Smart Meters. Should We Be Worried?

[Whitespirit66]

Picked up a lealet in a local shop, outlining the dangers of microwaves from the new smart elec and gas meters. New one on me.

The leaflets mention the 'intense bursts of microwave radiation' given out by these things.

So, should we be concerned? Is this just scare tactics for another reason? Are you happy to have the new meters in your home, or are you going to refuse them?

Untitled

• Whitespirit66
• 6 Sep 2013
• 1

Untitled

• Whitespirit66
• 6 Sep 2013
• 1

www.stopsmartmeters.org.uk

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

So if I get a smart meter, does that mean I can make the microwave redundant?
Now that is smart!

 

[longdogs]

There's certainly a lot about smart meter sickness on Google. I suppose we won't really know for sure until it's too late and everyone's got one.

I do remember the concerns about combi boilers when they first appeared - and how the steam was going to burn the paint off our cars.

The symptoms printed on that sign sound like they might be the result of going to a Jedward concert

 

[Whitespirit66]

So if I get a smart meter, does that mean I can make the microwave redundant?
Now that is smart!

Yes, but you will have to put up with your kids having a permanent 'Readybrek glow'.

 

[Aston85]

I wouldn't be worried if my house had one, but if I'm honest I can't see the point in them from an end user point of view.

Yes it can show me my energy usage, but I'm not worried about a live stat like that I'm worried over the course of a month/quarter/billing period the same way I am with a the petrol in my car, I worry about what I've spent in the past month not that when I pull away I get god awful live MPG figures.

 

[nickso]

I do remember the concerns about combi boilers when they first appeared - and how the steam was going to burn the paint off our cars.

:

Condensing boilers surely.

And the concerns are true.....it will melt your car to slag.....given enough time.

Sorry for calling you Shirley.

 

[jockscott]

.

And the concerns are true.....it will melt your car to slag.....given enough time.

And there I thought it was the new building in London that was melting cars.

 

[Nige F]

.

And the concerns are true.....it will melt your car to slag.....given enough time.

And there I thought it was the new building in London that was melting cars.

That building is called The Parabolica ( like The Gherkin and the Shard) With the emphasis on Bolic - like the one dropped by the architect

 

[plugwash]

Even if RF at legal power levels for unlicensed operation was harmful (which noone has managed to shiw yet) and even if smart meters had a significantly higher transmit power than mobile phones (I can't comment on this one) I still think the smart meter would be far less of a threat than your mobile phone because you don't hold it to your head and because it only transmits in occasional bursts.

I would be concerned about smart meters but for different reasons.

Firstly smart meters are an obvious precursor to more complex pricing schemes, either varying with time of day, varying with current demands on the electricty grid, with a limit on max load during certain periods or whatever. The question is can such pricing be implemented in a way that is understandable and fair to customers or will it cause massive confusion.

Secondly smart meters have remote disconnect. I accept that people who repeatedly fail to pay their bills must eventually be disconnected and I understand that rules have been put in place that should give customers a similar level of protection to the current system but I question how well these rules will be enforced in practice. How many times have you heard stories where a company claims they sent a person round and couldn't find someone in but the people who were actually at the premesis claim noone turned up. I also wonder if anyone has considered the risk of hackers gaining access to the system and using the remote disconnect feature to cause widespread blackouts.

Thirdly a lot of deductions about how you are living your life can be made from an electricity consumption profile. Do you want that information to be readilly available to the powers that be?

 

[Nozzle]

The people that publish these leaflets have an agenda - and it means using any flimsy excuss possible to produce an argument why it's not right to have them installed. In my opinion to have to read a meter or have someone come over to do it for you is archaic 20th century and now the technology is available at a low low price the ability to read the meter remotely cannot come soon enough. Of course it also allows the data from the meter to be communicated inside the house to a visible screen or dial so people can more easily see how much power they use hour to hour not 3 or 6 months after it was used.

The burst of EM from the meter is going to be no stronger than that of a mobile phone. I wonder if the publishers of said flimsy, over-my-dead-body, propaganda use a mobile phone or keep it in their crotch pocket?

Nozzle