For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By Jim Jones
#1885433
My smart meter enables me to use off peak rates to charge my car. 5p per KWh means it costs 70p for my 36 mile round trip to work.
The remote display showing current lekky use is interesting but I don’t think it’s changed behaviour.
The monthly bill has lovely graphs showing our pattern of use.
I don’t have to send meter readings every month.
No meter reader visits.
User avatar
By Sooty25
#1885435
Smart meters allow you to monitor consumption in real time and whilst they don't actually reduce consumption they can be a tool to help you reduce it.

I'm one for privacy, but I don't think these pose a threat to that. Who really cares how or when an individual consumes energy, there is nothing to be gained and far too many people to monitor anyway.

The real bonus for me, is I don't have to worry about bogus meter readers turning up at my mothers or MIL's houses anymore.
User avatar
By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1885443
Thanks .

I’ll tough it out : I don’t have an electric car and meters are outside close together by front door which I read every three months when EDF remind me- takes all of two minutes .They do a reading once in a blue moon but I’ve never seen this happen.
By Colonel Panic
#1885448
Whilst not (yet) relevant to PeterS, I am on a beta trial with "Intelligent Octopus" where I tell them what level of charge I want in my EV, and by what time in the morning, and they then chose when to charge it and how rapidly based on their internal pricing etc. They also expand the 4 hours off peak rate to 6. Had I not had a smart meter I wouldn't have been able to do this and TBH I like the way that Octopus are trying to "do the right thing". Kudos to them.
By avtur3
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1885452
johnm wrote: .... In my house the existing meters are too far apart so smart meters simply don't work....



I think that would be my problem, out of interest how far is that?
User avatar
By Propwash
#1885454
PeteSpencer wrote:Thanks .

They do a reading once in a blue moon but I’ve never seen this happen.

Mine are side by side outside by the front door. The only way I can tell if they have been read is because the reader never seems to bother shutting the meter cupboard doors which I find swinging in the wind. :evil:

I have actually had a man turn up at the door to fit a smart meter that I hadn’t agreed to. He didn’t hang around long. :lol: I really can’t see the point and will resist until they are inevitably mandated by increasingly Green-obsessed governments.

Just ordered some more logs for the log burner in the lounge. Sorry Greta! :D

PW
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By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1885459
avtur3 wrote:I think that would be my problem, out of interest how far is that?

About 15 metres
User avatar
By Jim Jones
#1885468
johnm wrote:
avtur3 wrote:I think that would be my problem, out of interest how far is that?

About 15 metres


My meters are on opposite sides of the house. The gas meter reports to my supplier ok, but not to my own home display so I don’t see the gas usage. It uses battery power and sends data to the electricity meter every 30 minutes. That then forwards it to the supplier. The outside gas meter is getting overgrown by a shrub.
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By skydriller
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1885469
Propwash wrote:Just ordered some more logs for the log burner in the lounge. Sorry Greta!


I seem to remember there were calls to outlaw log burners.

Piece on the BBC last night about a family in Yorkshire that have been without power for 3 days - Keeping warm & cooking using a log burner/stove...

Regards, SD..
User avatar
By Sooty25
#1885470
Propwash wrote:Just ordered some more logs for the log burner in the lounge. Sorry Greta! :D

PW


thanks for reminding me! Do you use a local supplier or one of these on-line lot that deliver on a pallet?
User avatar
By Propwash
#1885472
skydriller wrote:
I seem to remember there were calls to outlaw log burners.

Piece on the BBC last night about a family in Yorkshire that have been without power for 3 days - Keeping warm & cooking using a log burner/stove...

Regards, SD..

I think the London mayor has them in his sights, but as mine is approved for smoke control areas I am not sure that he has the power to ban it. He can try. Central government is another matter and frankly the Green stuff they keep coming out with is so poorly thought through that anything might happen, whichever party holds office.

We have relatives in North Yorkshire who have only just had power restored after almost 4 days courtesy of Storm Greta. They are in a really remote, high spot. Reliance on electricity is really exposed as leaving you vulnerable at times like that. At least with a log burner you have a reliable fallback option for heat and hot drinks/soup. Perhaps a few more storms like Greta will give the Green lobby in parliament some pause for thought. :roll:


@Sooty25 both. Just ordered from an online supplier who delivers nets on a pallet.

PW
User avatar
By kanga
#1885475
Propwash wrote:... At least with a log burner you have a reliable fallback option for heat and hot drinks/soup...


large areas of Northern Labrador have recently recovered from 44hours of power outage after a major storm which brought down utility poles and wires. Fortunately, every house is built with a large woodburning fireplace, many also with basic cooking facilities on it or with separate wood burners, and a log store with covered access from the house. Every prudent householder ensures latter is full before winter. Obviously, trees yielding logs for burning are usually nearby, and most locals have axes and chainsaws and are (usually :? ) competent in their use ..

Mentioned only because some of my contacts there have been posting pictures of cheerful gatherings in front of their fireplaces, sent as soon as power was restored.
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1885478
Log burners are fine unless you buy kiln dried logs then they are nuts.

We burn stuff from the wood, felled year one and stacked as cord wood for years 2 and 3 and then cut to logs and burnt. All from regenerating coppice on a 10 year cycle.
User avatar
By Flyingfemme
#1885482
Propwash wrote:Perhaps a few more storms like Greta will give the Green lobby in parliament some pause for thought. :roll:

Don't be silly - all the green activists live in city/town centre places with hot and cold running Waitrose deliveries. They have no idea (and no care for) anyone in a different situation.
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