[time-nuts] Remotely read power meters

Hal Murray hmurray at megapathdsl.net
Fri Jul 1 05:15:20 UTC 2011


This is OT for time-nuts.  Should we start another list for things like this? 
 nuts-overflow?  nuts-OT?

I'd prefer one without politics.   Do we need another list for the political 
aspects of things like this?  Would the people who send the political stuff 
pay any attention to the no-politics policy?

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> How?  Some marine refrigerators will chill down a large mass of coolant when
> there is power and then shut off the compressor for up to several days.
> Something like this could work at home by running at night when the power is
> cheap.

I've worked at a place where they had an air-conditioning setup like that.  
(I never got a tour of the machine room.)  At night they cool off a huge tank 
of salt water.  During the day, they use it to cool offices.

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> That is where the power company will save money.  Peak loads are expensive
> to power.

I live in California.  Peak time is summer afternoons/evenings.  Afternoons 
when all the office complexes are running their air conditioners.  Evenings 
when everybody gets home and turns on their air conditioners.

It's also peak time for solar.  A friend says he's making money after 
spending big $ to put a lot of solar panels on his roof.  I don't know how 
much of that was tax dodges and/or other political distortions.

He said it's important to hose them off occasionally (few weeks) or the dust 
buildup reduces the output.

-------

I have a PG&E Smart Meter.  They have a SmartRate program with a reduced rate 
most of the time but the rate goes way up from 2 to 7 PM on 15 SmartDays of 
their choice during the summer.  They send you announcements/warnings via 
email and/or a phone call and it hits the local news.

I don't have an air-conditioner so my usage is pretty flat (mostly PCs).  I 
assumed flat and did the math and decided I would save a few pennies each 
year so I signed up.  They let you change your mind retroactively for the 
first summer so I didn't have anything to lose.  As expected, I'm saving a 
few pennies each year.

We've already had 2 Smart Days this summer.  There was a mini heat wave last 
week.

----------

I haven't noticed any pole mounted antennas in the neighborhood, but I 
haven't gone looking for them.

It's obvious where the electric meter gets its power, but that doesn't work 
for the gas meter.  In some other context, somebody pointed out that they 
just use batteries.  They only have to last 10 years or so before they 
replace (or are willing to replace) the meter.  I've been here 30 years and 
know they replaced it once for no reason that I know of.  Then they replaced 
it a year or so ago for the Smart stuff.  A couple of D-cell sized lithium 
cells is in the right ballpark.  The devil is in the details.

The water people are also interested.  My meter is underground.  Google found 
a few pages with things like an antenna that sticks up a bit and/or a cable 
that runs over to an inconspicuous antenna in the bushes or next to a fence


-- 
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's.  I hate spam.






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