Oncor smart meter

[Moonshine]

Got my new smart meter installed today. I presume others have had theirs for awhile since most of you are closer in than I am. Any issues or comments on them, either good or bad? Anyone gotten one of the in home monitors or a smart thermostat?

[gbgary]

haven't got mine yet (i'm in desoto). not looking forward to it after all the negative things said months ago after they were out for a while.

[dboat]

No way Jose'... they can turn off your A/C when electrical demand gets too high..

[gbgary]

No way Jose'... they can turn off your A/C when electrical demand gets too high..

say what?

[Moonshine]

You guys don't have them? Looking at their deployment map ya'll should have been way ahead of me.

[dboat]

[QUOTE=gbgary;181218]say what?[/QUOTE

Sorry, got confused it not Oncor but rather TXU, they put in a thermostat that they can control remotely.. you get a lower rate but when power demand peaks, they can shut you off.. no way Jose on that one..

Dana

[SILVER2000SVT]

I haven't experienced any issues with mine, had it about a year now. The only thing I don't like is that you can't see how much electricity you are using at any given moment. At least with the old ones you could see that the wheel was spinning fast or slow and give a really rough idea.

It does tell you your peak energy use though. I was trying to figure out how to size a backup generator which is typically a very lengthy and not so accurate collections of calculations. Instead of going through all the calculations I just looked at the meter and it told me what my actual maximum peak usage is. Done.

After some research I've realized that the utility companies are not providing their legally required end of the agreement with the new smart meters. When they initially proposed the idea to charge us customers for the meters rather than absorb the cost (as a cost of doing business) it was met with fierce resistance from the state regulatory commission. In turn the utilities provided studies from other areas that proved if consumers were aware of their usage and able to closely monitor it themselves with the new cabilities of the smart meters that statistically, overall useage would decrease. As a provision of the deal to approve of transfering the costs to the consumer the utilities are REQUIRED to provide some sort of cability to monitor power usage directly to the consumer. Since the smart meters provide a wireless signal I would think it would be just some small wireless display you hang on your wall or sit on your counter inside the house.
They are not providing these devices or any provision to monitor the usage. I contacted both Oncor and TXU (My billing co) and asked if I could purchase one and they don't offer any such device and don't have any current plans to offer it in the future.

[98Cobra]

I thought you could log in online and see your smart meter usage.

And I have never heard of them being able to shut off your AC. I dont see how thats even possible. That smells like urban legend.

[Silver_2000]

One of the benefits of the smart meters was the ability to monitor and control the electric usage.

You can say no way all day - it wont prevent the company from replacing their equipment on your house.

You don't have to let them change your thermostat... At least not until it becomes law....

the AC control is NOT urban legend

http://www.smartmeters.com/the-news/252-txu-energy-introduces-demand-response-program.html


Customers participating in the program will receive a Comverge-manufactured thermostat called the TXU Energy iThermostat, which is embedded with ZigBee wireless technology that is fully compliant with the Home Area Network (HAN) standard. Once installed, the thermostat allows for temperatures to be adjusted remotely over the Internet. The iThermostat also grants TXU Energy the ability to cycle customers’ air conditioning units on and off during critical periods of energy demand in order to reduce strain on the power grid.

“The iThermostat is great for customers who want to manage their energy usage, save money and lessen the impact on our environment without giving up comfort or convenience,” said TXU Energy CEO Jim Burke. “The TXU Energy iThermostat helps Texas efficiently manage its energy resources while providing customers greater control over their own energy usage. It is initiatives like these that will have a big impact now and into the future.”

Participation in the program is free for residential energy customers. By allowing customers to install the equipment themselves, installation charges are non-existent.

[L8 APEX]

Garland was one city that has RF controlled boxes on AC units back in the 90's. People would get them installed then bypass them to keep the rebate and A/C...

