Thursday, December 22, 2011

Feeling Smart

A couple of weeks ago, I signed up with my energy company to be part of an electricity smart meter test, and today the meter was fitted. It's in the regular place under the stiars, and it uses a mobile phone connection to communicate with the supplier. So it can be read by remote interrogation, and can even receive text messages from them.

It also includes this gadget which lets me monitor my energy use by money, consumption or carbon emissions. I can follow my energy use by the day, week, month or year. (Well, as I've only had it for a day, I can just follow it by the day at the moment!)



Everyone will have to have one of these by 2020, and a smart gas meter will be tested as soon as the viability of the electricity one has been proved.

I do have certain reservations, such as what will happen to the meter readers and other people whose roles will be taken over by technology. The energy company said it will retrain them, but at what point do you just run out of jobs to retrain people for?
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6 comments:

  1. Eliza8:29 pm

    I can monitor what we use too..but thats because we have pre-payment meters. It's a pain sometimes to make sure you top them up in time, but it does make us more aware of just what we use. Good luck with the techno stuff :-)

    I do wonder how they will magic jobs out of thin air for the people that will no longer be used...but I wonder than every time I look at the jobless figures

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  2. vikeau3:09 am

    Wow. That is totally cool.

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  3. judith10:51 am

    We have one of those..I don't understand it but husband does and he'll say put a light on and then he tells me how much said light will cost a month/year if we left in on, then he tells me to switch TV. on or some other appliance and I'm then told how much that would cost a month/year etc.
    It drives me silly!!

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  4. Ruby4:37 pm

    I tend to be the Electricity Police in our household. It drives me crazy to keep something running when we're not using it! But yes, Val, there aren't enough jobs to go around now; what about 10-20 years down the road?

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  5. JoJo5:11 pm

    It kind of creeps me out, all these electronics 'talking' to each other. It's just a step away from The Terminator.....

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  6. Anonymous5:49 pm

    ....and I worry that we'll soon be spending ALL of our time watching the gizmos telling us how much everything is costing us. It's kind of 21st century naval gazing, but with the 'added bonus' it can frighten the shit out of you. Seems Orwell's '1984' is almost here.

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