How much is a smart meter worth? £28,000,000 aparently???

[Blue Duck]

http://www.nickhunn.com/british-smart-meters-cost-28-million-each/

WTFudge...

:slap

I shouldn't laugh really... My children will be paying this off for the rest of their lives!

 

[Murdoch]

I'll save my kids £28 million - never going to have one!

 

[Evans Electric]

I heard last week that the "Roll out"  as they call it  is going very slowly  and the installers won't meet their deadlines  and will be fined .  

So expect a big push soon.

Two opposing comments were also made  :-

1)   Having a Smart Meter will save you money .  

Followed by ...

2)    The last increase in the  electric bill is to cover the cost of installing Smart Meters. 

So how is that saving me money ?

It like the ASDA ad,  on TV   .." Call in at ASDA and save money "       As I said before , I called in at ASDA  and it cost me £60.00  at the till.      

Where is the bit that "Saves me money "  :C

You get a gizmo that shows how much you are using all the time .... surely anyone with half a brain would know that the more stuff you turn on the more it costs , without a gizmo. 

 

[Murdoch]

can anyone tell me how a smart meter will help me in any way? 

 

[Geoff1946]

You get a gizmo that shows how much you are using all the time .... surely anyone with half a brain would know that the more stuff you turn on the more it costs , without a gizmo. 

Exactly. Who decided that seeing the cost of putting on the kettle would stop anyone wanting a brew?

I got hold of an OWL monitor a few years ago and found it entertaining for about a week, after which it was consigned to a drawer.

They ARE of use if you are a caravanner, as you can optimize your power use whilst ensuring you don't trip the overload.

 

[Evans Electric]

can anyone tell me how a smart meter will help me in any way? 

It won't .   Its main  use is dumping the need to for it to be read by a human  I assume .  

There appears to be two main items that wer'nt considered in the mad rush  to "Rollout" 

1)    Not incorporating  a 100A isolating switch  in them .

2)    Apparently they are NOT compatible with all the different energy providers  , so , I hear ,   change supplier means change the meter .  

 

[Murdoch]

It won't .   Its main  use is dumping the need to for it to be read by a human  I assume .  

There appears to be two main items that wer'nt considered in the mad rush  to "Rollout" 

1)    Not incorporating  a 100A isolating switch  in them .

2)    Apparently they are NOT compatible with all the different energy providers  , so , I hear ,   change supplier means change the meter .  

So why does my supplier keep on telling me to have one?

 

[Evans Electric]

Because they'll be fined by the government for not meeting their set targets  it would seem .    The government is obsessed with them  for some reason .  :C

They can't train people up fast enough  , it was said  the other day .   

They could try giving  the job to local contractors  for a start  but if theres a threat of being fined    ....and its big money ....  I doubt anyone would want to do it . 

And of course theres no way they'd want us working on the  "Other side "of the meter tails .      You have to be ""Specially trained" for that . 

 

[Evans Electric]

The amount they've spent on this  must be far in excess of the cost of a man calling once a year to take a visual reading that balances up your own readings .  

They never even cottoned on to getting the same man to read the Gas & electric at the same time .     :C

AND ....reading The Duck's article ...WHY are GCHQ  involved  ...are they the country's leading experts in metering technology  ?        Or is there a more sinister reason ?      Why the rush to get an electrical monitoring device that sends information via the cell phone system,   strapped onto everyone's house  as quick as possible ?     :C

 

[Blue Duck]

RE: GCHQ.

They are concerned for the nation's energy security, Imagine if they spent billions making electricity meters that are easily hacked (SMETS1).  :shakehead

So the geniuses figured we'd better not give access to our national grid to any 13 year old with half a brain and midway through the project decided to change the them to a more secure platform (SMETS2).

Not everything is hacker proof, just ask Intel so it will only be a matter of time until we will be forced to upgrade further, (SMETS 3 is in the pipeline).

Reminds me of the NHS patients record system which failed costing the tax payer £10bn plus.

It seems that the government has sold the future rites to milking us dry through our energy bills and return for selling the right to fleece us they get those lovely taxes to spend on more pointless projects.

:C

 

[Evans Electric]

Oh I see it all now !!        Well how about a meter  that has no electronics in it , just  an electro magnetic  device that spins a metalic disc  which in turn drives a series of dials  from which readings can be taken .  Would that be safe from hacking ?  

A bit like this.

 

[ProDave]

So why does my supplier keep on telling me to have one?

I am convinced the hidden agenda is get us all eventually onto half hourly metering so we can be charged more at peak times.  Standard domestic meters can't do that, smart meters can.

Of course if it was rolled out as such, nobody would want one, so spin them a yarn that it will save money and the sheeple will sign up for it.

As to saving money on meter readers, they actually come here barely once a year. The rest of the time I do their job and provide them with a reading.

 

[Blue Duck]

Oh I see it all now !!        Well how about a meter  that has no electronics in it , just  an electro magnetic  device that spins a metalic disc  which in turn drives a series of dials  from which readings can be taken .  Would that be safe from hacking ?  

