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Tuesday 4 May 2021

Day 414 of self-isolation - Hello, Albert Einstein here ...

Hello, Albert Einstein here ...

I keep hearing an advertisement that starts " Hello, Albert Einstein here ..." which goes on to promote smart meters.

This is fundamentally dishonest. Einstein never said anything at all like this, and pretending that he did, or would, is dishonest.

If this is someone's recommendation, then the advertisement should name him or her. "Hello, Jane Formby here ...". Or don't use a name, just give your opinion that more people should use smart meters.

They go on to claim that if everyone in this country used a smart meter, then it would save CO2 like planting 10 million trees every year until 2030.

This is a claim that you use less energy if you have a smart meter. The assumption is that people will have a better sense of how much electricity they are using, and would therefore use less. I query that. The latest research is that such a saving would be 21p per week. But it would also mean that energy providers could start to use surge pricing, making electricity cost more at peak times.

There are better ways to save electricity consumption.

So we have a weak claim (saves you CO2 and money) and a clear falsehood (I'm Albert Einstein).

If I hear this one more time, I'm going to complain, on the grounds that advertisements should be truthful.



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