Has anyone experienced a hike in electricity bills after upgrading to a Smart Meter?
- Thread starter Arjun
- Start date
They're more difficult and time consuming to read manually. With mine I have to stand there and wait while the display cycles through its 8 or so different readouts, while trying to figure out which one is the one I want.
looney2ns
IPCT Contributor
looney2ns
IPCT Contributor
tangent
IPCT Contributor
- May 12, 2016
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- 3,995
It's pretty unlikely you'd see a change. There's a lot of conspiracies about smart meters that are frankly insane and lack a basis in reality. Even most 'analog' meters have been doing AMR for decades.
Newer meters generally are going to measure power consumption more accurately which may include compensating for power factor this is where any difference in the measurement would come from (certainly affects industrial customers).
tangent
IPCT Contributor
- May 12, 2016
- 4,641
- 3,995
Most of which are just ----- or 00000. Fun fact, the efficiency of the power grid is around 50%
For you solar owners, one cool feature is viewing the directional arrows on the smart panel. Indicating if your are receiving or sending power to the grid.
Many other useful stats available via your web page from the power company, resulting from the Smart Panel data.
Many other useful stats available via your web page from the power company, resulting from the Smart Panel data.
Thank you all for assuring me. Almost every conspiracy (i.e. Wireless and Cancer, Higher electrical cost, additional fees, strings-attached, Big Brother is Watching You while you are naked, etc.) about smart meters was brought up by one of my neighbors which made him reluctant to replace his existing meter. Thank goodness I made the right move on going forward with the swap. I was right all along. Just perplexes me by how others would think. I think it has to with limited understanding of technology. 5G is being rolled out as we speak. Satellites are constantly orbiting Earth keeping us in the loop. I think if we start worrying too much, we all will be labelled as maniacs. 
Useful stats are especially important to me. Also, like to avoid estimated bills.
Useful stats are especially important to me. Also, like to avoid estimated bills.
By the way, is this bullshit? I'm sure there were many undisclosed factors involved in bill spike
stopocsmartmeters.com
Analog Vs. "Smart"
Price Increases
From 2009 to 2011, SCE customers paid an additional 1.6% fee to implement the Smart Grid. In addition, now that the Smart Meters are deployed, many Orange County customers experience their bills...
stopocsmartmeters.com
Analog Vs. "Smart"
Electromechanical Analog Meter
How it Works The old, trusty (and ugly) analog meter attached to the side of a house has a series of dials or gauges that move electromagnetically with the home's electrical usage. It does not use power to operate. There is a starting point and an ending point on the manual gauges. Usage is easily calculated as the difference between these two numbers....just like putting miles on a car. In fact, you can watch these dial move and audit your own usage. The movement can be verified by the homeowner to ensure it's accuracy. Analog Meter Pricing Analog metering systems apply a pricing structure based on a 5-tier graduated rates system for that month's electrical use. The more electricity you use the higher tiered rate is applied. For example, currently first-tiered winter rates may start at $0.13 per kWh and fifth-tier starts at $0.31 per kWh. The incentive is for you to use less electricity over the one month period of time. Projected Higher Cost For those customers still owning an analog meter, tiered pricing remains. However, we understand that the power companies would like to penalize the analog customers by slowly removing the tiers on their way down to one rate for all electrical usage. Would this new one rate imposed be set at a penalizing level? | Smart Meter
How it Works This is the shiny, new digital Smart Meter flashes numbers periodically as it calculates electrical usage. It uses your home's power to operate. It digitally calculates real-time usage then transmits this data wirelessly through the Smart Grid mesh network. Just like your cell phone bill, a Smart Meter accumulates usage digitally and sends you a bill. However, unlike a cell phone bill you cannot know where or how the numbers were calculated. There is no beginning or ending gauge to verify your electrical use. Do we just trust this computer? Is it accurate? Can the numbers be verified? There is no way to know. Smart Meter Pricing Smart Metering calculates electrical usage based on Time Of Use (TOU) pricing by applying changing hourly rates. For example, since the heaviest time for electrical usage takes place between the hours of 2pm to 6pm a penalizing high rate will be applied to discourage use during those hours. Lower rates apply in the late evening and extreme early morning. That way you can do your laundry at midnight. Projected Higher Cost As a result to TOU pricing, those that are home during the day will be most effected like seniors, retirees, unemployed, those on medical support systems, small work-at-home business owners, and parents with small children. Also, low-income and fixed-income households that are unable to shift the time of day that use energy will also see their bills skyrocket. |
Actually we had a good size jump in our bill after they changed us over.
There was two things that caused it;
1. We had the same meter for over 20 years, and it was not counting all of the electricity we were using.
I borrowed a logger from work and verified the smart meter was correct. Then logged my fathers, and
his analog meter was reading less then he was using. Analog has a hard time reading small currents.
