Illini22
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Nmnmnm
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Smart Meters
- Thread starter KTurner
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ultrarunner
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Out West... a lot of power comes from Hydro and the utilities efficiently manage this by throttling back production or even pumping water back into the dam at slack periods.
For decades PG&E said they needed more dams to handle peek loads which are most often on the hottest days... and now, solar is doing just that... it peaks exactly when A/C use is highest.
There are 4 installs on my street... one 100% private and the other 3 are a type of lease.
The one with the biggest array also had a sophisticated grow operation that no one knew about until he went into foreclosure and had a weekend yard sale.
For decades PG&E said they needed more dams to handle peek loads which are most often on the hottest days... and now, solar is doing just that... it peaks exactly when A/C use is highest.
There are 4 installs on my street... one 100% private and the other 3 are a type of lease.
The one with the biggest array also had a sophisticated grow operation that no one knew about until he went into foreclosure and had a weekend yard sale.
Danno1
Veteran Member
No, I did not notice any difference in the monthly bill. Of course I'm not welding at 225A either!!!
I did put a clamp on amp meter on one of the power lines while welding at ~90-100A and the draw wasn't very much. I can't really remember the number though.
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Danno1
Veteran Member
No, I did not notice any difference.Of course I'm not weldeing at 225A either!!!
I did put a clamp on anp meter on one of the power lines while welding at ~90-100A and the draw wasn't very much. I can't really remember the nuber though.
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buckeyefarmer
Epic Contributor
around here smart meters are for time of day billing, and automated meter reading. There has been lots of resistance, my utility has not implemented yet. I did get an energy comparison today in the mail from my electric company, explaining that I use x% less than my neighbors (100 people near me), but I use y% more than my efficient neighbors (lowest 25% of my 100 neighbors. This was all to tell me how I should be conserving energy. The problem with this is: My last bill was an estimate, so the results are totally meaningless, and it only looks at KWH, with no reference to house size, number of people in the house, etc.. I was pissed they wasted so much money sending out worthless information, or still worse, that they might have got a gov't grant of some sort to put out this worthless information.
Redneck in training
Elite Member
We got new smart meter about a month ago. I asked the guy from the utility what is the motivation behind that. He said that DOE is collecting data about energy usage patterns for some research and gave them a subsidy to install the meters. The old smart meters used to send the usage every 28 days. The new smart meters can send it every few minutes if programmed that way. The meter sends the data over power line. When fully implemented we would be able to see our power usage in real time on internet. They might also sell displays that you can place in your home showing power usage, instantaneous power, rate etc.
Our daughter lives in Europe. They have tiered electric rate. All larger appliances such as washing machine, dryer, dishwasher etc have programmable timer to start working when the rate is low (in ex. at night).
Our daughter lives in Europe. They have tiered electric rate. All larger appliances such as washing machine, dryer, dishwasher etc have programmable timer to start working when the rate is low (in ex. at night).
ultrarunner
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Lots of people had two meters over there... one was night electricity and the other daytime... the water heaters and things were on the night meter which was significantly less.
chopped
Veteran Member
BINGO BINGO
Yep I know in the future (near) that they will start to control the usage at certain times.I dont see how they could shut off individual appliances. but can see where they could say that the rate is higher for xxx time to xxx time and then know if you used it during that time. And bill accordingly.
Pirate
Gold Member
You don't see it now but in the future, major appliances will have modules in them so they can communicate/be controlled by smart meters.
