Smart Meters

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussion' started by pete, Oct 18, 2014.

  1. pete

    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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    Been hearing quite a bit about these recently.

    Cant work out the benefits myself, does anyone have one yet?

    They say they will lower our fuel bills but I'm wondering how?

    I also heard reported that its going to cost us up to £200 per household to have them fitted, of course we wont pay directly, but the energy companies are not going to pay for them and neither is the government, so..........its to poor old consumer that ends up with the bill.

    That aside, how do they save you money?
    By turning off the heating in mid winter, sit there shivering, because you can see the pennies ticking away?
    I was sent an energy monitor from British Gas a few years ago, its in land fill now, not very green I know, but couldn't work out the point of it all.

    Any thoughts?
     
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    • Scrungee

      Scrungee Well known for it

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      We simply take meter readings every week, put them into a spreadsheet to monitor costs, estimate our next bill and compare weeks and quarters against other years. We know what each appliance costs to use so think these meters are a waste of money. Spoke to an Electricity Co. employee about them last week and he said people use them for a week, realise that turning stuff on uses electricity, then don't bother with them and also thought they're a massive waste of money.
       
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      • "M"

        "M" Total Gardener

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        Just been reading up on this and it seems it's being rolled out between 2015-2020.

        How will it save you money? The usual budgeting route, I suppose e.g. Oops, that cost a lot, what can I do to save a bit.
        The other way is, by making it easier to switch to a different (cheaper) provider.

        Being cynical, I can only see that it will *cost* us money ... seems there will be a carbon emissions reading ... how long before that is utilised to charge people on *that* figure :noidea:

        This is where I began reading up: - Gov's Guide to Smart Meters
         
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        • pete

          pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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          When they ask where I want the read out installed I'll probably suggest the outside bog..
           
        • Greecko

          Greecko Gardener

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          worked for a test company during my placement year at uni and these are gonna be a worldwide thing, the US have already rolled them out and encountered problems

          big one being privacy, your energy company will be able to monitor your energy but mainly for readings, saves a person doing it as theyll drive by your home and read it like that. obviously some yanks feel its an onvasion and refused them, so the companies cut their power which caised more hastle and now people can opt out in many states

          they plan on making one for every house and roll out will start soon as the machine we made to test em was nearly complete

          there should be no cost to the customer but I dont know much about it, our tester sold itself and there are several companies readying to make em
           
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          • ARMANDII

            ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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            Unfortunately there will be. The Government and the Energy Companies have been touting for years the "free" installation of House Insulation that they are generously offering. If fact there has been a "Green" tax on our energy bills specifically to pay for such things for years. I don't think the cost of Smart Meters will be any different......the customer/consumer will pay for it in higher energy bills:doh::dunno:
             
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            • Kristen

              Kristen Under gardener

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              The only way I have heard of of "saving" is to allow the energy company to use smart meters to send a signal to turn on (and off) equipment at times that suits them. A bit like Economy-7 storage radiators that were only powered midnight-to-7am, when energy companies had surplus generating capacity, this would allow the energy company to spread the start-up time over, say, 30 minutes so that the whole country didn't start at once. I suppose they could also power-down your Fridge and Freezer at Half Time in The Big Match so that when everyone turns a kettle on instead of having to power up a whole stand-by power station they can just turn off your Fridge / Freezer for 10 minutes. The ability for them to do that would enable them to pass on some sort of saving to you. Whether it will be worth a bag of beans is debatable, but as the nation's energy generating capacity is nearing critical mass (no new power stations built recently, usage keeps increasing) then smart meters might help ...

              ... they might offer you a "Use less than usual this week for an £XXX saving" so that in cold weather they can encourage people to switch-off non essential stuff (and know that you actually did it, relatively to (say) last week's usage) to prevent the nation exceeding generating capacity
               
            • pete

              pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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              Surely that is taking things a stage further, and can you imagine the compensation claims due to freezers etc being cut off.
              That really would be "big brother"running the show.

