Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Had letters, binned letters.
I know when the lights on and I can't power off fridge.
I know when the lights on and I can't power off fridge.
True, but people aren't being told that the wiring is unsafe, just that it won't be compatible with a smart meter.Top safety tip, peeps: having unsafe house-wiring is never a good idea. Get your local electrician in to check it.
Then get another one to do the same: never trust electricians they are lying bastards...
a full tekkie explanation of this supposed lack of compatibility would be interesting. For our SM installation there was an electrical impedance test plus basic visual inspection, along with a gas safety check- pressure test and visual inspection + on/off test for all appliances: one of ours failed and I had to work hard not to have the household gas cut off, eventually the whole thing was put back until sorted.True, but people aren't being told that the wiring is unsafe, just that it won't be compatible with a smart meter.
it's preparation for a smart grid, whereby electricity will be priced in eg 15 minute chunks and smart appliances will be able to choose when to run, and consumers will be able to choose when to feed power back into the grid from eg EV batteries.It's only for the energy companies.
I never thought of that, sounds too good.it's preparation for a smart grid, whereby electricity will be priced in eg 15 minute chunks and smart appliances will be able to choose when to run, and consumers will be able to choose when to feed power back into the grid from eg EV batteries.
Smart electric meters are (the ones I’ve seen installed en masse by British Gas) are an electric meter with a plug in device to transmit the data. The meter itself isn’t much different to a normal one, just able to connect to a transmitter. There’s nothing fancy or complicated to it.
I assume the problems arise from different companies being unable to access the transmitted data. An IT problem, not electrical.
it's preparation for a smart grid, whereby electricity will be priced in eg 15 minute chunks and smart appliances will be able to choose when to run, and consumers will be able to choose when to feed power back into the grid from eg EV batteries.
I do wonder what that means, though. Unless there is some very subtle aspect to the way a smartmeter is operating, what it's essentially doing is monitoring the current flow through a pair of wires. There are other considerations - availability of mobile networks, and whether it can connect into your own wifi for the home energy monitor to work, but those are nothing to do with wiringTrue, but people aren't being told that the wiring is unsafe, just that it won't be compatible with a smart meter.
A slight irony is that it is perfectly possible for stuff to do this autonomously, just by monitoring the mains frequency:it's preparation for a smart grid, whereby electricity will be priced in eg 15 minute chunks and smart appliances will be able to choose when to run, and consumers will be able to choose when to feed power back into the grid from eg EV batteries.
I never thought of that, sounds too good.
it doesn't use wifi it uses encrypted Zigbee with absolutely no provision for users to sniff the data. SMETS 1 anyway, I really hope SMETS2 is better but I'm not holding my breath.I do wonder what that means, though. Unless there is some very subtle aspect to the way a smartmeter is operating, what it's essentially doing is monitoring the current flow through a pair of wires. There are other considerations - availability of mobile networks, and whether it can connect into your own wifi for the home energy monitor to work, but those are nothing to do with wiring
Is that minute frequency drift fully independent of power factor?A slight irony is that it is perfectly possible for stuff to do this autonomously, just by monitoring the mains frequency:
Dynamic Demand
Ah, in my reading around the subject, I thought there was some stuff about hubs, which implied the use of Wifi. Zigbee makes sense, as I imagine relying on the vagaries of people's existing wifi setups would be a little challenging.it doesn't use wifi it uses encrypted Zigbee with absolutely no provision for users to sniff the data. SMETS 1 anyway, I really hope SMETS2 is better but I'm not holding my breath.
I have no idea, only that it's a reasonably good approximation of generator load.Is that minute frequency drift fully independent of power factor?
I was so disappointed. It is, after all, my data not theirs for all the fact I employ them to provide the power and measure it. In my imagination I would be able to interrogate the meters in real time, to get readings and see the effect of eg the fridge, the gas burners and boiler fan coming and going. In reality I can laboriously copy the monthly history from meter to pc, by crouching the cellar with pen and paper , or read whatever the supplier chooses to put on their website. As I've changed supplier i have to read manually, and the only method involves being in the cellar, because their little display box doesn't actually show the readings. There are probably fairly few people who want to geek this stuff, but there really is no reason we shouldn't be able to sniff our own meters.Ah, in my reading around the subject, I thought there was some stuff about hubs, which implied the use of Wifi. Zigbee makes sense, as I imagine relying on the vagaries of people's existing wifi setups would be a little challenging.
Shame it's not sniffable, though - you'd think that having a nice open API would be a good thing.
I'm not sure either but I've read that controlling power factor (reactive/capacitive apparent load) is a major part of grid management and one of the reasons for distributed smart metering rather than doing it from the centre.I have no idea, only that it's a reasonably good approximation of generator load.
I totally agree. But there a (particularly British) mentality that fights hard against the idea of letting anyone have anything they don't absolutely have to have.I was so disappointed. It is, after all, my data not theirs for all the fact I employ them to provide the power and measure it. In my imagination I would be able to interrogate the meters in real time, to get readings and see the effect of eg the fridge, the gas burners and boiler fan coming and going. In reality I can laboriously copy the monthly history from meter to pc, by crouching the cellar with pen and paper , or read whatever the supplier chooses to put on their website. As I've changed supplier i have to read manually, and the only method involves being in the cellar, because their little display box doesn't actually show the readings. There are probably fairly few people who want to geek this stuff, but there really is no reason we shouldn't be able to sniff our own meters.
As I understand it, the whole grid is kept in sync anyway, so a dynamic balance is maintained, generator load being a major input factor to that balance. So the grid frequency won't vary locally, and the idea of using it as a dynamic power balancing metric isn't intended to be a locally-managed thing.I'm not sure either but I've read that controlling power factor (reactive/capacitive apparent load) is a major part of grid management and one of the reasons for distributed smart metering rather than doing it from the centre.
Gridwatch is currently showing 49.917Hz. As all the generator sets have to be in sync (don't they?) I'm not sure I see why your measurement or mine might be different: if it is, is that down to local pf or something else?
That's a current clamp, claiming 1% accuracy. The one I tried seemed to be about +/- 10% depending on clamp positioning, iirc it goes up when closer to the meter. That was an analogue meter with rotating disk so I think the EM field matters.I totally agree. But there a (particularly British) mentality that fights hard against the idea of letting anyone have anything they don't absolutely have to have.
You can get aftermarket ones, but they're not cheap: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=neurio
The accuracy went up, or the sensed current? That'd make some sense, given that those meters do have big fuckoff coils in them!That's a current clamp, claiming 1% accuracy. The one I tried seemed to be about +/- 10% depending on clamp positioning, iirc it goes up when closer to the meter. That was an analogue meter with rotating disk so I think the EM field matters.
I misunderstood your post then, I thought autonomously meant local measurement. In the last couple of minutes it's jumped to 50.117 (the Dynamic one isn't quite the same as Gridwatch but that might be latency) so autonomous devices would flipflop on and off as the grid corrects the frequency by bringing gas turbines in and out.As I understand it, the whole grid is kept in sync anyway, so a dynamic balance is maintained, generator load being a major input factor to that balance. So the grid frequency won't vary locally, and the idea of using it as a dynamic power balancing metric isn't intended to be a locally-managed thing.