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Just had a thing in the letter box about getting smart meters installed. Basically they let you have off-peak electricity prices for all the power you use between 9pm and 7am (not just hotwater) and you're supposed to be able to keep track of your electricity usage online every 30 minutes.
Just wondering if anyone else has a smart meter and if they're all they're cracked up to be?
Was reading about these the other day:
New meter to crank up power bills
Smart meters are catching us all up to the 1990s from the 1940s technology of our current clunky electricity meters. You will be able to monitor your usage half hourly, daily etc rather than every 3 months with a bill.
We had one put in when our solar panels went in and I think Victoria are rolling them out to all homes by 2012, the rest of Australia will happen over the next few years too. IMO it will revolutionise the way we manage our homes heating/cooling/appliances etc. In conjunction with broadband technology already in the US you can manage your home systems from your iphone/computer. It has been a long time coming and we are way behind the rest of the developed world on this one. Smart meters can combine energy, water, gas usage and help manage all of them. I think the roll outs are primarily for electricity in Australia but some retailers may offer for gas and water over time.
Lucky you MD for getting one so soon!
Oh yeah smart rates can be a great way to save some money depending on where you live in Australia and what your electricity retailer may offer and what your usage profile looks like. The electricity distributors and retailers have been cranking up the media telling how they will increase costs etc, but in fact it is putting more power into the hands of us as consumers to know what we are using. Energy prices are going to rise regardless of smart meters and they will help us to be more efficient and respect the real cost of energy to the environment.
Yeah, the offer I've got is actually part of a trial - apparently you can opt out whenever you want to, and there are some interesting pricing plans. For example, you can get cheaper electricity all year round if you opt to have very very expensive electricity between 2pm & 8 pm on 10 pre-advertised days of the summer...makes sense if you have family near whose air con you can camp in for a few hours on those days, kwim?
Cheaper offpeak power is very alluring too, we run the dishwasher last thing at night, could organise our laundry to run overnight and not in the daytime (machine has a timer), and plug in rechargeables like phones, laptops etc overnight.
Sounds like you are an early adopter of new technology MD ;)
We have some sort of meter and we pay different rates for different times of day. I found it when compared to our old bill about $30 dearer and that was using the dishwasher and washing machine in the middle of the night!