Smart Meter rollout delayed again. Cost us £11bn, eh? The IT system that was to underpin Blighty's smart meter rollout remains unfinished as another yet another deadline whooshes by. The last time it missed a smart meter deadline, the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) promised that “the new infrastructure is planned to go live at the end of …
Actually that's low down the list.
Top of the list is what's euphemistically referred to in the electricity supply industry as demand management. When people reassure us that "the lights will stay on" they are being slightly economical with the truth. What they really mean is that the lights will stay on for most of us, but some users (mostly large industrial users being bribed receiving a discount for being on an interruptible supply) will be asked to shut down.
At the same time, these smart meters allow the cost to be hiked up so as to introduce price rationing so "poor people" will sit in the dark because they can't afford the lecky.
And if that is not enough, then the meters have a remote disconnect feature so that we can have rolling blackouts like I remember from the 70s.
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After all these features - ie the ones they don't tell anyone about, comes sacking meter readers.
And ALL the claimed benefits for these meters could be done much more simply without the intrusive slurp of personal data that these systems will be doing. Funnily enough, in contrast to what the adverts lie about, I do know what Gaz and Lecky are up in my home : The lecky will be a few hundred watts as there's a dehumidifier running in the room we've had plastered and a computer running that serves up my TV. On the gas side, if the heating is on (which it won't be at this time of day) then we'll be burning gas, and if the heating isn't on then we won't. I don't need some intrusive pile of crap to tell me that switching things on uses lecky/gas ! The heating is automatic, as is the hot water, so I don't need remote control of them - "putting the water on", how 1970s !
At the same time, these smart meters allow the cost to be hiked up so as to introduce price rationing so "poor people" will sit in the dark because they can't afford the lecky.
Yeah well since they were told to stop being twats with prepayment meters they need another way to tax the poor.
Demand management is already happening and has no strong reliance on SMART. Super markets turning off fridges as people arrive home from work etc being one example.
I think there isn't much obvious direct value for the consumer in SMART, anyone who has tried an energy monitor will know you watch it for a week learn your appliances then stop bothering.
It will however make understanding demand easier and could lead to more informed purchasing of energy by suppliers. It could also make the challenges that solar and other micro generation puts into the mix because distribution level energy can only be estimated as it's invisible at a transmission level. It would be much easier to manage, if useage at a more granular level is allowed and accessible. Although some would argue its already being managed fine without that info.
Whether it is worth the cost, well many analysts say not. In fact Germany rejected smart on grounds that cost exceeded the value.
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The lecky will be a few hundred watts as there's a dehumidifier running in the room we've had plastered and a computer running that serves up my TV.
"
You could probably save on your food bills by getting a fridge and/or freezer :-)
I suspect that those "few hundred watts" are close to a kW. Check the consumption of the dehumidifier (probably about 500W) and computer (maybe 200W). You say you use the computer for TV - don't you therefore also have a TV switched on?
Years ago I had a PC connected to the telly. "Home Server" it took 140w 24/7 or probably more than every low energy buky in the flat at once. Ditched it for minitix baesed thing (40w) paied for its self.
Now I have a cloud server (even cheaper) Chromecast, Swich, PI, all go off with the telly. Just the router on when I'm out.
PC's are horrendous for power.
You could probably save on your food bills by getting a fridge and/or freezer :-)
OK smarta**, and there's a broadband router as well. Fridge and freezer between them take a fairly low average amount of power.
Check the consumption of the dehumidifier (probably about 500W)
Not far off, it's a fairly small one - but I do know what it's using and having a smart meter won't make it use any less ! And it's doing a needed job anyway, there's still a few gallons of water to extract from the walls before they are dry enough to start decorating - heat alone won't do it, especially as there's no radiators until I put the new ones in which I'll be doing after we decorate.
and computer (maybe 200W)
About 50W actually - and yes I have measured it !
You say you use the computer for TV - don't you therefore also have a TV switched on?
Not when there's no one in to watch it. But the server is busy recording stuff I want when it's on so I can watch it when we want. MythTV - like SkyQ but without the rentals and vendor lockin !