2. I have solar cells that put AC back into the grid. The new smart meters do not count backwards when
I would generate more then I was using. In fact it counted both ways and charged us for both ways.
To get this changed to "net billing" I had to get an electrician out to verify my system was wired in compliance
with the electric company requirements, and file with electric company to get it changed.
OR switch the solar inverter so it did not provide power when it was not being used locally. (Reverse Limiter)
I chose to do the later.
So I learned, I had been getting electricity I had not been paying for, and that the new meters were very accurate.
Also the 900 spread spectrum the meters use to communicate totally wiped out my 900 Mhz video ling from
my barn to the house.
There was two things that caused it;
1. We had the same meter for over 20 years, and it was not counting all of the electricity we were using.
I borrowed a logger from work and verified the smart meter was correct. Then logged my fathers, and
his analog meter was reading less then he was using. Analog has a hard time reading small currents.
2. I have solar cells that put AC back into the grid. The new smart meters do not count backwards when
I would generate more then I was using. In fact it counted both ways and charged us for both ways.
To get this changed to "net billing" I had to get an electrician out to verify my system was wired in compliance
with the electric company requirements, and file with electric company to get it changed.
OR switch the solar inverter so it did not provide power when it was not being used locally. (Reverse Limiter)
I chose to do the later.
So I learned, I had been getting electricity I had not been paying for, and that the new meters were very accurate.
Also the 900 spread spectrum the meters use to communicate totally wiped out my 900 Mhz video ling from
my barn to the house.
That sounds like a very good point; regarding smaller currents. For the most part though, I'm sure there wouldn't be a dramatic increase right?
Normally there would not be a big change. I just had an ancient meter they should have changed years before.
And the grid tie inverter thing
Who knows.
The RF radiation you receive from your cell phone is way more then what you would get from your smart meter.
Probably 1,000 times more. Signal strength goes down exponentially with distance,
so figure how far you are from the meter, vs your cell phone. Both are in the same neighborhood of power out.
Your eyes are probably the most sensitive, with probably your brain next. Where do you hold your phone?
The RF radiation you receive from your cell phone is way more then what you would get from your smart meter.
Probably 1,000 times more. Signal strength goes down exponentially with distance,
so figure how far you are from the meter, vs your cell phone. Both are in the same neighborhood of power out.
Your eyes are probably the most sensitive, with probably your brain next. Where do you hold your phone?
You're absolutely right. I hold a cell phone the same way as the vast majority do.
However, I've heard that some men keep their phone in their pockets next to their crouch and wear a Bluetooth headset 24/7. What could be worse than that?
However, I've heard that some men keep their phone in their pockets next to their crouch and wear a Bluetooth headset 24/7. What could be worse than that?
I recon RF radiation is not good for you, but I have lived around it for years with no effect, (other them being bat $h!t crazy)
I started my electronics carrier working on AM broadcast transmitters. You had to jump from the ladder to the tower,
because if you touched both it would shock the bat .... out of you! Now days OSHA makes you turn off the transmitter
before you can get on the tower. I worked on towers while 50,000 watt stations were on line, I climbed past high power
TV antennas while they were on. I worked radar sites while 1 million watt pulse transmitters were on.
Then worked on old style mobile telephone sites moving over to cell towers. I survived, but (see above comment).
I started my electronics carrier working on AM broadcast transmitters. You had to jump from the ladder to the tower,
because if you touched both it would shock the bat .... out of you! Now days OSHA makes you turn off the transmitter
before you can get on the tower. I worked on towers while 50,000 watt stations were on line, I climbed past high power
TV antennas while they were on. I worked radar sites while 1 million watt pulse transmitters were on.
Then worked on old style mobile telephone sites moving over to cell towers. I survived, but (see above comment).
You're absolutely right. I hold a cell phone the same way as the vast majority do.
However, I've heard that some men keep their phone in their pockets next to their crouch and wear a Bluetooth headset 24/7. What could be worse than that?
I would probably not hold my phone next to my swimmers, but I do think a bluetooth is wise for those of us that stay on the phone 24/7.
sebastiantombs
Known around here
Let's see, the "smart meters" follow the time of use pattern. This can result in higher bills for retirees, parents with small kids, a home business owner or a person on medical support of some sort. All groups that are the least likely to be able to afford those higher costs. The reality is that a KW of electricity costs the same to produce no matter what time of day it is. Generators, of the size we are talking about for the electric grid, can't be turned on and off like a light bulb. They ru 24/7/365 unless offline for maintenance. The system is designed around the peak anticipated load to prevent brownouts and failures. This "time of use" is a pile of crap designed to add more revenue, plain and simple. Buying into it because it's called a "smart meter" is a very dubious decision.