Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

HeyBub wrote:
Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.


Hi,
Now it is happening where you live?
Here power, gas, water meter is all read remotely.
I heard they can even do it using the bird in the future.
The option is already there and a mtter of activating it.

HeyBub wrote:
Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.



They are coming here by 2012.

They will communicate with the power company using wireless technology
(no more meter readers).

They will report power outages and the restoration of power automatically.

The will constantly report usage so that the power company can adjust
the generation to just meet the needs and conserve resources (i.e. water
behind dams - hydro electric)

Smart appliances will communicate with the meter and if there is no
hurry start automatically when the rate drops (rates are/will be tiered
so that it will be cheaper at curtain times of the day).

They even say we will be able to control light switches remotely from
their web-page (I assume that will mean replacing switches to a wireless
type)?

Soon your appliances and switches will be reporting to the mother ship...

http://preview.tinyurl.com/232gjbv

On 6/18/2010 18:05, HeyBub wrote:
Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

There's not much of a market for such labor-intensive stuff.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

Yup. Just break the seal, take the old meter reading, pop out the old
meter, pop the new one in, seal it, and scan the bar code. Service is
interrupted just long enough to cause refrigerators to overload.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

Or by radio or carrier-current. That's the primary motivator for changing
them. Service can also be controlled remotely -- they can easily cut
you off for non-payment.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

True, depending on the utility. It also allows for time-of-day pricing.
See http://www.pge.com/smartmeter for the spin from a utility that
has been the source of considerable public criticism over smart meter
implementation.

On Jun 18, 10:03*pm, Bob wrote:
On 6/18/2010 18:05, HeyBub wrote:

Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

There's not much of a market for such labor-intensive stuff.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

Yup. *Just break the seal, take the old meter reading, pop out the old
meter, pop the new one in, seal it, and scan the bar code. *Service is
interrupted just long enough to cause refrigerators to overload.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

Or by radio or carrier-current. *That's the primary motivator for changing
them. *Service can also be controlled remotely -- they can easily cut
you off for non-payment.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

True, depending on the utility. *It also allows for time-of-day pricing..
* See http://www.pge.com/smartmeter for the spin from a utility that
has been the source of considerable public criticism over smart meter
implementation.

Please provide the name of the manufacturer and the model number for a
meter that can actually open the service conductors.
--
Tom Horne

On 6/18/2010 8:05 PM, HeyBub wrote:
Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.



I view Smart Meters with the same suspicion that I have for
OnStar. Perhaps I'm just paranoid? Aluminum foil hats don't
work, it's already been tried.

http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/

TDD

On Jun 19, 12:57*am, The Daring Dufas the-daring-
wrote:
On 6/18/2010 8:05 PM, HeyBub wrote:





Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

I view Smart Meters with the same suspicion that I have for
OnStar. Perhaps I'm just paranoid? Aluminum foil hats don't
work, it's already been tried.

http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/

TDD

YES
BUT HAVE YOU TRIED GROUNDING YOUR TIN HAT
USE A 14awg STRANDED CONDUCTOR WHEN YOU USE IT [:-)]


I AM PROTEUS

On Jun 18, 10:11 pm, Tom Horne wrote:


Please provide the name of the manufacturer and the model number for a
meter that can actually open the service conductors.
--
Tom Horne

Andy comments:
Solid state relay devices at these power levels have been
available for two decades. It is a non-prolem.

C A Sharpe, licensed PE

On Jun 19, 5:26*am, Andy wrote:
On Jun 18, 10:11 pm, Tom Horne wrote:



Please provide the name of the manufacturer and the model number for a
meter that can actually open the service conductors.
--
Tom Horne

Andy comments:
* *Solid state relay devices at these power levels have been
available for two decades. *It is a non-prolem.

* * * * * * C A Sharpe, licensed PE

Hope you all enjoy those fancy new meters. They are brought to you
courtesy of the fed govt and $3Bil more of our deficit. And like most
new spending, it was justified with a pack of lies. An example
being, that this was needed and is critical for solar and wind power
being delivered to your home. Funny I see all these new solar
installs popping up here without smart meters.

