gas/lectric smart meters

[Tonye]

  Are these things compulsory? , So if I don`t leave the TV on standby and use the lights only when needed etc ,I`ll be paying more for my electricity because the meter runs on electric. 

[austinbob]

Are these things compulsory? , So if I don`t leave the TV on standby and use the lights only when needed etc ,I`ll be paying more for my electricity because the meter runs on electric. 

Don't think they're compulsory yet. Probably uses less juice than your smallest loco crawling along.

Oh.. And I don't work for an energy company....

[GrahamB]

I nearly got mine installed today - and it was going so well.

I received a letter about two weeks ago, called them and after answering quite a few "qualifying" questions, agreed a date. I was told the engineer would call between 2 and 6pm.

At 2:15pm he arrived. The official reason he didn't do the install was the meters are "too far apart" - around 23 feet. It turns out the gas meter talks to the electric meter by radio which then communicates with head office. To my mind, he just didn't want to do it. Other excuses he mentioned was;

• Plants in front of the electric meter (Paving slabs give access)
• The meter won't work with solar panels (I pointed out I had discussed this with the agent I called and they agreed he could)
• The box housing the gas meter had melted (What??? Where??? Show me!)

I'll call them tomorrow as I want to give him time to submit his report. The guy even tried to tell me the solar panels would make the meter run backwards - they are digital just like my existing meter.
He also couldn't give any advice regarding the gas meter - I had assumed they would connect it by cable. He couldn't tell me how long the batteries would last or who/how they are replaced.

[Rabs]

I'm ignoring any requests to move to a smart meter at this point. I'll let other people get the early buggy and insecure ones

https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/JSAC-draft.pdf

is a fairly detailed analysis of the current systems.

I got to the words 'the presence of a remote off switch' on the first page, and needed to read no further. They have got to be joking.

I suspect that the use of the word 'switch' is figurative and I hope that it actually means some sort of encrypted passcode.  Not impossible to hack but comparably hard to hacking an online banking system. 

Oddly enough I happen to have met one of the authors of that paper.  I had no idea that was his area of academia. 

[Yet_Another]

It wasn't talking about hacking individual meters, although I believe that's possible as well, it was talking about hacking the control system, to be able to remotely turn off entire cities.

One can see that the ability to remotely cut off a non-payer is something that would be attractive to the suppliers, but the vulnerability that it brings is not acceptable.

[jpendle]

Smart meters here in the US are actively used to regulate demand. My local utility is quite open about the fact that when they install a smart meter they will also be able to turn my air conditioning down remotely. You can manually override this, but I didn't like the idea of the utility company controlling how much energy I use.

Regards,

John P

[Mito]

They are here to stay in Spain. Another example of Big Brother. As far as I can gather the price of electricity fluctuates by the minute with the cheapest being around 5am. People use timers to control things like washing machines and turn down the fridge to its lowest setting then turn up the thermostat during the day. Thank goodness I live off grid.

[Caz]

They're being threatened here but Endesa insist you have to pay for them and because you have a new meter you then have to have your system updated to the current spec and costs at least 600 euro just for a new circuit breaker box to be installed.  Until they provide them free that can get stuffed.   

[Mito]

They're being threatened here but Endesa insist you have to pay for them and because you have a new meter you then have to have your system updated to the current spec and costs at least 600 euro just for a new circuit breaker box to be installed.  Until they provide them free that can get stuffed.   

Typical of big business here. If I wanted mains electricity installed it would cost me €80,000, no that's not a typing error, and that is just to the meter. Anything after that is extra. I have no neighbours so no one to share costs. 

[EtchedPixels]

The guy even tried to tell me the solar panels would make the meter run backwards

That was a problem with some very old meters that should have been swapped out when solar was installed but not modern stuff. Sounds like the "engineer" they sent you wasn't clueful, which is disturbing given how dangerous wrongly installed supply side electricity equipment is.

[GrahamB]

That was a problem with some very old meters that should have been swapped out when solar was installed but not modern stuff. Sounds like the "engineer" they sent you wasn't clueful, which is disturbing given how dangerous wrongly installed supply side electricity equipment is.

I called the installation company who said the notes also say he didn't install because there was a shrub in the way of the meter and unacceptable trip hazards (Bedding plants around 9" tall and yes, it's in the front garden).
Scottish Power say there is no distance limit between the two meters, Lowri Beck say there is.
As I'm off soon for a couple of weeks (House swap) and I don't want my relatives bothered by this I'll wait until I get back before commencing battle. Photos taken of the "unacceptable trip hazard" to be used in evidence.

[EtchedPixels]

Sounds like you should send them a letter about the "unacceptable twit hazard" they sent you 

[PaulCheffus]

Are these things compulsory? , So if I don`t leave the TV on standby and use the lights only when needed etc ,I`ll be paying more for my electricity because the meter runs on electric. 

Hi

As far as I am aware the meter is powered by the input so doesn't go on your bill as the electricity it consumes doesn't go through the meter.

Cheers

Paul

[PaulCheffus]

I nearly got mine installed today - and it was going so well.

I received a letter about two weeks ago, called them and after answering quite a few "qualifying" questions, agreed a date. I was told the engineer would call between 2 and 6pm.

At 2:15pm he arrived. The official reason he didn't do the install was the meters are "too far apart" - around 23 feet. It turns out the gas meter talks to the electric meter by radio which then communicates with head office. To my mind, he just didn't want to do it. Other excuses he mentioned was;

• Plants in front of the electric meter (Paving slabs give access)
• The meter won't work with solar panels (I pointed out I had discussed this with the agent I called and they agreed he could)
• The box housing the gas meter had melted (What??? Where??? Show me!)

I'll call them tomorrow as I want to give him time to submit his report. The guy even tried to tell me the solar panels would make the meter run backwards - they are digital just like my existing meter.
He also couldn't give any advice regarding the gas meter - I had assumed they would connect it by cable. He couldn't tell me how long the batteries would last or who/how they are replaced.

Hi

Our meters are around 25ft - 30ft apart and the upgrade was done for us.

Cheers

Paul

[austinbob]

Are these things compulsory? , So if I don`t leave the TV on standby and use the lights only when needed etc ,I`ll be paying more for my electricity because the meter runs on electric. 

Hi

As far as I am aware the meter is powered by the input so doesn't go on your bill as the electricity it consumes doesn't go through the meter.

Cheers

Paul

True. But the little user interface which displays energy usage etc. Is powered by a small 13amp mains adapter.