But the main point is that all these are fairly easily known values. I don't need to know when the compressor in the freezer is running and it's taking about 200W, and when it's idle (taking about 3W) - just that it's average consumption is some figure which I forget now :-( Basically, if we're not in, then we don't really care as thing will take what they need - and if they are needed then switching them off isn't really an option. When we are in, then again, things we switch on take what they need to do what we want them to do, and we switch them off when we no longer need them doing something - eg we don't leave the oven on after use "because we CBA to turn it off" !
Its nothing new industrial users have always been paid for 'generating' leccy by turning off plant.
smart meters however are a total con, a novelty for a while after which no one will care about saving 20p off their bill by switching something off, most have given up switching as it's a pain in the backside to save a few quid and life is too short, the only people who would recommend one are the ones who can't be arsed to read their meter once every few months.
Someone tried to install one at my mates house, they were quite forceful and economical with the truth but they got told where to go.
Be careful what you swih for the last few months has shown that the internet is easy to disable, easy to hack and easy to exploit just as smart meters will be. Can just see some muppet driving up and down streets having discovered a drive by (pun intended) which allows them to switch houses on and off at will. Cars have already been hacked so what makes you think smart meters costing a few quid each are going to be secure?
Finally can you image the argument with some call centre person in India when you get a bill for a few thousand because your smart meter has given a mis-reading?
You forgot cutting off the supply without entering the property for non payers...
You say that as if it's a bad thing. How would you rather your electricity company dealt with non-payers?
(a) Just ignore them, let everyone else pick up the tab. That'll work until "everyone else" catches on and stops paying too. So, probably about a month.
(b) Send out a quiet, inoffensive man in a dark suit to sneak onto the property, find the meter and disconnect it manually, if they can. If they can't, then fall back to (a).
(c) Send out an entire squad of burly goons to kick in the door, subdue the inhabitants and smash the meter with a crowbar
(d) Flick a switch in a remote office somewhere
What's your preferred option?
In answering, bear in mind that whatever is done to disconnect it has a big effect on what will need to be done to reconnect it.
Round our way the installers are taking the opportunity to do a quick survey of your electrics, gas appliances.
1990's houses here, so of course they're finding "lots to be done", and their reports are designed to scare people into getting lots of unnecessary work done. Some people have fallen for it...
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"You say that as if it's a bad thing."
I say it as a customer that is paying my share of £11 billion for it when it has zero direct benefit to me...
"How would you rather your electricity company dealt with non-payers?"
The same way they do now. Be forced to use legal methods to physically access the property.
My energy supplier offered us smart metering. It suited us, on the basis that we wouldn't have to crawl into the cupboard and send them readings. But it turned out that they couldn't do the gas one, some problem with their technology. So we have still have to read it and send them readings every damn month. And the electric one is just another meter where the original one was - with no external panel of info. But at least we don't have to read that one.
Meanwhile, God help us- I live in the London Borough of Capita - which roughly corresponds to the area once called Barnet.
And the electric one is just another meter where the original one was - with no external panel of info.
Phone up and complain if that matters to you. It is a licence condition that all smart meters are offered with an "in home display", and if they haven't offered you one they are in breach of that.
Also living in the model for Easy Council (flog it all, flog the lot! then praise yourself) I have declined the possibility of a 'smart meter'.
I just don't trust any of the buggers.
Crapita has a looooong history of screwing over Barnet while the leader buy themselves new laptops, iPads etc.
Experimenting with pizero and camera and ocr to actually read the current electricity price and automate stuff. For around £100 (one for viewing one for switching the hot water on) should save that money in a year - not quite pwning but as far as the electricity company is concerned that's fucked the meter.
"Must be a wet dream for the IoT DDOSers having a load of internet connected devices in every home. Bet Crapita can't do security."
The strange thing, is, smart meters are not new. They've been rolled out in a number of locations/countries for quite a few years now. And yet we've not actually seen meterageddon anywhere yet. Not saying it can't happen. Not even saying it's unlikely (I've refused one from my gas/leccy suppliers on security grounds) but still we are not seeing headlines of individuals being shut off, never mind whole cities.
I know several people who have independently reported having "night terrors" after having one of these fitted. Either that, or a feeling that there is something creepy in the house. Like a spirit.
