Truth about Smart Meters – Switchme review
January 27 2010 Categorized Under: Power News, Smart Meters, Switchme News 3 Commented
There have been a vast number of articles written about smart electricity meters ranging from how great they are to conspiracy theorists claiming they are an invasion of privacy.
The problem is that no one article provides all the facts in one place. We’re and tired of hearing people bleat on about how they are getting ripped off by their power company. Similarly, the marketing rubbish around smart meters generated by the electricity retailers is just as bad. Lets set some facts straight…
Firstly they save money on meter readers. This means that the man in his fancy hi-viz shirt and clipboard wont be visiting your house anymore… Instead your smart meter sends a signal to a metering company which then forwards this data to your electricity retailer.
Having access to your meter reading at any time means that retailers can start offering special deals at different times, like $15 weekends, or even incentives for saving electricity at peak load times. These special deals will attract more customers and increase revenue.
It is estimated that 5% of all homes in New Zealand are charged the wrong electricity tariff. This is because the national database (the Electricity Registry) doesn’t have the right information about your meter type. Installing smart meters means the electricity retailers check your meter type against the national database. Unfortunately for some people this results in an increase in electricity costs. Electricity retailers have offered to refund any overcharged tariffs and will write off any debt where the customer has been undercharged.
Truth about Smart Meters
A number of older houses have electricity meters on the inside. This means that you had to send your Meter Reader a key, or worse, you’d have most bills generated based on estimates. Installing smart meters means that your bills are more accurate, and your meter reader isn’t going to turn up unannounced.
Make up your own mind about whether smart meters are good or bad. At the end of the day, we have to move with the times and embrace this new technology.
great article, thanks for the info
Thanks for sharing this.
Hi there,
Unfortunately this article does not consider the many other atributes of smart meters and where this will go in the future.
Smart metering overseas is capable of monitoring electricity spot prices and purchasing electricity when prices are favourable.
For example, most people shower before work or when they get home from work. This is a period when demand is high and electricity prices too especially during winter periods. But smart metering can be used to heat the water in the hot water cylinder at a later time (after 11pm) when prices are much cheaper. This benefits the user and the lines company too.
I recently heard of appliances such as dishwashers that can communicate with the smart meter and switch on according to the electricity price. Pretty techie!