Always on
This project successfully funded on 13th September 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
How accurate is your smart meter ?
Bicester, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Aim
To ensure that nobody is overcharged by an electricity smart meter
I noticed last year after the installation of a so-called " smart meter " that our apparent energy consumption , as apparently reported from a recently installed digital smart meter, was significantly higher than in the adjacent months, even though our energy use was constant over the relevant period. From measurement some years ago in my laboratory in Oxford I had become aware of a mechanism which could potentially explain this form of overcharging. The reason for this campaign is to bring together a group of people who have had similar experiences, raise some initial funding , and start to commission the research needed to establish on a sound scientific basis what about 40% of smart meter users currently believe, namely that they are being overcharged for their energy use.
This is potentially a significant problem for everyone : the total spend by private consumers on electricity is now a little over £30 billion per annum. There are reports in the media and elsewhere of consumers receiving bills which are obviously too high , sometimes even by an order of magnitude.
There are a number of ways in which digital so called "smart meters" can read high, and we will now investigate this by research. Reports suggest that total overcharging arising from smart meters lies between five and ten percent of customer's total spend , ie between £1.5 and £ 3 billion per annum.
Our current hope is that those who believe they are overcharged will donate a small sum toward this research. We have already assembled a small team with the necessary skills and expertise , and the intention will be to help customers to be refunded when there is evidence of overcharging.
We hope you like the photo of Einstein - his image is being used to convince us to install smart meters , but you will see that he does look somewhat quizzical.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made