New electricity meters

[Guderian]

just got a notification from the PEA saying that they're going to change the electricity meter to "support new technology".  Power will be cut off for no more than 10 minutes, supposedly, and there's no charge. Has anybody had this done yet? What kind of "new technology" are they referring to? Is it maybe a Thai version of the smart meters they're trying to get people to install back home? Mind you, what exactly might constitute a "Thai smart" meter boggles the mind, lol!

 

[Crossy]

It's almost certainly some kind of "smart" meter, PEA have been talking to Huawei for some time.

 

Press Release from last year https://www.ryt9.com/es/prg/215072

 

Exactly what it's capabilities will be is unknown at present, but remote meter reading will certainly be one of them.

 

If you do end up with one some photos of the beast would be appreciated.

 

[Guderian]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

It's almost certainly some kind of "smart" meter, PEA have been talking to Huawei for some time.

 

Press Release from last year https://www.ryt9.com/es/prg/215072

 

Exactly what it's capabilities will be is unknown at present, but remote meter reading will certainly be one of them.

 

If you do end up with one some photos of the beast would be appreciated.

 

Thanks for the reply and link, Crossy.

I thought the whole point of smart meters was that you had a display inside the house showing what you were using and the current price, so you could decide to do the laundry after midnight to save a few satangs. I don't see them changing the meter and installing that in under 10 minutes, so probably just a means of remote meter reading, at least to start with. Although as I said, "Thai" and "smart" opens a lot of possibilities.

[tifino]

the procedure itself is quite quick - aka 10 mins 

 

it only takes longer; if grandma comes out swinging, because they had not checked beforehand, to see if she was on her ventilator in the bedroom!! 

[oldhippy]

6 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Thanks for the reply and link, Crossy.

I thought the whole point of smart meters was that you had a display inside the house showing what you were using and the current price, so you could decide to do the laundry after midnight to save a few satangs. I don't see them changing the meter and installing that in under 10 minutes, so probably just a means of remote meter reading, at least to start with. Although as I said, "Thai" and "smart" opens a lot of possibilities.

These smart meters are very expensive - I don't see PEA giving them away for free...

[KhunBENQ]

3 hours ago, oldhippy said:

These smart meters are very expensive - I don't see PEA giving them away for free...

Either they made up the calculation and the invest will return by saved operation cost or Pattaya is kind of a field test area?

 

Here it's probably less than two years ago that the meter reading man (freelancer I guess) came to the gate to collect the bill in cash!

Nowadays the bill is printed instantly with a hand-terminal and put in this "PEA box" (like seems usual in most of the country).

Edited November 12, 2019 by KhunBENQ

[parafareno]

smart meters are a danger, they emit high frequency fields....100 x more than wifi....

[Guderian]

17 hours ago, oldhippy said:

These smart meters are very expensive - I don't see PEA giving them away for free...

Why not, they give them away free in the UK?

[Guderian]

8 hours ago, parafareno said:

smart meters are a danger, they emit high frequency fields....100 x more than wifi....

Well then it's a good job my meter is attached to the electricity pole on the other side of the street, and I've got a large garden between the street and my house. The meters are right by the Thai neighbour's swimming pool, though, he might not be so pleased.

[wgdanson]

18 hours ago, Guderian said:

so you could decide to do the laundry after midnight to save a few satangs

Does Thai PEA have an 'Economy 7' tarrif? My lekky costs the same per unit whatever time of the day.

[saengd]

5 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Does Thai PEA have an 'Economy 7' tarrif? My lekky costs the same per unit whatever time of the day.

The cost is based on an incremental usage charge, the more you use, the more you pay (per unit), the first xx is free.

[Guderian]

1 hour ago, wgdanson said:

Does Thai PEA have an 'Economy 7' tarrif? My lekky costs the same per unit whatever time of the day.

Not at the moment, as far as I'm aware, but if the smart meters take off they will probably try it. Otherwise what's the point of the smart meters, just to save the cost of a meter reader paid 12K/month going around on a scooter? That's hardly a major cost. The peak for electricity usage every year is in the Thai summer in April. Maybe it'll be more economic to reduce usage by jacking up the afternoon price than trying to ensure they can meet whatever the peak demand is?

[wgdanson]

2 hours ago, saengd said:

The cost is based on an incremental usage charge, the more you use, the more you pay (per unit), the first xx is free.

But that still does not warrant putting the washing machine on at midnight.

Edited November 13, 2019 by wgdanson

[oldhippy]

4 hours ago, Guderian said:

Why not, they give them away free in the UK?

Not in Belgium.

[mlkik]

19 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Either they made up the calculation and the invest will return by saved operation cost or Pattaya is kind of a field test area?

 

Here it's probably less than two years ago that the meter reading man (freelancer I guess) came to the gate to collect the bill in cash!

