[Freedombox-discuss] Smart meters

[cgw993 at aol.com]

Well we will have to agree to disagree on that smart meters but I do agree
this shouldn't be on this mailing list.

-----Original Message-----
From: Freedombox-discuss
[mailto:freedombox-discuss-bounces+cgw993=aol.com at lists.alioth.debian.org]
On Behalf Of Wookey
Sent: Saturday, September 14, 2013 4:27 PM
To: freedombox-discuss at lists.alioth.debian.org
Subject: Re: [Freedombox-discuss] Smart meters

+++ cgw993 at aol.com [2013-09-14 02:41 -0700]:
[Hopelessly offtopic now, but I can't resist correcting some of this]

> My issues with smart meter
> 
> -It is about 20 feet from where I sit, I read the wifi signal is 
> powerful and near continuous.  It could be a safety and health issue.

No it couldn't. Petter has given you a useful reference explaining why not.

> -These meters I read are capable of monitoring specific appliances in 
> your home. It would know when the oven is on, blowdryer, microwave, 
> how often they are used, without your consent. There is a huge amount 
> of data mining potential including the ability to figure out the 
> schedule of the occupant etc, this data can be made available to a 
> government or businesses. It is a major invasion of privacy.

This is largely true, although the actuality depends on the regulatory
framework in your country for smart meters. In the UK the data is deemed
personal data under the data protection act and supplier access is
restricted to monthly data for billing purposes, and daily data at
changeover points. The DNO (meter owner) can get half-hourly data for
network management purposes. So there are privacy risks, but it can't simply
be made available to 'govt or businesses' without owner consent (without
breaking the law). 

> -The smart meters were advertised based on convenience and claimed 
> that the would save energy. They simply move energy use from one time 
> to another time which doesn't save energy, at least not that
significantly.

This is wrong. The total energy usage at your end may not change, but the
amount of energy it took to make that energy, and more importantly the
source of that energy and the associated emissions, can change radically due
to time-shifting and load shedding. This demand management is an important
part of the future energy grid and you should read up on the subject if you
don't understand why. 


However this is not on-topic here, so I will not continue this conversation
here. Feel free to argue off-list, or on more appropriate fora.

Wookey
--
Principal hats:  Linaro, Emdebian, Wookware, Balloonboard, ARM
http://wookware.org/

_______________________________________________
Freedombox-discuss mailing list
Freedombox-discuss at lists.alioth.debian.org
http://lists.alioth.debian.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/freedombox-discuss