Power shares

[iceman]

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?

I think you're spot on SL. NZ is way behind in this field, sadly.

[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.

Well I got that wrong. Without the need to inspect my own power box regularly, my brain told me the old metering device was still in there! I have just been out and checked. There is a single digital display with no spinning disk in sight! Up top of the plastic casing , visible through a transparent plastic window, the single digital display flashes numbers representing different sequential things it is measuring. The unit is branded:

Natural Gas Corporation EDMI Mk7 Atlas (Made in Singapore)

Down below the display window, the grey plastic body bulges out into what I can best describe as a 'paunch'. Big enough to hold some kind of transmitting device? Maybe. But it is all tied up with cable ties with the threat that anyone who disturbs them will be tracked down and killed. So I am not so keen to explore further! This means I am not as smart as I thought, and the meter is smarter than I thought. But I would still back myself against that meter in a game of tic tac toe. I still find it hard to believe that that innocent little plastic box is spying on my power use once an hour though. I must retire to the boudoir to check for any 'reds under the bed'!

SNOOPY

[Biscuit]

...I would still back myself against that meter in a game of tic tac toe. ...

SNOOPY

my money's on the meter

[Davexl]

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

A smart meter can communicate with your retailer by using the same network as cellphones (called GPRS). ... Smart meters can also communicate by using radio (called radio mesh) to bounce your data from meter to meter and then to an aggregation point, which is typically mounted on a power pole. In a little more detail:

There are two different ways a smart meter can transfer your data back to your retailer.

One way a smart meter communicates with your retailer
uses the same network as cell phones (called GPRS)
and sends ‘handshakes’ throughout the day. They are
called handshake signals because they send their signals
back intermittently and very briefly to confirm they are still
functioning. The total time of the handshake connectivity
adds up to less than one minute per day.

The second way smart meters communicate uses radio wave
frequencies to bounce your data from meter to meter
and then to an access point, which is typically mounted on
a power pole. Once the data reaches the access point, it’s
relayed back to the retailer. Sometimes these radio waves are
referred to as “point to many”, as your data transfers through
different connection points on its way to your retailer.
Your data is always encrypted and unrecognisable when it’s in
transit on both the cell phone and the radio networks.

[kiwico]

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?

Mine does show the load which I take as being the current consumption but not on a per meter basis or for anything other than what's happening now.

The cycle is day and date / signal 30 (I don't know what that means) / current night meter reading / current day meter reading / current hot water control meter reading / then the load.

The load was 1.74 for the first cycle but had leapt up to 3.03 for the second cycle which is one hell of a range over perhaps 20 seconds.

[turnip]

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.

Quite a few meters were installed with a 2G cellular connection, probably the only reason Vodaphone still keep their 2G network operational.

[kiwico]

Quite a few meters were installed with a 2G cellular connection, probably the only reason Vodaphone still keep their 2G network operational.

Our meter is on 2G. The cellar part recently failed and was replaced along with an short aerial tacked on to the outside of the metal meter box and the guy working on it confirmed it used the 2G network.

[Bart]

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?

I have not been able to find such a system. So I wrote my own; I have solar panels and a small battery from Enphase, and developed an app on a wall mounted tablet that communicates via WiFi every 2 seconds with the inverter to get some of the information (how much comes in/goes out of the house, how much the panels produce), and also with a micro computer with clamp over the battery cable to see the flow to/from the battery. I also ask my retailer (Flick) every 5 minutes what the current variable power price is (changes every half an hour), and with that I can produce an up to date picture, something that should really be provided by each solar system. I can immediately see when a cloud blocks the sun, when my partner switches the airco on, etc, plus how much approx I have spent on the day so far. And the system also automatically decides when it is a good time to switch my spa on, avoiding the morning and evening peak hours. I also write every minute a record to a remote database for long term reporting. All in all a nice hobby project, but it did take me quite some time to develop.

[Cyclical]

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?

I think you're spot on SL. NZ is way behind in this field, sadly.

Yep. One wonders if it might be by design. Some of us would be all over it if that was available and with that kind of visibility, there would certainly be savings to be had. The flip side of course is potential loss of revenue to the retailer...so they aren't exactly incentivised to develop and provide such offerings. It's the usual story with the big corporates doing what they can to retain their traditional revenues. The market might need some good old disruption to force the issue.

I have not been able to find such a system. So I wrote my own; I have solar panels and a small battery from Enphase, and developed an app on a wall mounted tablet that communicates via WiFi every 2 seconds with the inverter to get some of the information (how much comes in/goes out of the house, how much the panels produce), and also with a micro computer with clamp over the battery cable to see the flow to/from the battery. I also ask my retailer (Flick) every 5 minutes what the current variable power price is (changes every half an hour), and with that I can produce an up to date picture, something that should really be provided by each solar system. I can immediately see when a cloud blocks the sun, when my partner switches the airco on, etc, plus how much approx I have spent on the day so far. And the system also automatically decides when it is a good time to switch my spa on, avoiding the morning and evening peak hours. I also write every minute a record to a remote database for long term reporting. All in all a nice hobby project, but it did take me quite some time to develop.

Love it! Now package it all up nice and neat and find a market for it

[Bart]

"Love it! Now package it all up nice and neat and find a market for it ".

Not that easy unfortunately. I had to break the password of an encrypted communication before I got the data from the inverter - could be changed anytime! But I do love it that at a glance I can see big red bars (consuming) or green bars (producing) that give a visual indication of the current state. And it does save some money too, especially with Flick paying me for my solar excess at the market rate, so some (usually summer days) I am actually earning a bit from my investment.