On 6/19/2010 12:58 AM, Proteus IIV wrote:
On Jun 19, 12:57 am, The Daring Dufasthe-daring-
wrote:
On 6/18/2010 8:05 PM, HeyBub wrote:





Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

I view Smart Meters with the same suspicion that I have for
OnStar. Perhaps I'm just paranoid? Aluminum foil hats don't
work, it's already been tried.

http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/

TDD

YES
BUT HAVE YOU TRIED GROUNDING YOUR TIN HAT
USE A 14awg STRANDED CONDUCTOR WHEN YOU USE IT [:-)]


I AM PROTEUS

RAM hats work much better and can be quite stylish too!
My favorites are EM shield undergarments.

http://www.lessemf.com/personal.html

TDD

On 6/18/2010 10:03 PM, Bob wrote:
On 6/18/2010 18:05, HeyBub wrote:
Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter
with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

There's not much of a market for such labor-intensive stuff.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

Yup. Just break the seal, take the old meter reading, pop out the old
meter, pop the new one in, seal it, and scan the bar code. Service is
interrupted just long enough to cause refrigerators to overload.

Our electric utility is a little better than that. They require meter
bases to have manual bypass. They changed all of the meters out here
maybe 4 years ago. I pulled in just as the guy was walking down the
front steps. He clipped the seal, opened the cover and connected jumpers
to the bypass tabs and was then able to swap the meter without service
interruption.


3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

Or by radio or carrier-current. That's the primary motivator for changing
them. Service can also be controlled remotely -- they can easily cut you
off for non-payment.


They do it by carrier current here.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

True, depending on the utility. It also allows for time-of-day pricing.
See http://www.pge.com/smartmeter for the spin from a utility that has
been the source of considerable public criticism over smart meter
implementation.

On 6/19/2010 4:43 AM, wrote:
On Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:05:45 -0500,
wrote:

Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.


I doubt old meters are worth enough to try to sell. They will just
scrap them for the metal.

They used to be and it was really common practice to refurb them for
reuse. Now there is a glut of "old style" meters because of the mass
"smart meter" upgrades.


You can buy a refurb meter (set to 0000) for $10-15 bucks the last
time I looked.
I have a couple, one I got for free (not set to 0000)

On 6/18/2010 8:05 PM, HeyBub wrote:
Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.



They already read the meters remotely here in KC. It's done over the
lines in real time back to the office. Yes, we can see our usage
online, and the number will be exactly what the meter says at any given
point.

--
Steve Barker
remove the "not" from my address to email

In article , RobertPatrick wrote:
"HeyBub" wrote in
om:

Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter
with the new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or
Lithuania like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central
office stuff. We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5
million. That's a pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

My local company changed mine about 5 years ago. It's great. They don't
bother me to come in the house anymore. Same with the gas meter.

Your electric and gas meters were inside the house? Yeah,
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.....

On 6/18/2010 9:03 PM, Bob wrote:
On 6/18/2010 18:05, HeyBub wrote:
Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter
with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

There's not much of a market for such labor-intensive stuff.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

Yup. Just break the seal, take the old meter reading, pop out the old
meter, pop the new one in, seal it, and scan the bar code. Service is
interrupted just long enough to cause refrigerators to overload.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

Or by radio or carrier-current. That's the primary motivator for changing
them. Service can also be controlled remotely -- they can easily cut you
off for non-payment.


UH, not.



4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

True, depending on the utility. It also allows for time-of-day pricing.
See http://www.pge.com/smartmeter for the spin from a utility that has
been the source of considerable public criticism over smart meter
implementation.



--
Steve Barker
remove the "not" from my address to email

"HeyBub" wrote in message
m...
Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with
the new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.


With these smart meters and the proper thermostats, the power company in my
area (Ontario Canada) will give you rebates if you let them cycle down from
their office your air conditioner during peak demand periods. There are
times where our power company actually has to import power from the US (ohio
and michigan) in summer. We use a lot of nuclear power here and Ohio uses a
lot of coal, but Ohio's pollution comes and hangs out over Ontario. So It
makes some sense to set-up the meter to avoid importing power during peak
times although I would never sign up for this program, I hope others do.