Nowadays the bill is printed instantly with a hand-terminal and put in this "PEA box" (like seems usual in most of the country).

In our village in Udon we still pay the woman who brings the bill with cash when she comes around each month.

Same with the water bill.

Edited November 13, 2019 by mlkik

[fforest1]

10 hours ago, Guderian said:

Why not, they give them away free in the UK?

Sir when ever the government give expensive stuff away for free like a meter you can be sure there is a ulterior motive...

Edited November 13, 2019 by fforest1

[fforest1]

18 hours ago, parafareno said:

smart meters are a danger, they emit high frequency fields....100 x more than wifi....

The Smart Meter subject is a very serious matter....I will not go into it all here but I would not let them put one on my house under any circumstance....

[lopburi3]

10 minutes ago, fforest1 said:

The Smart Meter subject is a very serious matter....I will not go into it all here but I would not let them put one on my house under any circumstance....

The option may not be that attractive.

[Singhajon]

That's going to stop any thought of exporting solar during the day to offset night time A/C usage.

[tifino]

it might vary, depending on what model(s) get installed; but they can work on a system of taking samples during sequential half hour blocks. If you happen to be doing a High Current draw at just the wrong moments, the meter uses it's Sample as the figure for 'that 30 mins period. 

Off Peak capability is only possible when the Meter is set up configured for being able to sample Ovens/Water heaters, on a separate circuit.

[jacko45k]

17 hours ago, Guderian said:

Maybe it'll be more economic to reduce usage by jacking up the afternoon price than trying to ensure they can meet whatever the peak demand is?

It would make people more conscious of their consumption timing. I would adjust my pool pump times to stay on cheap-rate and be less likely to use mid afternoon AC. 

[steve187]

11 hours ago, fforest1 said:

The Smart Meter subject is a very serious matter....I will not go into it all here but I would not let them put one on my house under any circumstance....

back to he dark ages then.

[jacko45k]

12 hours ago, fforest1 said:

The Smart Meter subject is a very serious matter....I will not go into it all here but I would not let them put one on my house under any circumstance....

Do you have any say? My meter is outside my gate and not my property. The old ones also aren't that safe, one I had burst into flames once. The PET came and replaced it free, which makes me believe it isn't my property. 

[Crossy]

12 hours ago, Singhajon said:

That's going to stop any thought of exporting solar during the day to offset night time A/C usage.

 

It depends, the electronic meters are capable of measuring export power. How they react is down to how they are programmed, they are quite capable of going backwards (net metering). Unfortunately they are also quite capable of ignoring export, or worse, counting export power as consumed power and billing for it!

 

We won't actually know how they behave until someone with solar who is net metering actually gets one. Hopefully that's not going to be us any time soon.

 

Also, there are enough locals doing net metering that there will be a lot of noise made if the new meters don't account for it in the same way as the existing ones. 

 

Worst case will mean re-configuring our solar to be hybrid with batteries and "do not export" set ????

 

[Guderian]

My handyman just told me that they've already installed them in houses on some sois along Thepprasit, I think he mentioned Soi 13. The Thais don't seem worried by them, anyway.

[bluesofa]

On 11/12/2019 at 4:08 PM, Guderian said:

Thanks for the reply and link, Crossy.

I thought the whole point of smart meters was that you had a display inside the house showing what you were using and the current price, so you could decide to do the laundry after midnight to save a few satangs. I don't see them changing the meter and installing that in under 10 minutes, so probably just a means of remote meter reading, at least to start with. Although as I said, "Thai" and "smart" opens a lot of possibilities.

That's foreign 'smart' meters that display inside your house.

We'll probably have to wait for PEA 4.0 for that feature on a Thai smart meter.

[Cricky]

On 11/12/2019 at 2:34 PM, Guderian said:

Has anybody had this done yet?

Yep.

 

My water meter has a chip also

[stropper]

maybe  the new metres are for solar installations, we are waiting for one out from kumawampi so we can increase our solar to 10 kwa, when we went to the office they told us that they are due soon, still waiting though !

[Guderian]

20 minutes ago, stropper said:

maybe  the new metres are for solar installations, we are waiting for one out from kumawampi so we can increase our solar to 10 kwa, when we went to the office they told us that they are due soon, still waiting though !

Well at least that might be good news. I could cover the koi carp pond with solar panels to keep the fish cool and power the filter and waterfall pumps, and then sell anything left over.

Edited November 14, 2019 by Guderian

[PETERTHEEATER]

On 11/12/2019 at 7:58 PM, KhunBENQ said:

Either they made up the calculation and the invest will return by saved operation cost or Pattaya is kind of a field test area?

 

Here it's probably less than two years ago that the meter reading man (freelancer I guess) came to the gate to collect the bill in cash!

Nowadays the bill is printed instantly with a hand-terminal and put in this "PEA box" (like seems usual in most of the country).

Unlike water bills which are still in antiquity.....