With near saturation booking on TV and radio, it is impossible to get away from the British Gas and generic adverts for ‘Smart Meters’.
In a sentence, a ‘smart meter’ is a device monitoring consumption of electricity and gas in a household. It can break it down to an hour by hour or minute by minute report and it can transmit this to an app or a device in the household, as well as to the company supplying the fuel and needing to charge for it. No more 3 monthly meter readings and allowing payments to get out of sync with consumption.
All good stuff.
Apart from the bloody adverts.
The adverts revolve around two annoying characters called Gaz and Leccy.
We are told that Gaz and Leccy are out of control. We are told the only way to tame them is to install a smart meter.
But, this makes no sense. No sense whatsoever.
It is us humans that decide how and what to use of our energy supplies. If I decide in my household to open all the doors and windows whilst having the central heating on full blast, run the tumble dryer non-stop with nothing in it, leave the oven and hobs on full, and never switch off all the lights whilst using the old high wattage bulbs, then this stupidity is mine and mine alone. It has nothing to do with the fuels Gaz and Leccy, has it?
They are not out of control. It’s me that’s out of control. So, why is my own stupidity being somehow blamed on Gaz and Leccy? Having a ‘smart meter’ won’t stop me being out of control, will it?
If I was a lawyer for Gaz and Leccy, I’d sue. Gaz and Leccy are just faithfully doing their job, that’s all. And yet, some twats at an advertising agency have decided to defame them. What they should be doing is pointing out that it is only ‘prats’ that waste electricity or gas. Electricity and Gas are not of their own volition wasting themselves. The waster needs to be punched in the face, or needs to be perfectly happy to pay the bill whatever it may be.
In my case, apart from all the usual insulation, double glazing, energy efficient boilers, etc., all my lights are LED, and most turn on only when motion is detected. It always amazes me that some people have actual 100 watt bulbs burning away, despite the fact that a 4 watt LED bulb will give exactly the same light. Indeed, I know an old lady (she didn’t swallow a fly or live in a shoe) who spends most evenings in her living room with six 100 watt bulbs burning away. 600 watts. She could reduce that to 24 watts and not notice a difference in the amount of light in the room. Financially that would be a fantastic saving. However, she is happy with her 100 watt bulbs. Maybe, being old, she loves being able to moan about her Electricity bills.
Anyway, the bottom line is that this unfair demonising of poor Gaz and Leccy has to stop!
England's England 