Do Smart Meters Pose Real Threats or Unfounded Fears?

[Averagesupernova]

I had no idea how much B.S. was floating around out there about these meters. Do any regular posters on here actually know someone who buys into this? The claims run wild: Smart meters are spying on me! Smart meters are polluting my electricity! The radiation they spew is slowly killing me! They are much less accurate! Whining because it helps the utility with load management (which is a good thing). Sometimes I think warning labels and law suits just need to go completely away and let natural selection begin to work again. A quick google will turn up results.

 

[billy_joule]

how much B.S. was floating around out there about these meters.

Let's leave it floating out there PF is a conspiracy theory & pseudoscience free zone.

 

[jim hardy]

almost belongs in a psychology thread.

One of Asimov's laws - Any change will be opposed by those who'll lose something by it.
And by anyone who can use it to get attention by exploiting naivete.

Do any regular posters on here actually know someone who buys into this?

I do have some non-technical neighbors who got caught up in that hyperbole. I've been asked those questions in all seriousness. It's all too easy for us to forget the times before we got our technical training.

I personally detest over-automation and don't want remotely controllable receptacles in my home.
But in the interest of being a good neighbor i will let the electric company put a remote control on my airconditioner compressor .

old jim

 

[Averagesupernova]

My parents are with a power company that is a cooperative. They are VERY GOOD with about any aspect of the business. Their central air is controlled as is the water heater for load management. Those 2 things have nothing to do with smart meters but are some things that these people are against. The central air is controlled by a fixed duty cycle. I can't recall the exact times but something like 20 minutes on and 10 minutes off. This way they can spread the load out more evenly. The water heater has been controlled for probably over 30 years and I don't think anyone ever noticed even with kids at home. They are given a break on the bill because of these 2 items. They have meters that are digital and I would assume are 'smart' meters since no one ever comes to read them for the bill. These meters save some serious coin. Back in the day individuals were responsible for reading their own meters and while it seems impossible to cheat the power company by simply lying about the meter reading it routinely happened. People would subtract KWH off of each reading and eventually the numbers would come around to match what is actually on the meter again. As long as the PoCo didn't come around they didn't get caught.
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I fail to see how this is any different than cash discounts when buying gas as opposed to using a credit card. No one is being charged to 'have their god given rights given back to them' as I have seen people claim on a video. My gas meter is the same. No one comes to read it. I don't hear anything about these. They have been around for over 30 years and maybe more. I don't know how they are now but at one time they had meters that would generate a random number that would determine when they transmit from the time they received an interrogation signal from a gas company vehicle driving the neighborhood. This way it was unlikely that many meters would try to transmit back at the same time. The transmit range was not very far but if the meter could receive the gas company vehicles transmitter from farther away it is likely they would transmit more than once.
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It seems the people that buy into this are people that have an unsatisfied need to feel important or to maintain some type of image. Soooooo many claims with soooooo little actual research or proof. I have a relative who is on the non GMO bandwagon and I am sure if I mentioned the smart meter thing they would be on that too.

 

[berkeman]

I need to close this thread again for Moderation. I'd encourage all participants to re-read the PF rules (see INFO at the top of the page), in case the thread is reopened.