GRIPES

[octave]

Here is an interesting interview with the director of the national grid in the UK.

 

 

Phil the controller of the grid needs to ensure that the amount of power generated is as close to the power being used as possible. This is a difficult balancing act. You definitely do not want to have power stations generating surplus power unless you can store it.

 

Some interesting points made by the controller @8:30 - "for us, it is all about the data" ...... "it is where we don't have data that we get into problems"

 

@ 10:14 he briefly mentions smart meters.

 

The controller uses the historical data to ensure that enough generation is brought online so we don't have power cuts but also are not wasting money by generating excess power.

 

Anyway whether or not you think smart meters are driven by some sort of conspiracy or not this is a pretty interesting insight into the power system that we tend to take for granted.

 

 

[spacesailor]

"Furthermore, unless the consumers all rewire their meter boxes, there is no way they can remotely switch part of a consumers circuits off. With the exception of 'off peak' hot water heaters that already have provision for remote control."

 

Two items here

 

1/ From personal experience My OFF PEAK heating was turned off for (wait for it) .....Night-store...

 

Three weeks yes 21 day's in the dead of winter with No heating at all, Standard power was Off four hours daily. (water in flower vase froze)

 

I ended up Buying 2 Kero heaters, (like the fifties & sixties( in NZ))

 

2/ When selective "switch-off Comes I very much doubt if it will hit Canberra at ALL.

 

Individuals CAN & WILL be selected NOT randomly.

 

But by their STATUS !.

 

How can a Meter, tell which plug is in use at any time let alone How much power, ONE in a dozen plugs is using.

 

Unless Every plug & appliance has a separate Feed plus Fuse .

 

All the people known to me. that have put solar on their roofs, had to have a "smart meter" and ended up paying a higher tariff, than when on the old meter.

 

I WANT "stand alone" With my old tariff.

 

spacesailor

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Marty_d]

So far I have not really expressed an opinion as to the ethos behind smart meters. I presume you are asking me that because you want to draw me into a debate on your wider beliefs. OK, I will bite.

When you say the ethos I am guessing what you mean is what you and some other folks have pronounced as the ethos. An important step in the presentation of any conspiracy hypothesis.

 

I watched most of the videos you posted and did not find them particularly persuasive. Here are just a few points.

 

Smart meters are not compulsory in Britain at least (according to the clip) and you can request for it to be removed. Phil if I were you I would be putting my energy into ensuring that it remains an opt-in system. I believe they are mandated here in Victoria.

 

Cost - I can't really comment on installation cost (unless I do a bit of research). I bought a property with a pre-existing smart meter. I moved from a similar sized property with an analogue meter, my bills are around about the same or slightly lower. I can only comment about my own costs but they do not seem to have been adversely affected. Of course, the consumer does bear the cost of any innovation or upgrade to the network. Want a new power station? The cost will be born by the end users.

 

Accuracy. I can't find much reliable information on this. I believe just like the petrol pump that there are standards imposed and they are tested (sometimes beside analogue meters). Of course, I do not rule out the fact that a meter could malfunction as with any technology (including analogue) however at least I can and in fact do look at the graph of my energy usage on a daily or even an hourly basis. If I find a larger usage that does not tally with my actual usage I can see this almost instantly and tackle the power company before I am sent a huge bill.

 

The power company can charge different amounts at different times of the day. We have kind of had this for a long time if you have off-peak power. The clip presents this as they can charge more for power at peak times but then you could also say of that it's charging less for power at low usage times. The benefit, of course, is using more power when power stations are underutilized (overnight). As you can see from the energy report I posted a few messages back 59% of my usage is hot water. I do not have variable priced power but I can see it would be worth it for me to investigate off-peak hot water since it is by far my biggest energy usage.

 

Control and cut off. The clip says that to cut someone off with an analogue meter requires someone to visit your property and it refers to it as a legal process. I fail to see why a legal process cannot be mandatory for any cutoff regardless of where the actual switch is flicked.

 

Privacy: Whilst it is important to consider the privacy implications of all technology it is so easy to slip into hysteria. I have no fear of anyone knowing my shower routine. Last night I watched episode 1 and 2 of the 2nd series of Line of Duty. Whilst it may be technically possible for my power company to detect this fact I am assuming that it would be a lot of work for pretty much no gain. I guess if they were interested they would probably find it easier to do a deal with Netflix and while they are at it. This risk seems ludicrously small compared to using the internet.

 

The clip seems to start out saying that power companies could potentially sell data but then slips into they are selling data. Is there proof of this? In Victoria, it is governed by the privacy act. Smart Meters - Privacy I have not read this document so I can't really comment on it. I do get rather bemused about how precious people are about certain types of privacy. Being advertised to is just how the system works. I would much rather get ads that are targeted than untargeted.

 

It is interesting that people seem more concerned about somebody hacking the system and determining when there may be nobody home in particular premises rather than a stranger (meter reader) having access to your property. Of course, it need not be the actual meter reader, it could also be the guy dressed in a yellow safety vest going door to door. My mobile phone could provide information that not only verifies that I am not home but exactly where I am and therefore when I might return.

 

In terms of hacking, of course, it is true that we need to consider the implications of new technology. It is also true that we cannot always foresee the negatives and also the positives of new technologies. The only way to guarantee 100% that no technology will be hacked would be to return to mid to late last century.

 

If you look back at the introduction of new technologies there has usually been a section of the community that has been anxious or suspicious. Look at mobile phones with early health concerns and privacy concerns, that is not to say that we should not consider the downsides but we need to stay rational.

Bloody hell, Octave, there you go again using that damn LOGIC stuff...

