[OT] Smart meters

It isnt just about cooking, it is also about washing machines, dishwashers and driers.

It isnt that black and white.

and

Except that is not a saving. It is simply penalising normal working people who want to come in, have an evening meal and then have the evening free to relax, carry out their hobbies, or go out and socialise, etc.

I can't see many families with children being overly pleased when they have to choose between paying a high price for cooking or getting their children to bed at a sensible time; or washing and drying the blazer that has come home dirty, and is needed in the morning, late on, so they themselves get to bed late or get up early to iron it.

Agreed.

SteveW

No electricity company actually wants customers to save energy. That's like asking Bernard Matthews to promote vegetarianism.

What they do want is to even out demand over time so they don't have to pay for expensive peak production (like Mr Matthews wanted us to eat turkey all year round, not just for Christmas).

Smart metering can work as part of a smart grid, especially where electricity is still used for heating (as it's easy to store heat) as demand side management.

Owain

Did it say, "You've left your iron on"? If you're using a lot of power that is needed, for example electric heating, cooking, or a washing machine, you won't notice a little extra for an iron.

A smart meter is no more use than gazing at the spinning disc in an old-style meter, and saying, "Ooh! What a lot of leccy I'm using!"

Exactly. They claim that they will put customers "in control of their energy use" but in reality they will be controlling the customers by using pricing to coerce them into using energy at times to suit the suppliers.

Maybe if they worked.

The report cited in the first post suggests that 50% of those already installed have lost contact with a supplier and 10% cannot work because of a lack of mobile signal coverage where they are installed.

You say that as if it's a bad thing!

Exactly! who uses so little electricity 'all the time' that the odd few hundred watts up or down will be noticeable?

Mike Clarke explained on 21/07/2018 :

For many, at least for some things, that needn't be a problem. Running the weekly wash overnight, likewise dryer and stored water heating.

When there is a peak in demand, nothing at all wrong with fridges and freezers being disabled from running for an hour or two, until a peak has subsided.

However, no one should be penalised on time/cost and each should have an over ride button.

Andy Burns was thinking very hard :

Unfortunately, there are several different displays, so tapping into the received data at the display will only work for one type.

Max Demian used his keyboard to write :

Why might I want to go out on a cold day and watch a disc spinning around? A simply LCD display inside, in the warm, shows exactly what both my gas and leccy consumption is, minute by minute. It even hows the history of my consumption.

Does 2MWh/year count?

alan_m submitted this idea :

I believe the 50%, because it took many months after each supplier switch (3) to get the 2x SM's back to smart again.

In message , Robin writes

Whoops! Yes, that was May 2017. We used 5674 units year to 20.05.17 and 5288 to 20.05.18, so a decrease of 386 units over the year.

Not sure what that proves, as we used 5426 units, year to 20.05.16, although that is still a huge reduction since we discussed usage Sept.

Funny how - especially with droughts looming, there aren't smart meters for water. My theory is it's because the business case (as pushed to the plebs) is bollocks.

Only if you have time-sensitive tariffs.

A few years ago Severn Trent were developing smart water meters to communicate via gas/elec meters, then they sold that part off

Aren't there? Funny about all the companies reporting they are installing them. Eg

The world seems to have survived time-sensitive tariffs for many other things - eg travel (including on nationalised railways and on Transport for London Underground under Labour mayors).