UK Smart meters need real time consumer display to cut energy
Topic: Smart Grid
Smart meters 'may not cut energy use' in the UK
Installing smart meters may not result in households saving energy, a study has suggested
"feedback effect"
(which tells people how much energy was used over a period of time, or how much energy a particular activity/appliance consumed) in energy demand reduction was so important.
"It is possible to have a smart meter that does not have a display on it at all, in fact most smart meters don't,
Citing Italy and Sweden as exampled, she said: "They are not being rolled out with the aim of giving customers better feedback, except that the households will get an accurate bill whereas in the past they might have got an estimate.
"But in [the UK], it is part of government policy
that smart meters will be rolled out
with real-time electricity displays."
The UK government policy involves installing smart meters in more than 27 million homes and two million smaller non-domestic sites over the next decade.
"Essentially, a smart meter is a meter with communications technology. You can use that technology in different ways: it could turn your water heating on and off, according to the needs of the utilities, to fit in with load balancing.
"For example, at a time of peak demand, the utility company could switch off your water heater and they would offer you a special tariff to be allowed to do that. Instead it would switch on your immersion heater at a time of low demand."
source: bbc.co.uk
Posted by solarlife
at 1:54 PM EDT
Updated: Monday, 13 September 2010 2:06 PM EDT
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