Posting anonymously, as I consider myself a Humanist and don't subscribe to this mumbo jumbo... but this does seem to affect people, and one of them didn't even know he had a smart meter. But moved bedrooms because he couldn't sleep.
Also, another friend has a cat that stopped being able to walk properly and kept falling over as soon as one was installed. Now they have had it removed, the cat is gradually getting better. I don't think kitty was even aware that they had a smart meter.
Could this be "a thing" or just a massive coincidence?
I know several people who have independently reported having "night terrors" ...Also, another friend has a cat that stopped being able to walk properly ...
Could this be "a thing" or just a massive coincidence?
Definitely a thing. Probably witchcraft. I would suggest that anyone affected should immediately unscrew the devil meter from wall and dunk it in a bucket of water to see whether or not it floats
Well I'm just trying to keep an open mind about it. Not so open that all the logic falls out though. Looking on the web for this there's loads of anecdotal stories of the same thing, especially from America... but that doesn't help very much. You can find pretty much anything. (Again, Especially from America).
Preparation for case nightmare green. Nigel is in on it, wants to cut off any mainland infection before it happens. These smartmeters probably contain earthly leftovers from people tortured to death by ISIS and shipped via Turkey. This also explains the panicky push for modernization of Trident.
I have a monitor clipped to my incoming leccy line. It tells me how much I'm using at any given time, and I had a good time with a related power-point plug measuring usage of individual appliances. This was all good fun, and useful in that I now have a pretty good idea what machinery is dragging what in my house. And the fact that I have an overnight mystery 300W drag somewhere, but that's a different story.
Gas I don't have instant data for, but my only usage is heating and hot water, both of which are on when I need it. Monthly readings are close enough for that.
So, according to the propaganda, I have achieved everything that the Smart Meter rollout is supposed to do for us, with the exception of saving me the walk around the side of the house once a month. And the gear I bought to do it (second-hand, tbf) cost me about £20.
It has had some benefits, but not in the way the propaganda would have you expect. Having now worked out the leccy consumption of my ancient fridge, I have now worked out that the payback time of buying a new, more efficient one is measured in decades, so now I'm less likely to do that than before. Ditto for washing machine & dryer. However, I suppose for most punters, unable or unwilling to RTFM, having an in-home display of what it's costing them every time they put the dryer on might drive some changes in behaviour.
If the stated aim is that we're all going to save ££ by knowing our consumption, then all they need to do is send one of these meters in the post to each household in the country, and let us get on with it. We don't need a "phone home" capability to do that. At a guesstimate of a tenner each, that'd be IRO £270M, plus postage.
So, what is it, exactly, that we are supposed to gain from the expenditure of the other £10,730M? Surely it wouldn't be remote control of our energy supplies...
Glad I'm not the only one.
The potential annual savings that people claim are frankly minuscule compared with all my other outgoings, and certainly too small to warrant drastic changes like replacing the fridge or oven, or less drastic ones like preemptively changing the lightbulbs.
The irony of course is that those who would benefit the most from reducing their energy bills are generally those without the cash to do something about it. I'm sure a lot of people on the bread line would like to save £20 a month by upgrading their electrical appliances, but they are a bit stuffed by not having the money to do so. The best most of them can do is to turn things off, and you don't need a smart meter to tell you that.
The only significant benefit I can see to these is not having to scrabble around in the understairs cupboard to take a meter reading, everything else is overblown BS.
"The only significant benefit I can see to these is not having to scrabble around in the understairs cupboard to take a meter reading, everything else is overblown BS."
I still don't see that as a benefit. Even with a meter fitted, I would still be scrabbling around in the cupboard checking the readings periodically - I do not trust automated readings one bit.
An example I experienced was with a well known London datacentre, who I discovered were massively over-billing me for electricity. I was able to determine this easily thanks to having a network-connected PDU in my rack, so was able to prove that the current draw in our rack just did not add up to what they were billing us for. Got a massive refund eventually, and was told that they were 'working with their supplier' to 'recallibrate their equipment'.
I have a remote lekky meter, and I do find it useful. Every evening I glance at it on my way to bed, and it alerts me if I've left anything switched on that shouldn't be. It's saved me from leaving a soldering iron and (another time) the grill on all night, both potential fire risks.
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