717 replies to this topic

[Bingo]

I suppose the few hundred people that protested at the parliament buildings yesterday are the same people that have voted 51% against the smart meter for health concerns on a current CFAX poll.

Apparently the emmissions from the meter are one hundredth of what you get from a cellphone.

[Baro]

Yeah, I was reading some anti-smart meter stuff and it's become a bit of a poisoned well for me. I'm embarassed to be anywhere on the same side as them.

"Just a money-grab by a for-proffit company that's being green-washed" ok yeah that's bad

"Loss of jobs" The extra efficiency the company will gain certainly won't be passed down to consumers, so also bad I guess...

"Potential invasion of privacy" I guess I could see that

"MAGICAL DEATH BEAMS THE ENTIRE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY OF THE WORLD IS DENYING IN A MASSIVE GLOBAL CONSPIRACY" uhgggggg I want to cover their bodies in smart meters.

[sebberry]

I oppose them for the privacy issues, but I do have one minor health concern:

You live in a condo and there are 30 of the meters transmitting right next to your living room or bedroom. Still 100% safe?

[G-Man]

How many cellphones are transmitting or receiving around you right now?

[Bingo]

How about living in the condos in the Blanshard/Johnson Street area next to the microwave tower on the Telus building?

[sebberry]

Distance from the source makes a big difference. If I'm 30 feet away from the meters there's little to worry about. If I'm sleeping in the room next to them the exposure to the RF is much higher.

[sebberry]

Oh goodie.. looks like we're getting our stupid dumb meters today.

I think I'll pester BCHydro with phone calls asking "How much power am I using now? How 'bout now? And now? What about now?"

Or maybe I'll build a faraday cage in the meter room.

[jklymak]

^ Just build a Faraday cage around your head - tinfoil works well.

[sebberry]

http://www.bclocalne.../128323478.html

[sebberry]

How exactly does a smart meter prevent someone from stealing electricity for grow ops?

[sebberry]

While everyone's worried about RF, here's a bigger issue:

http://www.click2hou...1896/index.html

http://www.wfaa.com/...-101115429.html

http://www.kget.com/...kYg.cspx?rss=91


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[jonny]

I usually ignore matters I care nothing about, but these smart meter concerns are ridiculous. I actually burst out laughing when a co-worker told me about the "protest" on Sunday.

The bottom line is that smart meters will allow electricity producers to better match supply with demand. The health and privacy concerns are neurotic, plain and simple.

[sebberry]

The bottom line is that smart meters will allow electricity producers to better match supply with demand. The health and privacy concerns are neurotic, plain and simple.

Safety and privacy concerns are relevant.

As I asked before, why not have the "demand" metered by neighbourhood. I can't see why demand needs to be metered at each house in real-time.

[jklymak]

Safety and privacy concerns are relevant.

As I asked before, why not have the "demand" metered by neighbourhood. I can't see why demand needs to be metered at each house in real-time.

First, real-time is necessary because the power grid is real-time.

Second, as I said before, each house needs to be metered for billing purposes.

[sebberry]

Second, as I said before, each house needs to be metered for billing purposes.

That's been such a challenge up until now

[jonny]

Safety and privacy concerns are relevant.

As I asked before, why not have the "demand" metered by neighbourhood. I can't see why demand needs to be metered at each house in real-time.

How do smart meters create safety and privacy concerns?

Every house will need to be measured in real time because it's pretty obvious that most major electricity utilities will be moving over to TOU billing, which makes a heck of a lot of sense to me.

[sebberry]

How do smart meters create safety and privacy concerns?

Every house will need to be measured in real time because it's pretty obvious that most major electricity utilities will be moving over to TOU billing, which makes a heck of a lot of sense to me.

1) Look at the links I just posted

2) Knowing what people use and when they use it could be valuable information to marketers. But that's ok, because I trust the government.

[jonny]

1) Look at the links I just posted

2) Knowing what people use and when they use it could be valuable information to marketers. But that's ok, because I trust the government.

Because some guy's old fridge is kaput smart meters aren't safe?

How could your electricity consumption profile be valuable information to marketers?

[jklymak]

That's been such a challenge up until now

A challenge? No. A challenge to do cheaply? Yes. Now there won't be a need for meter readers, which I expect is a huge savings.

If you are concerned about privacy, why are you OK with some stranger coming onto your property every few months, doing who knows what? Seems the larger privacy concern to me.

[sebberry]

Because some guy's old fridge is kaput smart meters aren't safe?

How could your electricity consumption profile be valuable information to marketers?

Look at the other links..


Energy consumption patterns are a pretty good reflection of one's activities at home. Knowing when people are home, away, what appliances they're using at the time is a goldmine of information for marketers to drool over, but they'll have to wait until people start using "Smart appliances'.

BC Hydro's privacy policy for Smart Meters appears to be fairly weak and even self contradictory.