A bit like this.

View attachment 9419

I hear they spin backwards if you put a speaker magnet on the side!

:lol:

A thought though... an application for you phone that takes a picture and sends readings to your supplier....would be hard to doctor, reduce the need for manpower and wouldnt cost billions of pounds to implement.!

And if you really wanted to save energy....drop the voltage to 220v AC!  :slap

 

[Tony S]

There were various ways to defeat analogue meters. On one plant we had a redundant substation and so we commandeered it. We had an array of old analogue meters supplying a fixed load. A series current coil behind the meter could slow the meter down, get it wrong and the meter speeded up. We tried just about anything you could think of, some worked, some didn’t.

On a course with the EMEB we had a look around their “black museum”. The meter with a carving knife through the glass was a bit of a giveaway.

One of EMEB’s cable jointers resigned. He set up electrical appliance sale rooms in three towns. His electricity bill would be about the equivalent of a 200W lamp running 24/7 in each shop. The EMEB had to dig roads up to find where he’d tee’d in to the main.

 

[binky]

I am convinced the hidden agenda is get us all eventually onto half hourly metering so we can be charged more at peak times.  Standard domestic meters can't do that, smart meters can.

Peak energy demand management is on the cards to aid our under-invetsed network's ability to cope with demand..

 

[Geoff1946]

Peak energy demand management is on the cards to aid our under-invetsed network's ability to cope with demand..

In that case, what do you think will happen regarding those of us who have declined the repeated kind offers to come and install one?

 

[binky]

sod all! 

 

[Murdoch]

In that case, what do you think will happen regarding those of us who have declined the repeated kind offers to come and install one?

Apparently some suppliers are telling customers the date and time of the meter change .......................... not even asking them!

 

[binky]

they have been rying to force customers to change meters by diverse means. I've just changed leccy supplier to a comany that offers a better deal without a smart meter, our current supplier would only offer better tariffs if we had a smart meter fitted.

 

[Blue Duck]

Came across some letters that were published on The Telegraph website, hidden behind a paywall.

I'll just leave them here: 

SIR – The purpose of “smart meters” (Letters, June 26) is to allow the eventual introduction of charging of domestic users at different rates according to the time of day, the day of the week and the season of the year.

Power companies already know when we use most energy in the aggregate but, except for very large energy users, they are at present unable to bill individual customers according to the exact time that energy is used.

Smart meters will allow them to do this, so if you are unreasonable enough to want to turn the lights on when it gets dark, or cook food at mealtimes, or charge the electric car that the Government wants to force you to have, ready for the morning commute, then you will be hit with penal levels of billing.

These meters are voluntary now, but they won’t be voluntary for ever. You do not have to have a water meter, but if your house has one, you are forbidden to go back to water rates, though metered water probably costs you about half as much again as rated water.

Eventually, if you have a smart meter for energy there will be no going back and you can expect your bills to rocket. The lucky few will be those living in houses where a smart meter was never installed.

Anyone who does not believe this should cut this letter out and keep it – and read it in daylight, obviously.

Dr Richard Austen-Baker 
Abbeystead, Lancashire

SIR – Until 2003 I was responsible for the type approval of gas and electricity meters at Ofgem’s Technical Directorate. After this I spent several years on European and international committees negotiating measurement standards for next-generation meters.

Only common sense can show how savings can be achieved. For instance, smart meters will show what it takes to run a washing-machine cycle but they cannot advise that it would have saved energy to await a full load.

A smart meter can tell you what an appliance uses under certain conditions if you take the trouble to ensure all other appliances are off at the time. However, this information is readily available in manufacturers’ data.

An estimated cost of £200 for each meter will add at least £20 to bills each year, as it is the consumer who will pay for these “free” meters eventually. Smart meters give only freedom from estimated bills or a visit from the meter reader. However, suppliers are now very good at estimating usage and a periodic visit by the meter reader can allow safety or measurement problems to be checked.

The meter suppliers and fitters enjoy the increased business and profit that fitting smart meters brings. The Government is supporting the programme, but this seems to me like its encouragement for switching to diesel cars some years ago.

I believe that the hidden agenda behind smart meters is that they will allow half-hourly charging. Instead of having two charge rates (day and night) the price of energy will change every half hour, so when solar and wind generation are low and usage is high the price of electricity will rise steeply.

What would make more sense than smart meters is smart appliances that could be automatically switched on or off depending on electricity-grid demand. For instance, fridges, freezers and some battery chargers could be switched off at peak demand periods, as could some washing machines and dryers.

It is claimed that smart meters are safe and secure. Not having one, because they are not needed, is even more safe and secure.

Jerry Fulton 
Draycott, Somerset

SIR – You cannot fatten a pig by weighing it and by the same token you cannot reduce your electricity consumption simply by measuring it with a smart meter.

Crombie Glennie 
Hawksworth, Nottinghamshire