Smart Meters

[dmccarty]

The whole reason for smart meters are so someday down the line the government can know and control your usage. Wake up. It has nothing to do with service or efficient control of the grid. Its to control your service someday. In the end they want control of your thermostat.

HS

Maybe. However, the smart meter on our house cannot turn off anything in the house. The power company will give me a whopping $25, ONCE, to allow them to place a switch on our HVAC so they can power it off on demand. Not going to happen at that price.

The power company already knows my usage and our meters still require a meter reader to drive by. The reader no longer has to come to the house but they have to be in the neighborhood so the smart reader is not giving them real time information.

Later,
Dan

 

[houstonscott]

On step at a time.


HS

 

[Rainbody]

Maybe. However, the smart meter on our house cannot turn off anything in the house. The power company will give me a whopping $25, ONCE, to allow them to place a switch on our HVAC so they can power it off on demand. Not going to happen at that price.

The power company already knows my usage and our meters still require a meter reader to drive by. The reader no longer has to come to the house but they have to be in the neighborhood so the smart reader is not giving them real time information.

Later,
Dan

What's the reason to control your HVAC? So you're in your home buying power at contract price and the company shuts it off? I just don't understand why they would want to do that or why anyone would agree to that.

 

[300UGUY]

I wouldn't mind the smart meter. Kinda hate to see more folks lose jobs, tho. I know that in this area, the police have busted some guys growing weed indoors. They were running a lot of lights and fans, using more juice than normal for a home that size, so they were suspect. Some were stealing power, and got caught that way.

 

[kevin37b]

We have them here , took two years before they got system figured out . They will also show if you are using a generator without a proper transfer switch , ie ,backfeeding the system .

 

[KTurner]

What's the reason to control your HVAC? So you're in your home buying power at contract price and the company shuts it off? I just don't understand why they would want to do that or why anyone would agree to that.

Yep, just like they use to do with the water heaters. We get about two letters a year from our power company asking us to signup for this. I think they offer our area $40/year. It sounds like they're going to use it to shed load during periods of high usage. Yep - they're going to shutoff your A/C at times when it's probably the hottest (ie, when usage is high because everyone has their A/C cranked). It might be an easy $40 for people that are never home at times when its likely to happen.

I'd say this approach is a better solution than rolling blackouts, assuming they could somehow get enough people to signup for it that it could make an appreciable difference in the load when needed.

Keith

 

[dmccarty]

What's the reason to control your HVAC? So you're in your home buying power at contract price and the company shuts it off? I just don't understand why they would want to do that or why anyone would agree to that.

HVAC uses lots of power so the company wants to be able to turn of the HVAC during periods of high demand. This way they don't have to build more power plants.

I don't know why anyone would sign up either for $25. If they knocked $25 off my monthly bill every month, I MIGHT do it. We don't use the HVAC as our primary source of heat so winter cutoffs would not be bothersome. Turning off the HVAC in the summer would be problematic but we keep our temp in the house pretty high anyway especially if the humidity is low. I would still be concerned that they would turn the AC off when we REALLY needed it and/or there would be a failure that prevented the AC from working.

I might run those risks for saving $25 a month. I sure ain't doing it for $25.

Later,
Dan

 

[Danno1]

I wouldn't mind the smart meter. Kinda hate to see more folks lose jobs, tho. I know that in this area, the police have busted some guys growing weed indoors. They were running a lot of lights and fans, using more juice than normal for a home that size, so they were suspect. Some were stealing power, and got caught that way.

I was worried about that awhile back. Bought an arc welder and wondered if the cops and EC were going to accuse me of growing weed!!!

Didn't happen though.


.

 

[dmccarty]

I don't believe THEY will use smart meters to spy on us per say. I don't think the information is that useful.

However, I do see that real time reporting of our power usage via smart meters could lead to higher rates during certain time periods. THAT is the most likely use of smart meters in a nefarious way.

I see several smart meter companies hiring lots of people so there must be a strong demand for the products.

Later,
Dan

 

[Rainbody]

Yep, just like they use to do with the water heaters. We get about two letters a year from our power company asking us to signup for this. I think they offer our area $40/year. It sounds like they're going to use it to shed load during periods of high usage. Yep - they're going to shutoff your A/C at times when it's probably the hottest (ie, when usage is high because everyone has their A/C cranked). It might be an easy $40 for people that are never home at times when its likely to happen.

I'd say this approach is a better solution than rolling blackouts, assuming they could somehow get enough people to signup for it that it could make an appreciable difference in the load when needed.

Keith

Why not just offer a rebate for a smart thermostat ? We do that at my house. No reason to pay to condition the air when my wife and I are at work. Sucks for the cats but easily took 25% off my summertime bill. I'd skip on the kill switch to my HVAC, IMHO.