Wednesday, 13 November 2019

The smart metre

CountryLiving has some eco-tips for those who prefer their Christmas to be cosily sanctimonious. There are thirteen in all, beginning with an invitation to rent your Christmas tree.

1 Rent a Christmas tree

Real Christmas trees are much more sustainable than artificial alternatives. In fact, one study concluded you'd have to use your fake fir for 20 years for it to be greener. That said, seven million real trees will be dumped in January rather than recycled.

This year you could go one further by renting a real tree from a British farm.

Number five is an invitation to pay more for your Christmas nosh.

5 Buy your food from the right place

Use the annual gastronomic extravaganza as an opportunity to show your support for some brilliant ethical small-scale producers. Turkey and any other cuts of meat you plan to serve are a good place to start: you’ll use fewer food miles, less packaging and you can feel confident that you haven’t supported any intensive farming practices

However my favourite is number four.

4 Get a smart metre

Wow at last - a metre not restricted to the boring old non-woke limit of one hundred centimetres? Sadly no. It is merely a plug for smart meters. Oh well - Christmas was always disappointing in one way or another.


Sam Vega said...

They might need the smart metres to measure rises in sea level.

Scrobs. said...

Smart meters! Paaah!

I'm on the case to check our electricity consumption. It's not difficult to check the meter every week, although there is some contortion involved, as all meters should be placed near the floor, in the darkest place possible, and with opaque glass.

I applied for a smart meter, only to be told that as we are on Economy 7, they need an 'extra wire', so we can't have one until next year, presumably when they've found one, probably at B and Q (£1.00 a dozen).

We planted a Christmas tree from the house, in 1989, on a 'spare' bit of ground nearby. It is now a danger to shipping, (12 miles away), and I have also a letter from NASA saying it needs pruning!

Edward Spalton said...

A friend came with his brand new all electric car - a BMW. Very impressive and he is delighted with it. Not only is the performance breathtaking but the running costs, compared with heavily taxed petrol are very low. On the tariff charged by his electricity company, he is paying only 5p per kilowatt hour for electricity used in the small hours. He can also set the system from his IPhone so that the car is warmed up inside before he gets into it. There is an emergency generator, powered by conventional fuel, so that he has an extra 100 miles or so of range, if the car battery runs low. The list price was £42,000 but he got a deal at £28,000 . With the considerable business mileage he does, he reckons he will get a good return on his investment.

He mentioned in passing that the smart meter has at least the potential for another facility. It can use the electricity stored in his car battery as a reserve for the National grid if the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow to deliver sufficient “ renewable” power. IT CAN, AS IT WERE, SUCK THE ELECTRICITY OUT OF HIS CAR, TO KEEP THE COUNTRY GOING IN AN EMERGENCY.

wiggiatlarge said...

By coincidence I was reading an article that debunks most myths on 'renewables' and this part on battery provision rather scotches any hopes of car batteries saving the world in an emergency.
The smart meter has one function, they can control when you use electricity.



14. To make enough batteries to store two day's worth of U.S. electricity demand would require 1,000 years of production by the Gigafactory (world’s biggest battery factory).

A K Haart said...

Sam - good idea, although I think they already have them.

Scrobs - I check ours once per month. That seems to be enough for us to keep an eye on things.

Edward - I recall reading about that idea when it was being investigated by a large Japanese company, can't remember which one. It sounds plausible for domestic use but sustainable energy wheezes are promoted with such unsustainable levels of dishonesty that it best to wait and see.

Wiggia - yes, sustainable energy loons seem to think batteries are some kind of large scale answer. Domestically they may be feasible if expensive, but industrially and commercially they make no sense at all apart from specialist uses such as frequency stability.

Edward Spalton said...

Dear AKH and Wiggia

I did mention that the use of car batteries as a reserve power supply was a POTENTIAL facility ( pun intended),
Elsewhere I have read of a small island going over to electric cars and making use of this facility. I can’t remember whether it was part of the Canary Islands or the Azores.

A K Haart said...

Edward - curses, I missed the pun.

Peter MacFarlane said...

"He mentioned in passing that the smart meter has at least the potential for another facility."

He probably doesn't know about its other potential facilities - it can cut you off when the wind isn't blowing hard enough, or increase the cost enormously if the supply company feels like it - all at a moment's notice, by remote control, with no warning to you and no appeal or comeback.

Ain't technology wonderful?

A K Haart said...

Peter - that's why I'm not interested in one even though we regularly receive junk mail and emails telling us how wonderful they are.