Also these new meters charge different electrical rates during low demand
periods so if you run your dryer or dishwasher after say 10pm you will pay
50% less for the energy used during this period.

On Jun 19, 8:45*am, "The Henchman" wrote:
"HeyBub" wrote in message

m...

Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with
the new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

With these smart meters and the proper thermostats, the power company in my
area (Ontario Canada) will give you rebates if you let them cycle down from
their office your air conditioner during peak demand periods.

It would seem you need more than just a smart meter to be able to do
this. Here in NJ they've been doing this for 25+ years, using just an
RF controlled device on the AC unit, no smart meter.




*There are
times where our power company actually has to import power from the US (ohio
and michigan) in summer. *We use a lot of nuclear power here and Ohio uses a
lot of coal, but Ohio's pollution comes and hangs out over Ontario. * So It
makes some sense to set-up the meter to avoid importing power during peak
times although I would never sign up for this program, I hope others do.

Also these new meters charge different electrical rates during low demand
periods so if you run your dryer or dishwasher after say 10pm you will pay
50% less for the energy used during this period.

(Doug Miller) wrote:

-snip-

Your electric and gas meters were inside the house? Yeah,
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.....

Pretty common in the northeast in old houses in the cities.

My water meter is still in my basement and I've been reading it every
6 months for 25 years. Supposed to go to electronic, remote read
meters this summer.

Jim

In article , Jim Elbrecht wrote:
(Doug Miller) wrote:

-snip-

Your electric and gas meters were inside the house? Yeah,
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.....

Pretty common in the northeast in old houses in the cities.

My water meter is still in my basement and I've been reading it every
6 months for 25 years. Supposed to go to electronic, remote read
meters this summer.

I have *never* seen either a gas or electric meter inside a house. Water
meters, sure. Gas and electric? Won't believe it without a photo.

On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:04:25 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In article , Jim Elbrecht wrote:
(Doug Miller) wrote:

-snip-

Your electric and gas meters were inside the house? Yeah,
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.....

Pretty common in the northeast in old houses in the cities.

My water meter is still in my basement and I've been reading it every
6 months for 25 years. Supposed to go to electronic, remote read
meters this summer.

I have *never* seen either a gas or electric meter inside a house. Water
meters, sure. Gas and electric? Won't believe it without a photo.

TWIAVBP - If you really think you have seen everything that is real,
then it is time for you to end your journey.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=gas+meter+in+basement
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=electric+meter+in+basement

Here's a picture for you-
http://www.inspectapedia.com/plumbing/gasfaults7.htm

Jim

If Onstar can stop your car, unlock your doors, and provide GPS, the
smart meter can most likely stop your power, unlock your house, and
provide GPS.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"The Daring Dufas" wrote in message
...

I view Smart Meters with the same suspicion that I have for
OnStar. Perhaps I'm just paranoid? Aluminum foil hats don't
work, it's already been tried.

http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/

TDD

On 6/19/2010 9:04 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
In , Jim wrote:
(Doug Miller) wrote:

-snip-

Your electric and gas meters were inside the house? Yeah,
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.....

Pretty common in the northeast in old houses in the cities.

My water meter is still in my basement and I've been reading it every
6 months for 25 years. Supposed to go to electronic, remote read
meters this summer.

I have *never* seen either a gas or electric meter inside a house. Water
meters, sure. Gas and electric? Won't believe it without a photo.

Why not? Extremely common around here especially for multioccupant
buildings and in the older areas.

I saw a retired power guy had a meter set up on a wooden base. He had
a plug and socket on it, and was using the meter as a Kill O Watt.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


wrote in message
...


I doubt old meters are worth enough to try to sell. They will just
scrap them for the metal.
You can buy a refurb meter (set to 0000) for $10-15 bucks the last
time I looked.
I have a couple, one I got for free (not set to 0000)

So, the Fed removes money from me by force. Spends it on things I
don't want, and expects me to vote Democrat next time, so we can do
this even more?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


wrote in message
...

