Power shares

[kiwico]

I'm with Mercury, and their off-peak rates for electric cars involves just 1 meter, and a 20% discount of all power (not just car charging) between 9pm & 7am. For us, we use most of our power between those hours anyway, it results in about nil or even slightly negative cost of car charging. Happy days!

Only a 20% discount seems a bit stingy. We're with Genesis with a night rate of 14.56c (but between only 11pm to 7am) compared to day rates of 30.86c. It's typically about 50/50 between day and night but working from home hasn't helped!

[Snoopy]

We're one further step up on that. We had three meters, now as a single smart meter, with the system split as:
* one for day
* another for night with a timer on the main hot water cylinder to make sure it runs from 11pm to 7am
* a third for hot water (with ripple control) for the small hot water cylinder in the kitchen.

I occasionally have to 'boost' the hot water cylinder using day rates but otherwise works very well with keeping the power bills down.

Let me get this straight.

1/ You have one power counter that gives you a single number that is recorded each month.
2/ The difference in that number from month to month is multiplied by a 'dollar unit amount' to give you your power bill.
3/ But that single counter in (1) has three input feeds.
4/ The night feed, on a night timer is charged at a lower price. But that would normally be impossible, because you are only reading a single counter each month. The only way to achieve the result you want with one counter is to tell that counter that you are using less power at night than you actually are. So if your night power was being charged at half price (for example), the way to feed that into your single counter would be for the 'night feed' to tell the counter that you have only used half the amount of power overnight that you actually have.

Is that how the system works?

SNOOPY

[850man]

Smart meters are read remotely every hour or so throughout the day so they can bill you on what you use in any specific time period at whatever rate you have.

[kiwico]

Let me get this straight.

1/ You have one power counter that gives you a single number that is recorded each month.
2/ The difference in that number from month to month is multiplied by a 'dollar unit amount' to give you your power bill.
3/ But that single counter in (1) has three input feeds.
4/ The night feed, on a night timer is charged at a lower price. But that would normally be impossible, because you are only reading a single counter each month. The only way to achieve the result you want with one counter is to tell that counter that you are using less power at night than you actually are. So if your night power was being charged at half price (for example), the way to feed that into your single counter would be for the 'night feed' to tell the counter that you have only used half the amount of power overnight that you actually have.

Is that how the system works?

SNOOPY

One smart meter but it cycles through the readings of the three analogue meters it replaces. Our bill would likely be similar to yours but with three three lines of info.

power2.jpg

[Snoopy]

One smart meter but it cycles through the readings of the three analogue meters it replaces. Our bill would likely be similar to yours but with three three lines of info.

power2.jpg

OK so the 'smart meter' still keeps three separate totals as inputs. It just adds the three totals up automatically for you come bill time on a single account (that sounds like a smart bill compiler, rather than anything too clever happening in the metering box) . I was hoping your 'smart meter' might be able to alter the power cost on a single meter at off peak times. But the off peak power purchases are on a separate meter, albeit on a timer. The time frames for the off peak purchases have to be set up manually at the metering box. They can't be changed by a signal from base. This is what I wanted to know - thanks.

SNOOPY

[850man]

All the "Smarts" are in the billing system your retailer runs. All the Smart meter does is read and upload usage on an hourly or more frequent basis to your electricity retailer. It's termed Time of Use (TOU) billing. It's probably named Smart because a person does not need to read it like the old days. All the power is in via a single source and through only 1 meter. If you have a night time rate then any power consumed during those hours ends up on that line of your bill, etc

[Snow Leopard]

So does nobody in New Zealand have a smart meter system in their home with an inside display that shows you your current/daily/other time period consumption, cost etc?

[Snoopy]

Smart meters are read remotely every hour or so throughout the day so they can bill you on what you use in any specific time period at whatever rate you have.

All the "Smarts" are in the billing system your retailer runs. All the Smart meter does is read and upload usage on an hourly or more frequent basis to your electricity retailer. It's termed Time of Use (TOU) billing. It's probably named Smart because a person does not need to read it like the old days. All the power is in via a single source and through only 1 meter. If you have a night time rate then any power consumed during those hours ends up on that line of your bill, etc

When I open my power box on the wall of the house I see two separate meters with discs spinning around. That means I do have more than one meter. I haven't bitten any meter readers for quite a few years either. So I know they aren't coming around and reading my meters in person. Both my meters must 'smart' (by the NZ definition at least) as they be being read remotely. The fact that I have a separate counter for my 'night rate' means there is no need for my meter to ping back to base every hour to let them know how much power I am using at night. Reading my meter once a month is quite sufficient and no doubt cheaper to run than a system that must collect power usage data every hour.

Are there really meters out there sending information 'back to base' every hour? I guess if spot price retailers are operating out there must be. But doesn't that introduce a whole other 'cost layer' for those collecting the data? I don't see any telecommunications equipment in my house power box that could send information back on an hourly basis.

SNOOPY

[dibble]

When I open my power box on the wall of the house I see two separate meters with discs spinning around. That means I do have more than one meter. ...

Are there really meters out there sending information 'back to base' every hour? I guess if spot price retailers are operating out there must be. But doesn't that introduce a whole other 'cost layer' for those collecting the data? I don't see any telecommunications equipment in my house power box that could send information back on an hourly basis.

SNOOPY

Doesnt sound like a smart meter, has it been installed recently? Smart ones have digital displays rather than spinning discs, its all digital which is what lets them fire the info to the HQ. My understanding is it can be by the minute /hour /day or whatever the techie people set it up for (they probably suck the data as determined by the retailer rather than the meter pushing it - all the meter is doing is measuring). Mine shows all sorts of numbers rotating on one display, I have no idea which one is the power consumption.

[stoploss]

When I open my power box on the wall of the house I see two separate meters with discs spinning around. That means I do have more than one meter. I haven't bitten any meter readers for quite a few years either. So I know they aren't coming around and reading my meters in person. Both my meters must 'smart' (by the NZ definition at least) as they be being read remotely. The fact that I have a separate counter for my 'night rate' means there is no need for my meter to ping back to base every hour to let them know how much power I am using at night. Reading my meter once a month is quite sufficient and no doubt cheaper to run than a system that must collect power usage data every hour.
Are there really meters out there sending information 'back to base' every hour? I guess if spot price retailers are operating out there must be. But doesn't that introduce a whole other 'cost layer' for those collecting the data? I don't see any telecommunications equipment in my house power box that could send information back on an hourly basis.

SNOOPY

Snoopy there must be smart meters sending data at least hourly . See the electric Kiwi website . You even can nominate a "free hour of power"
https://www.electrickiwi.co.nz/hour-of-power/