I use a TED to track usage at my home. It is pretty darn close within a buck or two each month. Tracking appliances is a little harder as many have a similar load profile.

http://www.theenergydetective.com/

[Moonshine]

On the Oncor smart meter FAQ page i saw something about an in home monitor that you could buy, and also a smart thermostat that was supposed to talk to the smart meter. Not sure if that's the same thing dana was referring to.

Jason, how do you see what your peak use is?

[SILVER2000SVT]

My display cycles through several readings. One of the displays has a unit of "KW" which is the greatest amount of instanteous power demand the meter has seen since it's installation. Mine stayed on 17kw for many months, but when my emergency heat had to kick on this winter now it says 19.5kw. So if I get a 20kw emergency generator I would have enough generating capacity to power my house even in a worst case situation.

For industrial usage you are charged an additional premium for the size of your peak demand. This is a foreign concept to us residential users, but this will change in the future as the technology gets better and the utilities companies have the ability to monitor and charge us for it. It does make sense because this is the number that is used to determine the size of the transformer and wires feeding your house as well as planning for the energy needs ahead of time.

[gbgary]

say what?

Sorry, got confused it not Oncor but rather TXU, they put in a thermostat that they can control remotely.. you get a lower rate but when power demand peaks, they can shut you off.. no way Jose on that one..

Dana

ah yes. i know about those.

[Moonshine]

My display cycles through several readings. One of the displays has a unit of "KW" which is the greatest amount of instanteous power demand the meter has seen since it's installation. Mine stayed on 17kw for many months, but when my emergency heat had to kick on this winter now it says 19.5kw. So if I get a 20kw emergency generator I would have enough generating capacity to power my house even in a worst case situation.

For industrial usage you are charged an additional premium for the size of your peak demand. This is a foreign concept to us residential users, but this will change in the future as the technology gets better and the utilities companies have the ability to monitor and charge us for it. It does make sense because this is the number that is used to determine the size of the transformer and wires feeding your house as well as planning for the energy needs ahead of time.

OK, thanks. Looked at it the day they put it in and it was at 3kw. Since they had just installed it that day I was presuming that was the toal usage rather than peak.

[SILVER2000SVT]

The total should be in "kwh". The peak in "kw"

[Moonshine]

The total should be in "kwh". The peak in "kw"

Yup, got it. Total is 73 kwh, peak so far is 8.2 kw.

[99WhiteBeast]

I'm liking mine so far. I've had it for about 4 months. I get the weekly email alerts (from Reliant) that show me a weekly usage and projected monthly cost. That allows me to be more conscious about usage and proactive to reduce my cost.

[Sandman]

I'm with CoServ and they are about to start installing these emeters. I'm in the proof of concept and I'm not too thrilled about it. Seems they own the meters so I can't reject it either.

[dboat]

Well, I went and looked and I have an OnCor meter.. max has been 13.8 KW.. I believe its been that for some time, so I dont expect it to change any time soon.
Question for all, do you think the max was hit when the construction crews were here rather than during my occupancy?

Dana

[Moonshine]

I'd guess during occupancy. A/C and/or heat would draw more kw than construction equipment.

[Silver_2000]

i'd guess during occupancy. A/c and/or heat would draw more kw than construction equipment.

+100

[dboat]

I am thinking that during the finish out stage of construction the a/c was running hard plus you have air compressors and large saws of all types going as well. I guess there wouldnt have been a big difference when you think about it.

Dana

[Moonshine]

That's why you have them install the thermostat last, so they can't be using your new A/C unit.

[Silver_2000]

I would be shocked if the construction crew set the AC to any where near the typical Dana B settings

[dboat]

I would be shocked if the construction crew set the AC to any where near the typical Dana B settings

That would be Kim B settings not Dana B settings. :evil:evil

Dana

[mikelemoine]

Here in FL you have to sign up for the peak demand control where they can cut off AC/Heat to relieve stress on the grid. They said that they normally do it in 20 minute increments to avoid any discomfort to the homeowner.

I suppose if it got bad enough for them to do more, they might have rolling blackouts anyway. At least the managed system will still let you watch TV.