Hope you all enjoy those fancy new meters. They are brought to you
courtesy of the fed govt and $3Bil more of our deficit. And like most
new spending, it was justified with a pack of lies. An example
being, that this was needed and is critical for solar and wind power
being delivered to your home. Funny I see all these new solar
installs popping up here without smart meters.

On 6/19/2010 9:25 AM, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:04:25 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In , Jim wrote:
(Doug Miller) wrote:

-snip-

Your electric and gas meters were inside the house? Yeah,
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.....

Pretty common in the northeast in old houses in the cities.

My water meter is still in my basement and I've been reading it every
6 months for 25 years. Supposed to go to electronic, remote read
meters this summer.

I have *never* seen either a gas or electric meter inside a house. Water
meters, sure. Gas and electric? Won't believe it without a photo.

TWIAVBP - If you really think you have seen everything that is real,
then it is time for you to end your journey.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=gas+meter+in+basement
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=electric+meter+in+basement

Here's a picture for you-
http://www.inspectapedia.com/plumbing/gasfaults7.htm

Jim
And I can confirm that the photo wasn't Photoshopped. I haven't seen all
of them but are likely 30,000 homes in my immediate area that still have
indoor meters that look just like that.

My parents electric meter is over the washer / dryer. The gas meter is
in the other corner of the cellar, indoors. I see indoor gas and
electric meters rather commonly. Rochester, NY area.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


I have *never* seen either a gas or electric meter inside a house.
Water
meters, sure. Gas and electric? Won't believe it without a photo.

Why not? Extremely common around here especially for multioccupant
buildings and in the older areas.

On Jun 18, 8:05*pm, "HeyBub" wrote:
Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

They can shut off your meter remotely, even just to save power for
industry during peak hours and when your AC needs it the most. If its
tampered with or the power goes out they know immediatly as the meter
contacts the system about every minute, they dont need meter readers
anymore its all computer generated now. I would rather have the old
meter.

On Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:57:36 -0500, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

On 6/18/2010 8:05 PM, HeyBub wrote:
Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

You can just walk outside and check your meter.

I view Smart Meters with the same suspicion that I have for
OnStar. Perhaps I'm just paranoid? Aluminum foil hats don't
work, it's already been tried.

Remember when the drunk guy hit a tree with his car; then he went to
another bar to relax, and On-star called the police.

http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/

TDD

On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:28:27 -0400, George
wrote:

On 6/19/2010 9:04 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
In , Jim wrote:
(Doug Miller) wrote:

-snip-

Your electric and gas meters were inside the house? Yeah,
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.....

Pretty common in the northeast in old houses in the cities.

My water meter is still in my basement and I've been reading it every
6 months for 25 years. Supposed to go to electronic, remote read
meters this summer.

I have *never* seen either a gas or electric meter inside a house. Water
meters, sure. Gas and electric? Won't believe it without a photo.

Why not? Extremely common around here especially for multioccupant
buildings and in the older areas.

Becaue the wives used to stay home like they should now. So being
indoors wasn't a problem.

On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 08:45:24 -0400, "The Henchman"
wrote:

With these smart meters and the proper thermostats, the power company in my
area (Ontario Canada) will give you rebates if you let them cycle down from
their office your air conditioner during peak demand periods. There are
times where our power company actually has to import power from the US (ohio
and michigan) in summer. We use a lot of nuclear power here and Ohio uses a
lot of coal, but Ohio's pollution comes and hangs out over Ontario. So It

I guess that is irony. You should get some big fans to blow it over
Quebec.

makes some sense to set-up the meter to avoid importing power during peak
times although I would never sign up for this program, I hope others do.

Also these new meters charge different electrical rates during low demand
periods so if you run your dryer or dishwasher after say 10pm you will pay
50% less for the energy used during this period.

On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 05:55:10 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Jun 19, 8:45*am, "The Henchman" wrote:
"HeyBub" wrote in message

m...

Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with
the new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

With these smart meters and the proper thermostats, the power company in my
area (Ontario Canada) will give you rebates if you let them cycle down from
their office your air conditioner during peak demand periods.

It would seem you need more than just a smart meter to be able to do
this. Here in NJ they've been doing this for 25+ years, using just an
RF controlled device on the AC unit, no smart meter.

