What if I don’t want to change it? I’ve seen my sister’s bills double since she got a smart meter so why the hell would I want to do that? I’m more than happy to keep giving them a manual reading.
What are my options?
I hate this world.
Warning RTS electricity meters in 300,000 homes could stop working
Submitted 5 days ago by thehatfox@lemmy.world to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdjlkrwmpveo
Comments
Grimtuck@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Nighed@feddit.uk 5 days ago
… Then the original meter must have been faulty?
All the smart meters do is make it easier to collect the readings (end enable fancy tarrifs)
scrchngwsl@feddit.uk 5 days ago
I’m willing to bet that, since their sister got a smart meter, everyone’s bills have doubled.
albert180@piefed.social 5 days ago
Why would her bill double from another meter if her consumption doesn't change?
KryptonNerd@slrpnk.net 5 days ago
This is specifically only for meters that can switch between peak and off peak rates. Not all "dumb"meters do this.
ohulancutash@feddit.uk 5 days ago
Then good luck as you embark on your new life without electricity.
Grimtuck@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Haha thank you!
tal@lemmy.today 5 days ago
Warning RTS electricity meters in 300,000 homes could stop working
I think that it’d be more likely that electricity companies that don’t conform to their mandated deadline get fined — surely there’s some form of penalty attached to the deadline? — and the funds used to continue this longwave service for a second extension, or the same happen with just government funds, as has already apparently happened once.
ohulancutash@feddit.uk 5 days ago
The issue isn’t the funds, it’s the practicality. The transmitter needs two obsolete valves to operate, and the BBC bought the entire world’s supply in around 2010, which still amounted to less than ten. When one of the final pair blows it’s the end regardless of money.
tal@lemmy.today 5 days ago
Hmm.
en.wikipedia.org/…/Droitwich_Transmitting_Station
The long-wave frequency used was 200 kilohertz (frequently referred to by the wavelength, 1,500 metres) until 1 February 1988[13] when it was changed to 198 kilohertz, and the power is currently 500 kilowatts
en.wikipedia.org/…/List_of_longwave_radio_broadca…
According to this, there are only three other longwave transmitting stations in the world at least as high-power as this station: ome in each of Morocco, Algeria, and Poland. So I guess that it’s a pretty esoteric sort of hardware.
tenebrisnox@feddit.uk 5 days ago
Wouldn’t it be possible just to replace the valve transmitter with a digitised version that sent out the same signal?
TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 5 days ago
This deadline wasn’t some unknown thing suddenly sprung upon energy companies, this deadline has been known about for a long time, why have they left it this late? Were they just expecting the government to keep extending the deadline?