Public Utility Smart Meters

Your thoughts?

My home still has an analog meter on it and I'd like to keep it that way....


Some musings from and electrical engineer on the topic:
https://michiganstopsmartmeters.com/2016/10/12/the-meter-itself-is-the-hazardous-condition/

 

Wrap it in aluminum foil

 

He certainly uses a lot of words to say he doesn't like the design, because the design is based on being installed in a properly wired meter socket.
He also doesn't like the software doing time sync (likely using PTP).

The rest of his objections are pretty much just hot air. The environment is saturated with RF with or without smart meters. Cell phones are the largest component of that. It's a meaningless complaint.

Meh.

I've had a smart meter at home for 4 years now. No issues.
It does allow the utility to track your power usage in 15 minute increments, which could lead to more data being collected about your lifestyle at home if that data were aggregated/sold to others and matched up with more of your personally identifiable data available from other sources (your vehicles, smart phone, fitbit, etc.)

There is no technical reason or RF safety reason to reject a smart meter.

 

With the analog meter, you will have some mouth breather coming into your yard and leaving your gate open and letting your dog out.

 

Your dog lets a mouth breather into your yard? What sort of dog is that?

 

People want to complain about a meter that's sitting in the ground or on the side of the house sending off an RF signal, but will spend all day with a cell phone pressed against their head. Smart people they are not.

 

Not saying there was a cause and effect but...

About a week after those meters were installed in my neighborhood, the neighbor's house (closest to a distribution(?) box) burned to the ground. That box, out at the corner of the streets, also burned...no visual indication of what went first. I figure it was an incompatibility with the long-standing box and "new" meter and unregulated current took a path of least resistance into the house.

Did I mention this guy's house burned to the ground from an electrically triggered fire?

I'm so wanting to get off the grid. Hopefully, I can do so before some other unproven gizmos (they passed the lab tests? ) get added/installed to the infrastructure.

 

Or were growing or something

My biggest concern would be that it makes it easier to shutoff and the power surges on my household equipment. I do agree though most of his stuff was sounding like an anti-vaxxer scree and I quit reading it.

 

One of those killer Pit Bulls.

I think mine's defective, though... she never mauled anyone.

 

That's the same malady that effects my firearms!

 

Smart Meters do allow the utility to turn off power without sending someone out to pull the meter and insulate/cap the meter blades (or just remove the meter).

A smart meter won't affect or have any impact on surges.

 

Some are used to reduce or stop some service to reduce brown outs (CA I believe did this some). Thus the surge of coming back on. Potentially more often than normal disruptions (I almost never loose power here).

 

There is some program here where you can sign up for a program where they can regulate your heat and or ac. Some kind of gizmo they can program to stop your water heater from cycling or something during peak times.

It's all sorta sketchy to me.

 

Surges are the least of the problems if the unit fails to control current flow, tho'.

 

Smart meters aren't circuit breakers or fuses. They don't regulate voltage or current. The measure how many watts pass through it.

the radio circuit in the smart meter can be used to transmit/repeat signals to other devices that can regulate loads, but the meter can't turn on/off HVAC, water heaters, etc. Meter disconnects are an all on or all off thing. They can't reach into your breaker panel and turn on/off circuits.

Or maybe your home is wired with multiple meters, with some connected only to interruptible loads like HVAC, Water Heater, etc.

 

Until they have meltdown cuz they were made in China.

 

I'm talking about a completely separate piece of hardware.

 

This is one they have one for water heaters too.

https://bgesavings.com/pre3l

Be sure to read down in the how it works part.

For your water heater.
https://bgesavings.com/programs/water-heater

 

Wow, do you currently write for the National Enquirer?

 

When I used to grow a decent amount of "tomatoes" at home (about 4K watts going 12/12) I was quite nervous about what smart meters would show to the local power utility.