              Persoally I think it would be much better to just cut off those customers that like windmills, when there is no wind.:snork:
               
            • Kristen

              Kristen Under gardener

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              Makes sense to me. Use technology to regulate use, safely, rather than building more, expensive, power stations. Your freezer turned off for 10 minutes isn't going to damage anything ... and they can use a Soft Switch which fails "on" so if the thing misbehaves all that will happen is that you freezer is on during the match half-time, instead of off :)
               
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              • pete

                pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                But how much would it actually save, bearing in mind the freezer is not on half the time anyway.
                I can also imaging all the call outs for repair for dodgy freezers that seem have a mind of their own.
                As Captain Mainwaring would say "I think we are in the realms of fantasy there Pike".:snork:
                 
              • "M"

                "M" Total Gardener

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                Except .. in this day and age (and with carbon emission targets very real and governed by World policy makers) the "fantasy" is over and reality is kicking in.

                Do I want energy companies deciding which appliance (of mine!) is switched off for 10 minutes and at which time of day? No, thank you! And most especially NOT for something such as bliddy FOOTBALL! :nonofinger: Sheeze! :paladin: I'm a grown up, ok? I can make intelligent decisions for myself, thank you very much. :nonofinger:

                :scratch:

                :th scifD36:

                :scratch: :scratch: :scratch:

                I'm far more against my life being "remotely controlled" as opposed to having control of my life than I am Smart Meters per se. There is a real ethical dilemma in this :th scifD36:
                 
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                • shiney

                  shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                  I'm a bit puzzled about this 'switching off for 10 minutes' idea. :scratch:

                  Surely it would require every power socket to have an on/off switch that could be controlled remotely. That seems to be in the realms of fantasy at the moment.

                  Apart from the problem of multiple control equipment I would guess it would have to be done by a remote signal to the individual piece of equipment. We can't even get a WiFi signal from one part of our bungalow to another!

                  I think that football matches should be banned. Then there wouldn't be the surge during half time. :blue thumb: :heehee:
                   
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                  • Kristen

                    Kristen Under gardener

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                    How many households watching football boil a kettle? A million or so perhaps?

                    If every household had a smart meter then that is 25M freezers and fridges turned off. Dunno if 25M of them, given that they are only on X% of the time, equals 1M Kettles ... but I am sure you get the idea :)

                    I find the reaction surprising. I can't see what possible difference it could make to you, nor why you feel you need to have "control"? (assuming the gadget-thingie doesn't break and leave your freezer Off, as Pete has raised). Surely this has to be better than building more and more power stations? You and I are going to pay for the new power stations of course, one way or another. And the replacement Smart Meter too of course ...

                    I can also foresee Fridges and Freezers with inbuilt Boost that can be signalled by smart meters - i.e. the devices will Boost shortly before some event, and then be likely to be off when the event occurs, as they are "extra chilled". Probably similar thing with Washing machines and Dishwashers - instead of setting a specific start time you could set "Start not later than" and Smart meter could decide what actual time they come on, to spread the load on the National Grid.

                    You'd need a Widget plug for the Fridge and Freezer, in addition to a smart meter. Signal would be sent over the Mains, not Wireless. We have numerous things around the house controlled by that now - including transmitting Network traffic to kids bedrooms (i.e. via the Mains Cable) because WiFi doesn't "reach" through the walls. Bandwidth is not great, but its good enough, but for signalling its fine (being as that is very low bandwidth). We have switches in one part of the house that turn on a device in another part by "remote control" sending a signal over Mains, rather than having to run a dedicated bit of Bellwire through the house (using something called "X10" if you are interested :) )

                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X10_(industry_standard)
                     
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                    • pete

                      pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                      I'm sure its very High tecch Kristen but I cant think of why I would need X10?
                      Probably dont understand it well enough.

                      Personally I prefer the washing machine to actually start doing the washing when I turn it on, not at some time later when it decides it wants to do it.
                      You cant even trust a washing machine anyway, mine often starts then decides it will have a rest until I give it a kick, and its not that old really.

                      I just feel technology is trying to run, when it still needs to learn to walk properly.

                      I have no trust in any electrical appliance, and as such make sure anything that does not need to remain on is turned off before I leave the house.

                      It was only a year or so ago the certain fridges were blamed for causing house fires, if we still haven't perfected the fridge after all these years, smart meters are rocket science.:)
                       
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                      • Kandy

                        Kandy Will be glad to see the sun again soon.....

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                        I do hope these smart meters are better than the ones used in lots of countries around the world and have been catching fire:hate-shocked::th scifD36:
                         
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