Government should fund smart meters
A
Horstmann Controls product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
May 8, 2007
The domestic energy monitors proposed in the UK Government's Energy White Paper will be of limited use, claims Horstmann Controls.
Every household in the UK will be able to request a free device that shows how much electricity is being used in the home in real time, according to a plan set to be announced by ministers in the forthcoming Energy White Paper.
However, these monitors do not provide readings for gas which accounts for 75% of energy consumption in the home.
There is also a potential safety risk as the devices are clipped onto the existing wires connected to the meter within the home which could cause damage to the existing wiring.
There are some other elements to the device that would make it a short term solution.
The device operates independently to the meter and offers nothing to enable improvements in the accuracy and frequency of billing As there is no link with the supplier's electricity meter there may well be a disjoint between the two sets of electricity data, with increased scope for complaints.
And the devices are battery powered, a feature that has been proven to lead to products being "left in the drawer" once the initial batteries have run out "These devices are a good way to develop initial awareness of electricity use in the home but are not a long term solution as they do not look at gas consumption and cannot communicate directly with energy suppliers", says Les Woolner, Managing Director of Horstmann Controls, Director of Beama Energy and Chairman of the UK Metering and Communications Association.
"Smart meters which offer the same solution in terms of providing real-time energy output data, would be a more permanent answer as there are no safety issues, they can cover gas as well as electricity and they communicate with the energy supplier making estimated readings and bill disputes a thing of the past".
Smart meters provide a long term solution to giving householders better and more frequent information on their energy consumption, solutions that have been adopted successfully by many businesses already.
The additional cost is likely to be around GBP 50 but this would soon be recouped by the amount the householder would save in reduced energy bills.
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