Smart Meter, Chon Buri House.

[sarizz]

Hello ThaiVisa. I have a question for the old people like me, here. I have an old electricity meter and I heard about the new smart electricity meter and I would like to change my old meter for a new smart meter, with this meter I can chek in real time the electricity consumption of my house and even more. How is it possible to do that, do I have to buy the meter or the city take care of that for a fee?

To be honest I have no idea who to talk about that, if you can help me and/or direct me to the good people it would be more than appreciate

Thanks you

[transam]

What's a ''Smart'' meter. ?

[h90]

What's a ''Smart'' meter. ?

Topic in Europe, it is a meter with some small computer. It can tell you how much you need at which time and report it.

So the prices you pay vary per time of the day.

[Tep]

There are a number of technical terms for smart meters. AMR means Automatic Meter Reading. The PEA has a pilot project of abotu 30,000 AMR's but I don't know where in the PEA service area. As the name suggests, this meter can be read by PEA remotely. More sophisticated are the AMI - advanced metering infrastructure. AMI's can do all the the stuff that you are talking about. The ain benefits of smart meters is if your usage is subject to different rates based on usage. Residential customers are able to enrol in the Time of Use rate which is generally used by larger consumers. TOU rates involve different rates at peak and off peak times. Enroling in PEA's TOU program is a little complex. The only person I know who has done this is the Director of Tariffs at PEA. Another use for AMI is if you have photovoltaic panels on your roof and you sell power back to the grid. This is allowable under current regulations I think. Further uses involve what are called demand response programs. This is where the grid operator can cut your electricity usage (by agreement) but turning off your smart appliances remotely and you get compensation. The regulator is working on this at the moment.

Unless you anticipate any of these uses, it is probably premature to buy a smart meter just now. The PEA has proposed a big investment plan to upgrade the distribution grid with smart technology and to include smart meters. Buying an AMR would help them but probably not give you much useful benefit. If you are interested though you should be able to contact the PEA office in Chonburi and ask them to help you get a smart meter or ask them about household solar systems that can sell to the grid. If Chonburi can't answer your questions you can try the head office in Bangkok. If there is any smart meter rollout in Thailand, it is likely that the costs will be passed through to the consumer in some form. I don't see this happening for residential customers for quite some time though.

[pipo1000]

Enroling in PEA's TOU program is a little complex. The only person I know who has done this is the Director of Tariffs at PEA.

Exellent comment,however I'm gonna apply for a TOU meter in the very near future and keep informed here if I am the second one to succeed.

I'm afraid at some given moment during the application some objects will move in the PEA offices, but if it is legally allowed to enroll then I will get enrolled.

Edited May 29, 2012 by pipo1000

[Tep]

I am still a bit new as a poster but I think links are allowed as long as they are not to other forums. http://www.pea.co.th/rates/rates_tou_tod_ft.htm shows you the TOU rate. it is in Thai unfortunately. If most of your household work office hours TOU could be of some benefit. Thailand's daily load profile has 3 main peaks, morning, just after lunch and then evening meal time. So off peak is basically overnight. When the enrolment process was explained to me, it seemed somewhat complicated - lock up periods etc for some reason and I didn't pay too much attention. Good luck. If you have problems with PEA on the issue, you can contact the Regional Energy Consumer Committee which is part of the Energy Regulatory Commission www.erc.or.th and they can mediate. They have an office in Chonburi and Director Songkran is a nice guy. But if you find the right people at PEA, I am sure they will be happy to help. One of the local engineers who has some interest in smart meters or something. There are plenty of good people in the organisation and worth the effort to find the right ones.

[sarizz]

So it is possible for me to have an TOU or AMR? How much it's cost, who I have to call ,do they allow everybody to have one? Is there people having these?

[Crossy]

If you are just looking for real-time monitoring and recording of your energy usage get yourself an energy monitor from CurrentCost http://www.currentco...oduct-envi.html it's what I have. Note that CurrentCost will ship to Thailand, but you have to email them first as it's not one of their regular destinations.

Easy to fit (no sparky needed) and can plug in to your PC for monitoring trends and comparing how well you have managed to reduce your consumption.

Plenty of units on eBay for peanut costs (E-ON were giving them away free in the UK). Just make sure you get one from a country that uses 220V power otherwise your energy readings will be off.

[sarizz]

Thanks you Crossy, but what about changing the actual meter? Is the city will approve that? Or is it working with the actual meter?

[Crossy]

Thanks you Crossy, but what about changing the actual meter? Is the city will approve that? Or is it working with the actual meter?

The CurrentCost devices don't connect to or replace your meter, the interface is a simple clip on device that fits over one of the cables. Piece of cake to install, even my dad managed

[sarizz]

Thanks you very much Crossy your answer are realy useful for me.

I was also wondering. If I would like to completly change my meter, is it possible to do it in Thailand? And if so with which city departement I have to ask and what are the step?

[Gary A]

Off topic but In the US, state of Ohio I had an electric water heater go bad, there was no repairing it. I called the plumber and asked how much for a new one. He told me it would be free as long as I agreed to put a radio receiver on it. During periods of peak usage, the power company would send a signal and the water heater would disconnect. Had I not known it was like that, I would have never known it was equipped to auto disconnect. The heaters were 50 gallon (190 liters) tank types. I can't ever remember seeing an on demand water heater until I came to Thailand.

[cdnvic]

One post removed. Please keep conspiracies and psudo-science on their own websites.

[aussiebebe]

Thanks very much Crossy, that's a really helpful reply. I'd asked my Thai friends where to buy them and had no success. I didn't realise they don't require professional installation. Good old ebay!

[Langsuan Man]

Off topic but In the US, state of Ohio I had an electric water heater go bad, there was no repairing it. I called the plumber and asked how much for a new one. He told me it would be free as long as I agreed to put a radio receiver on it. During periods of peak usage, the power company would send a signal and the water heater would disconnect. Had I not known it was like that, I would have never known it was equipped to auto disconnect. The heaters were 50 gallon (190 liters) tank types. I can't ever remember seeing an on demand water heater until I came to Thailand.

This is a result of some federal legislation mandating that US electric companies offer a way for customers to reduce their demand during "peak" time. Here in Pennsylvania, the electric company does the same thing but to your central air condioner at no cost. They attach the device to your outside compresser, mount it on the outside wall and send you $35 for every summer season that you use the device