Yes, Baltimroe too, but last summer they wanted to come out and change
the control unit on the AC.

I had signed up for this again, and the guy arrived and handed me the
brochure and went to work, and this time he drilled 2 holes in my
brick wall, in the mortar at least, and installed it.

After he left I read the brochure and it said he could have mounted it
to the AC if I requested that, but it was too late. I was really
annoyed.

Now they're offerring setback thermostats too, but I've had one for 26
years. If it's connected to varying electric rates, I don't think
they said that.

*There are
times where our power company actually has to import power from the US (ohio
and michigan) in summer. *We use a lot of nuclear power here and Ohio uses a
lot of coal, but Ohio's pollution comes and hangs out over Ontario. * So It
makes some sense to set-up the meter to avoid importing power during peak
times although I would never sign up for this program, I hope others do.

Also these new meters charge different electrical rates during low demand
periods so if you run your dryer or dishwasher after say 10pm you will pay
50% less for the energy used during this period.

"Bob" wrote in message
...
On 6/18/2010 18:05, HeyBub wrote:
Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with
the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

There's not much of a market for such labor-intensive stuff.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

Yup. Just break the seal, take the old meter reading, pop out the old
meter, pop the new one in, seal it, and scan the bar code. Service is
interrupted just long enough to cause refrigerators to overload.

And all the TV's and devices to reset, and some cable channels off for a
half hour or so while the cable box reset. Mine was done on Tuesday, and the
power was only off about 20 seconds max. What was more irritating to me, is
that my meter is on the back wall outside, and he slammed the wall several
times during installation, causing 3 of my music boxes to come off the
shelves inside. One broke, but I was able to glue it back together. Ah,
progress.

Cheri

mm wrote:

On Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:57:36 -0500, The Daring Dufas
wrote:
-snip-

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

You can just walk outside and check your meter.

Not if he's a half continent away on business or vacation.

Jim

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article , Jim Elbrecht
wrote:
(Doug Miller) wrote:

-snip-

Your electric and gas meters were inside the house? Yeah,
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.....

Pretty common in the northeast in old houses in the cities.

My water meter is still in my basement and I've been reading it every
6 months for 25 years. Supposed to go to electronic, remote read
meters this summer.

I have *never* seen either a gas or electric meter inside a house. Water
meters, sure. Gas and electric? Won't believe it without a photo.

In downstate NY many older gas meters and electric meters are located
inside. It's still OK , at least for electric on multi-family buildings, but
single and two family dwellings meters have to go outside.

On 6/19/2010 8:50 AM, mm wrote:
On Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:57:36 -0500, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

On 6/18/2010 8:05 PM, HeyBub wrote:
Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with the
new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

You can just walk outside and check your meter.

I view Smart Meters with the same suspicion that I have for
OnStar. Perhaps I'm just paranoid? Aluminum foil hats don't
work, it's already been tried.

Remember when the drunk guy hit a tree with his car; then he went to
another bar to relax, and On-star called the police.

http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/

TDD


Imagine some government busybody decides you're using too much
electricity and gets a warrant to search your home for anything
incriminating. It already goes on. You fail to pay a parking
ticket and the city contacts the power company to switch off
your power. The perils of too much control made too easy is a
slippery slope. There are those in government who want to make
all money electronic. Imagine, "Do what we say or we will turn
off your money." Technology can be either incredibly wonderful
or devastatingly evil.

TDD

On 6/19/2010 8:04 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
In , Jim wrote:
(Doug Miller) wrote:

-snip-

Your electric and gas meters were inside the house? Yeah,
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.....

Pretty common in the northeast in old houses in the cities.

My water meter is still in my basement and I've been reading it every
6 months for 25 years. Supposed to go to electronic, remote read
meters this summer.

I have *never* seen either a gas or electric meter inside a house. Water
meters, sure. Gas and electric? Won't believe it without a photo.

I've seen them in basements where the meter reader looked through a
window to read the meter. I've met meter readers who used binoculars
to read meters. Perhaps an aggressive dog kept them at a distance?

