - I know of friends who have cut their bills by 2/3 by fitting a water meter even though they use hosepipes to water the garden etc. so aren't particularly frugal.

Speaking from my own experience, the smart meter in-home displays can be a little confusing at first.  For instance, the display for gas consumption intermittently goes blank for a few hours (I assume related to mapj1 point 2 about lower frequency updates), and the unit rates etc. seem to take several days to change when new ones come in to force.  In turn, that means the spend values displayed are more of a guide than an absolute.

What is spot on though are the consumption readings, they are always in step with what the meter itself says.  So once you get over that the in-home remote display is just a rough estimate for everything else, users become less anxious about what they see.  Alternatively leave it showing just the current electricity consumption, which I find a useful hint to go scouting for things left turned on that don't need to be.

Overall, I can't really see why you wouldn't want the convenience of a smart meter to submit accurate readings to your supplier, even if you leave the display in a drawer.  They measure the same consumption after all, but more convenient, especially if your meter location is other than in a meter box on an accessible outside wall or you have mobility/ eye-sight difficulties or perhaps look after a property on behalf of an elderly relative as examples.  I'm sure there are issues as John Radley notes, but I don't think very common.  Weigh that risk versus everyday convenience.

That said, you might have a concern about the potential drawbacks of variable pricing if that were to be introduced in a serious way, which a smart meter does enable.  If that does gain any traction, I think that there are now so many installed that it would be a political hot potato for anyone proposing it unless it were to affect bills downwards.

FYI, in a related sphere of water meters, they were treated with suspicion as a way to extort more money versus an unmetered supply.  The reality today however is that anyone without a water meter is highly likely to be paying way over the odds - I know of friends who have cut their bills by 2/3 by fitting a water meter even though they use hosepipes to water the garden etc. so aren't particularly frugal.

Water meters - how does the business case work? Water company gets less income as your bill is lower yet pays out more for the capital cost of a new meter and fitting.  Why would any business do that unless there was an upside to them?  OK so I might "use" a bit less (actually i send almost all of what I "use" back to them) but not significantly for their investment decisions.

Water meters - how does the business case work?

Partly as demand increases (as the population increases) it gets increasingly expensive to provide the extra water. They can supply what they do now from the existing reservoirs etc. at a given cost, but building new infrastructure is very expensive and would raise the per unit cost for everyone. Cheaper to persuade existing customers to use less, leaving spare capacity for new customers, while avoiding the need to drown any more valleys. Overall income still increases.

  - Andy.