 

 

[kgwilson]

The biggest most intense source of electromagnetic radiation is the sun at around 1.37 kW per square metre in the upper atmosphere. This gets filtered by the atmosphere but most gets to us. Mobile phones & wifi use specific sets of EMF frequencies at extemely low intensity. A few minutes in the sun & you will have more exposure to EMF than all of your wi-fi and mobile phone use for a month, probably more.

 

 

[nomadpete]

But, but,

 

KG, the sun only emits NATURAL radiation. So thats ok, isn't it?

 

In fact, natural radiation is good for us!

 

 

[kgwilson]

Your eyes tell you that the Sun obviously delivers energy to Earth in the form of visible light. If you think about it a bit, especially in terms of the choices you make about UV-A and UV-B protection when you shop for sunscreen or sunglasses, you'll also realise that you know that the Sun also bathes our planet in ultraviolet "light" or radiation. The Sun, in fact, emits radiation across most of the electromagnetic spectrum... from high-energy X-rays to ultra-long wavelength radio waves.

 

If you think it is all good for us wander round in the summer sun naked for a day & let us know the result.

 

 

[spacesailor]

K G

 

It will get you "Free Bed & Board" When the boy's in blue pick you up.

 

Tens of thousands of "cell" phones & hundreds of towers pumping out all simultaneously, ( still transmitting when not in use, searching for adjacent tower )

 

Adds up to more than a couple of Whats ( that you say).

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Marty_d]

Like anything in life, moderation will help you stay alive.

 

There's been huge concern about radiation from mobile phones causing brain cancer because you hold the headset against your ear. However reputable studies show over and over that there's no significant increase in risk.

 

My wife was out in the sun for no longer than 5 minutes today and got sunburn. That big ball of radiation will kill you far quicker than cell phone towers.

 

Ask any astronaut what the biggest risk is in space (not the getting there or getting back, but while you're up) - I bet they say being caught in an unshielded part of the ship when there's a solar flare. Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere deflect a sh*tload of radiation all over the spectrum that would kill everything on the surface otherwise.

 

 

[old man emu]

Why do you think they use radiation to kill cancerous cells?

 

 

[nomadpete]

Sorry guys, I was only joking.

 

I have a close friend who is all "natural is best!" About everything.

 

When she visited our house, she was immediately (well, immediately after telling us how we stuffed up the Feng Shui of our home), concerned about the health hazard posed by radiation from nearby HV power lines. We look down on this nearby feeder as our house was on a knoll overlooking them. Luckily she relaxed when I explained that they can't harm us because we're above the wires!

 

Logic? Not likely.

 

Maybe the only good thing about natural radiation is that it might have promoted genetic deformities that allowed evolution to occur.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Your Feng Shui sins are easily fixed, Pete. All you have to do is invest in a few strategically-placed mirrors to channel all that bad energy away. I'm told they are also good for scaring away demons. Not sure how they work with JWs and pesky salesmen.

 

 

[nomadpete]

I don't think mirrors are much use when deterring self appointed saviours.

 

But many years ago we did have a success in that area.

 

Back then we got together with the neighbours and bought a side of beef. It was only partly butchered - just the basic boning done. So our kitchen table groaned under the weight of a lot of fresh beef whilst three women argued over which bits were supposed to be which cuts. That's when the doorbell rang. Wifey greeted the neatly dressed pair of soul savers. Her hands were bloody and she held a sharp knife and all she said was

 

" Sorry, you'll have to wait, we're still working with the last pair who came."

 

They quietly turned around and left.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Our local JW and his family visited us on a blistering hot day, dressed in dark suit, etc.

 

I put him to work helping me move an old Rayburn slow combustion stove off my ute and into the house.

 

At the end of the job he was dirty and knackered and they never came back.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Your Feng Shui sins are easily fixed, Pete. All you have to do is invest in a few strategically-placed mirrors to channel all that bad energy away. I'm told they are also good for scaring away demons. Not sure how they work with JWs and pesky salesmen.

Dunno about demons, but mirrors scare the sh*t out of me.

 

 

[nomadpete]

You only have to worry if you don't recognise the ugly bugger looking back at you when you look in the mirror.

 

 

[spacesailor]

"You only have to worry if you don't recognise the ugly bugger looking back at you when you look in the mirror."

 

dementia .

 

Any one I should know ?

 

I don't do much "Mirror Gazing"

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

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[Litespeed]

My best trick was to see who was at the door through the window.............................then quickly undress, grab some sex toys and open the door.

 

Then exclaim, "Wow that was quick, but where are your toys, you said you would bring toys"?

 

Never had them come again

 

Some days are just fun.

 

 

[pmccarthy]

So what were these sex toys that you had ready to hand?

 

 

[Litespeed]

Big dildo and vibrator with hand cuffs on one wrist.

 

My dearly departed was shall we say adventurous.

 

 

[facthunter]

I just told them I'm a Catholic.. Lies are sometimes justified.

 

I get a special spring in my step when I pass a mirror. I don't want my grandfather to know where I am.. Nev

 

 

[old man emu]

Supermarket products that you need to pick up and study to know that you've got the one the Missus sent you down for.

 

And those bastards who picked up the wrong one and put it back where the right one goes.

 

 

[Bruce]

Even when you study the labels, there might be several slightly different things. I always guess the wrong one. But it might be me who mixes things up... ever found a better deal than what you have in the trolley? Well most times I do return the other thing back where it came from...most times.

 

 

[red750]

It seems there are people who delight in leaving items in the wrong location - eg. Hot chicken in the Easter eggs, sliced meat in the gardening section. Happens all the time at our supermarket. The other thing is tiny print on the ingredients panel. You need a strong magnifying glass to see if some products contain ingredients you or yours are allergic to.

 

 

[red750]

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