TDD

Inside-the-house meters are very common in my area too. (Baltimore) Myold
house had both gas and electric inside, current house has gasinside &
electric outside. BGE changed the gas meter to a remote-read type about
5 years ago. I believe they read it form a receiver in a vehicle. A
meter reader still comes into the yard to read the electric meter.




--
When the game is over, the pawn and the king are returned to the same box.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar.org

On 6/19/2010 8:28 AM, George wrote:
On 6/19/2010 9:04 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
In , Jim
wrote:
(Doug Miller) wrote:

-snip-

Your electric and gas meters were inside the house? Yeah,
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.....

Pretty common in the northeast in old houses in the cities.

My water meter is still in my basement and I've been reading it every
6 months for 25 years. Supposed to go to electronic, remote read
meters this summer.

I have *never* seen either a gas or electric meter inside a house. Water
meters, sure. Gas and electric? Won't believe it without a photo.

Why not? Extremely common around here especially for multioccupant
buildings and in the older areas.



I have a customer who's water meter is in the ceiling of his business.
There is an electronic sensor on the meter with a cable going through
the wall to an optical interface for an external reader.

TDD

On 6/19/2010 8:53 AM, mm wrote:
On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:28:27 -0400,
wrote:

On 6/19/2010 9:04 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
In , Jim wrote:
(Doug Miller) wrote:

-snip-

Your electric and gas meters were inside the house? Yeah,
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.....

Pretty common in the northeast in old houses in the cities.

My water meter is still in my basement and I've been reading it every
6 months for 25 years. Supposed to go to electronic, remote read
meters this summer.

I have *never* seen either a gas or electric meter inside a house. Water
meters, sure. Gas and electric? Won't believe it without a photo.

Why not? Extremely common around here especially for multioccupant
buildings and in the older areas.

Becaue the wives used to stay home like they should now. So being
indoors wasn't a problem.


So your daddy was actually the meter reading man?

TDD

On 6/19/2010 9:11 AM, mm wrote:
On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 05:55:10 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Jun 19, 8:45 am, "The wrote:
wrote in message

m...

Power company came out today and replaced the old mechanical meter with
the new fancy-schmancy one.

Chatting up the meter-man, I learned:

1. The old meters are going to be junked. Not sold to Mexico or Lithuania
like the 'phone company did with their mechanical central office stuff.
We're talking, oh, one million meters in a city of 5.5 million. That's a
pretty big pile.

2. His quota is 60-100 meters swapped out per day.

3. One purpose is to allow the meter to be read from the street.

4. It is alleged I can check my meter on the 'net. We'll see.

With these smart meters and the proper thermostats, the power company in my
area (Ontario Canada) will give you rebates if you let them cycle down from
their office your air conditioner during peak demand periods.

It would seem you need more than just a smart meter to be able to do
this. Here in NJ they've been doing this for 25+ years, using just an
RF controlled device on the AC unit, no smart meter.

Yes, Baltimroe too, but last summer they wanted to come out and change
the control unit on the AC.

I had signed up for this again, and the guy arrived and handed me the
brochure and went to work, and this time he drilled 2 holes in my
brick wall, in the mortar at least, and installed it.

After he left I read the brochure and it said he could have mounted it
to the AC if I requested that, but it was too late. I was really
annoyed.

Now they're offerring setback thermostats too, but I've had one for 26
years. If it's connected to varying electric rates, I don't think
they said that.

There are
times where our power company actually has to import power from the US (ohio
and michigan) in summer. We use a lot of nuclear power here and Ohio uses a
lot of coal, but Ohio's pollution comes and hangs out over Ontario. So It
makes some sense to set-up the meter to avoid importing power during peak
times although I would never sign up for this program, I hope others do.

Also these new meters charge different electrical rates during low demand
periods so if you run your dryer or dishwasher after say 10pm you will pay
50% less for the energy used during this period.


Alabama power had or has these evil radio controlled gadgets that were
installed on the AC condenser of folks who singed up for a reduced rate
or credit. During peak demand, the AC could be turned off by the power
company. I haven't seen one for a while and always disconnected them
when someone called for service on an AC which wasn't cooling.

TDD