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ISIS
by casper. 14th Feb 2019 9:32am
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Wheel
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Smart Meters
#1026304
24th Nov 2016 12:09pm
24th Nov 2016 12:09pm
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Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 16,143 Wirral
granny
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Had notification from Scottish Power that they are about to roll out 'smart meters' in our area Not sure I want one, but I suppose it won't make any difference.
One question, if Scottish Power pay for the installation of meter, they will be recouping the costs back from customers, but does this mean it will be more difficult to change companies in the future , to one that hasn't yet installed 'smart meters'?
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle
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Re: Smart Meters
[Re: casper]
#1026308
24th Nov 2016 3:10pm
24th Nov 2016 3:10pm
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granny
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Thanks for that, Casper.
Last edited by granny; 24th Nov 2016 3:14pm.
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle
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Re: Smart Meters
[Re: granny]
#1026341
24th Nov 2016 10:18pm
24th Nov 2016 10:18pm
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Posts: 16,143 Wirral
granny
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Thanks for all the answers. Pax,  Unlike yourself, I am not duel fuel with Scottish Power, and I have not had any issues with them so far, but I have been thinking about doing so and not sure which is the best deal as yet.. Cools I have had a look at the website, and interesting info to take on board. Same with videos from Sunnyside. It's all worth listening to, and accessing. If we don't have to have them, then maybe there is a good reason for that. Sorry, Rocks, missed your post, and my last line is on the same thoughts as you mention.
Last edited by granny; 24th Nov 2016 10:20pm.
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle
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Re: Smart Meters
[Re: granny]
#1026371
25th Nov 2016 3:56pm
25th Nov 2016 3:56pm
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Posts: 1,627 wirral
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Smart meters do exactly what your mobile does when it sends a text, except it is a very short text.
As it is many feet away from you, it poses no greater threat than a passer-by sending a text as he walks past your home. Anyone who claims that smart meters are a health risk is an idiot or a rogue.
A little thought applied to these fears is enough to dispel concerns. Some friends of mine were concerned about a phone mast being built near them. Although they and their children were users of mobiles, they worried that the phone mast's 'more powerful' transmissions would subject them to more radiation.
When I pointed out that as phone transmissions are two-way, there is little point in the mast transmitting any more powerfully than an individual phone, they felt a little easier. And as both phones and the mast transmitters reduce their power to just enough for good communications, they and their children would receive far less stray radiation from their own phones when connected to a nearby mast, the effect of a mast fifty yards away would actually be to REDUCE their exposure, they became quite relaxed about it.
As to concerns about people 'hacking' these meters I think it is unlikely with the existing ones. They transmit data, not receive it, so there is little way anyone can take them over. The worst that can happen is that someone might monitor your power consumption, but what o earth they can do with this data is beyond me. They might determine whether you are in or out, but even that is unlikely. An increasing number of home appliances are left on 24/7 - such as fridges, freezers, Aquarium pumps, TV's on standby, computers in 'sleep' mode etc. that it is difficult to tell whether there are occupants present or not.
As to cost, the meters cost no more than dumb meters, perhaps even less as more functionality can be compressed into a single microcontroller, given modern technology, than older dumb meters.In addition, once installed, they continue to save the cost of employing meter readers forever, which must yield an annual saving. The result should be less expensive power not more expensive power. It is significant that three or four price comparison sites identified the same supplier in my case, who are happy also to install smart meters.
Ideally, I would like to be able to monitor consumption at my convenience, and pay a bill for exactly what I use every month, and not have to cover the cost of a meter reader or read the meters myself. Smart meters offer all of this and are as safe as houses. We should all sign up for them, and ignore these ill-informed luddites.
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Re: Smart Meters
[Re: granny]
#1026398
26th Nov 2016 11:29am
26th Nov 2016 11:29am
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There are people keen to make a name for themselves by attacking anything new, in the knowledge that the unfamiliar is always treated with suspicion and their claims will be believed by those too idle to investigate properly and make their own minds up.
We've seen the same things with CFL lamps (They contain mercury - shock, horror!). So do ordinary fluorescents, but the opposition was only to compact ones. I have even seen opposition to LEDs on the grounds that they contain Arsenic. This is true, but in quantities measured in parts per million in the silicon as a dopant. You would have to chip open hundreds of them and swallow the silicon to get anywhere near a detectable dose, and even then it would pass through your body quite safely, being deep inside the material of the chips and would not be absorbed.
I'm sorry if my post has offended anyone. I feel strongly about wilful manipulation of people's fears, but my point stands. if you are scared of smart meters, you should be bloody terrified of mobiles, which are going to subject your head to FAR more radiation than your smart meter. And you should certainly dump your 'smart' phone. It is far more superbly equipped to spy on you and what you are up to than any box screwed to the wall under the stairs!
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Wheel
by Thorwalker. 18th Feb 2019 1:10pm
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