Smart Meters. What exactly are they?

This is just a basic question wanting to know if these smart meters are doing more than just keeping track of energy usage?

It looks like these meters are rolling out everywhere and it's like Mandatory to have one? Am I wrong?

not much else to say, just seeking opinion from those who have the smart meter and those who don't.


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a reply to: TruthxIsxInxThexMist

I think all they do is they have a RF output that sends your usage info to the utility so the supplier don't have to have meter readers in person on site...

They send the data hourly so the company charge you different rates at different hours of day (more at peak hours).

It is said its to have a better control of energy production/consumption so they just produce as needed to decrease cost.

They are not Mandatory!

Just say no..

Not to mention they provide excellent telemetry and targeting information for Directed Energy Weapons.
Just ask PG&E about that.

ganjoa

originally posted by: ganjoa
Not to mention they provide excellent telemetry and targeting information for Directed Energy Weapons.
Just ask PG&E about that.

ganjoa

radiation purposes?

originally posted by: Indigent
They send the data hourly so the company charge you different rates at different hours of day (more at peak hours).

It is said its to have a better control of energy production/consumption so they just produce as needed to decrease cost.

Won't decrease costs of energy though will they? Still use what you were using before.

Except now the suppliers are putting the standing charges up because the government put a cap on the tarriff's!

a reply to: TruthxIsxInxThexMist

The power companies need to produce more power during peak hour, this extra power may be produced with more expensive sources.

If they charge you different rates hourly two things can happen, instead of averaging all hours at the same rate they may charge you cheaper some hours and more on peak, in the end this may be cheaper than a fixed rate.

The other thing is that if people know at peak hour they will be charged more they will try to spend less at those hours (doing the laundry at other time for example) to save a little, this actually means that the power company could use less the more expensive power sources saving them money, so it can decrease the cost of energy for the consumer and the supplier.

a reply to: TruthxIsxInxThexMist

They tell the police if you grow marijuana.

a reply to: Indigent
In the UK they are for monitoring your usage. If you go over what the book says you should be using....you get fined....even prison.

Well let me see, I've talked about this before. The provider, with a smart meter installed, can read your meter second by second. They can also alter your tariff second by second and you wouldn't know anything about it. Now let me think...... the power companies can NEVER be trusted to make this transparent. They have to be forced by governments to offer lower tariffs and they're making money on those. So are you going to believe them when they say that they will be fair.
A snowball in hell comes to mind.

Everything that is later abused starts for our benefits. At the moment these meters will do what some on here said, calculate peak times and save money...aaawww.
But they can also be switched off from afar. And not just by a chosen and trusted handful of people but by Darren in the call centre if need be.

Darren of course being a synonym for the absolutely dimwitted temps who can't often be trusted becau8se they literally don't give a snip. We worked with a Darren who kept hanging up on people when he couldn't be bothered. He also closed accounts and other shenannigans that brought a lot of people a lot of hassle.

The same with the airport xray thing they promised us would not see the employees laughing at fat bodies or genitalia, and yet they did. Why? Because we are human, some young, others foolish, often both.

I don't want my electricity in the hands of anyone. But that is just the beginning.

Anything will always end up shafting the consumer, intruding more and more. They won't just know how much electricity you use in which room, but there are also 'smart' appliances that will tell them which one you used.
Are you boiling too much water, too often? Have too many baths? Why is your TV on all day, don't you have anything better to do?
Do you really need to have two computers running at the same time, you will be fined for that...etc?

After that, we will get into the territory of "you haven't got any smart appliances, what do you have to hide?

Also, if Darren can switch you off whenever, more sinister people will also be able to hack the system, because the bad ones will always find a way. See bank accounts and anything else that was told it's safe.

But for now, it's only a 'seemingly practical' solution. I always think of years ahead. The internet was also great once and so was nuclear fission. Humans will always feck everything up and use it for control. Ask the chinese who managed to turn cameras and electronic cards into an Orwellian nightmare. Who'd have thought that when the first Daguerrotypie camera was invented?

they can be manipulated from the outside ! and you will have no controle of it and no rights to re-claim if the bills are in question

a reply to: TruthxIsxInxThexMist

originally posted by: ganjoa
Not to mention they provide excellent telemetry and targeting information for Directed Energy Weapons.
Just ask PG&E about that.

ganjoa

There is the security risk that anyone can snoop on the signal and tell if you are in or not, then they can do more intensive analysis and tell if you are doing the cooking, laundry, working in your home office, watching TV, sitting in bed, or having a shower. Each activity will have it's own power consumption level.

There's the health risk of having even more microwaves being beamed around on top of your smartphone, wi-fi router, smart TV, bluetooth enabled laptop and other devices.

So far, they seem to be a great source of paranoia and delusion.

a reply to: Jefferton

Broh, they scan your face, and print it, scan it through a mask.

Just ask Alex Jones.

A tech company needs income, let them produce pointless devices and mandate the people to have them installed due to "environmental issues" and "energy usage" and throw some other buzzwords in too for good effect. Energy savings average 1% or less, if any, analogue meters work just fine and uh...yeah.

The thing that made me laugh was the fact that, if Company A installs a smart meter and you switch to Company B for whatever reason, that meter then becomes a useless paperweight. If you then want another smart meter with Company B they have to come and install a NEW one.

The only advantage is for those on prepayment meters, who could get a smart meter installed and then switch over to a much cheaper tariff because they can see what is spent per day, it would also gets rid of the standing charge for prepay meters, which is 30p per DAY on electric, and 30p per DAY on gas BEFORE you used anything.

a reply to: TruthxIsxInxThexMist

In the summer time some utility companys can shut off your ac or clothes dryer for up to 3 hours. I get 20%discount for my smart meter, another 10%since I changed everything to all electric.