chopped
Veteran Member
Well yesterday we had a huge pine tree take down the wires, sparks and flames,road blocked. Called thw power company and they said I had power. LOL So much for the smart meter lol
Scooby074
Super Member
I think some of you guys have your tin foil hats on a bit too tight
(although I agree that the ability to communicate will happen, its been tested in labs)The day they start shutting down our toaster ovens will be the day somebody creates a filter to stop the toaster oven from communicating with the grid. (if these filters are declared illegal, you can thank the DMCA and those politicians that created it)
That said, Time Of Use will become a bigger thing than it is now. My european made Washer and Dryer has a delay feature so you can do laundry when the power is cheaper. This feature is becoming much more common. Storage heaters have been around for while and incorporate similar cost saving features. Save on Heating With Electric Thermal storage heating (ETS) Systems
Smart metres are intriguing to me. There is a program here that allows you to go to TOU billing. Off peak rates are cheaper than my "all day" rate however peak is higher. I could probably save some money by switching but im not sure it would jive with our lifestyle. I got to think more about it.
buckeyefarmer
Epic Contributor
they will probably come up with tiered tax, make the energy hogs pay more. Saw something yesterday about a county that is going to start billing hybrid car users $100 extra a year, because they save so much gas, the county isn't getting it "fair share" of gas tax from them. Sometimes I think I have the twilight zone on, but it's the evening news. I'm sure they will come up with the solar tax also.
GGB
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Someone smarter than me will have to tell me if my concern about a smart meter is valid. My issue is that our house has two heat pumps, with the main level of the house which includes the master bedroom being a 18 SEER and the second level containing the guest bedrooms being a 16 SEER. My concern is that our HVAC heat pumps would be working in the second stage to get the temperature down after the power company shut them down, thus using more electricity than if the units had simply stayed on. Maybe if our house was insulated with foam it would work, but it's not........
And this would be even worse in the winter, as we are total electric. My bills are high enough without going into the heat strips when the "smart" thermostat try's to bring the temperature to the indicated setting when the ambient temperature is more than 2 degrees off. My office is now at home, and I really don't like being uncomfortable.
It just seems counterproductive to me for homes with heat pump systems. From what I understand, these systems are optimized to run most of the time on the first stage.
Anyone else with these concerns?
And this would be even worse in the winter, as we are total electric. My bills are high enough without going into the heat strips when the "smart" thermostat try's to bring the temperature to the indicated setting when the ambient temperature is more than 2 degrees off. My office is now at home, and I really don't like being uncomfortable.
It just seems counterproductive to me for homes with heat pump systems. From what I understand, these systems are optimized to run most of the time on the first stage.
Anyone else with these concerns?
Scooby074
Super Member
You'd have to "opt in" to any " peak shaving" program (things like shutting down high draw equipment like AC).
Worse they can do if you dont opt in to the program, would be to bill you at maximum rate for the hours that your running your AC.
I dont believe that forcing anyone into a shaving program is on the radar.
Worse they can do if you dont opt in to the program, would be to bill you at maximum rate for the hours that your running your AC.
I dont believe that forcing anyone into a shaving program is on the radar.
ededic
Gold Member
Why is that when they came out and read my meter it was a $12 per month service charge. Now for the last three years with the remotely next gen read meters I have to pay $18 per month per meter. I have three meters, house, barn and cottage. Gets expensive before I even use one kilowatt.
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ultrarunner
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Amen... I know what you mean because I have a meter for a single 12 watt night light my city required me to have.
Have you thought about a solar panel and battery? If all you're running is a single light I'd tell the po/co to take a hike..
I've not seen anything to indicate they are targeting heating systems, in my area. The peak shaving letters I received, while not related to smart meters, were talking about shutting off AC, not heat. I doubt they'd attempt something for heating due to the heat strips. And, heat is going to be most demanding while its the coldest out - at night. AC is most demanding during the day, when all the businesses are at their peak also. Just look at how they label the tiers in a multi-tier pricing program, day = peak, night = off peak.
Keith
Grumpy Old Man
Platinum Member
I'm installing a windmill to pump water and provide electricity also a water wheel , when they continue to raise the costs I'll learn to live with less of their services .
Travelover
Elite Member
I recently had a power outage and I was reminded of this thread. We don't have smart meters and the only way for the linemen to find the problem was to go walk the lines looking for problems. It would seem that in this day and age a problem could be pinpointed just by seeing which houses are out based on the smart meter feedback.
