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Monitoring power usage

  • 21-03-2024 4:47pm
    #1
    swoofer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,678 ✭✭✭


    I'm sorry I ever got a SMART meter and kicking myself for agreeing. Saw the article in the INDO about 80,000 dodgy ones.

    Is there anyway I can monitor my usage?


    edit: sensationalist and inaccurate shouty title replaced

    Post edited by L1011 on


Comments

  • #2
    L1011
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 71,182 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    They aren't inaccurate. The Indo is talking about meters with poor connectivity not reporting back every billing period so people get estimates until the accurate info is reported.

    AND WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING?



  • #3
    ItHurtsWhenIP
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,116 ✭✭✭ItHurtsWhenIP


    @swoofer Is there anyway I can monitor my usage?

    When I was listening to the radio the other day, they were talking about the issue reported in the Indo and the lady from ESB networks advised that you can get your Smart Meter usage data directly from ESB Networks by setting up an account with them.

    https://www.esbnetworks.ie/existing-connections/meters-and-readings/my-smart-data




  • #4
    L1011
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 71,182 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121924416#Comment_121924416

    If the meter has a comms issue that won't work either. Would let you realise it has a comms issue quicker though



  • #5
    the_amazing_raisin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,425 ✭✭✭✭the_amazing_raisin


    Jeez, is caps lock stuck on? 😉

    There's plenty of home energy monitors out there, I've heard good things about the Owl monitors

    https://www.theowl.com/index.php/products/energy-monitors/

    I've used the Open Energy Monitor in the past, it's very versatile but not the most user friendly. I got it to monitor multiple circuits in my house to see how much my heat pump and oven were using

    https://openenergymonitor.org/


    "The internet never fails to misremember" - Sebastian Ruiz, aka Frost



  • #6
    JVince
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,623 ✭✭✭JVince


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058342848/now-that-smart-meters-are-known-to-be-unreliable-how-cani-monitor-usage

    proof that people should read an entire article and understand that news headlines are, especially in the indo and tabloids are there to deceive you.


    It is neither an unknown issue nor a major issue. Simply if your meter is in a very secluded location such as in the middle of the house or in a basement where there is no 2g signal, it does not get read automatically and you need to do it manually.


    There is NO FAULT WHATSOEVER with the meters.



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  • #7
    homer911
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,150 ✭✭✭homer911


    I review my usage data from ESB Networks regularly. The system is extremely buggy and I regularly note periods of up to 24 hours where no data is reported. The ESB Networks data only reports usage within the 30-minute window, not the actual meter reading. I'm quite sure that ESB Networks has this information available but fails to include it in the usage stats. Only reporting usage (rather than meter reading) over the 2G network would be a recipe for disaster - If the data was provided, you could at least impute an average 30-minute usage for the missing time slots. I've reported this problem on a number of occasions but ESB Networks has failed to resolve it (if they tried).


    https://www.esbnetworks.ie/ (Click on Login and Register)



  • #8
    mp3ireland2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,836 ✭✭✭mp3ireland2


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936567#Comment_121936567

    Download the HDF file and upload to https://www.energypal.ie/ here you can look at date ranges see when your high usage is etc. The main purpose of the site is to give you the best smart plan based on your own actual usage but it is handy to analyse your data also



  • #9
    JohnC.
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,494 ✭✭✭JohnC.


    I see a couple of mentions of it using 2G network. Aren't they being turned off? And even 3G? Or do ESB have their own private network for this?



  • #10
    L1011
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 71,182 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    2G has no set turn-off date and I suspect it may never happen. Too many alarms, gates, monitoring devices and now smart meters using it. 3G is all but gone.



  • #11
    Xterminator
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,782 ✭✭✭Xterminator


    really good article here about 2G, why its needed and how 4G & 5G infrastructure can support it long after 3G is dead.

    https://www.cambridgewireless.co.uk/news/cw-journal/why-2g-wants-live-forever/

    2G isnt going anywhere anytime soon.



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  • #12
    swoofer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,678 ✭✭✭swoofer


    I think amending the title has missed the point, this is from the indo article

    "It insisted that only 1,000 of the 1.6 million meters installed so far have been faulty." Only 1,000, they would say that would'nt they.!!

    Sorry about the caps I was distracted. Thanks for all the tips on monitoring.



  • #13
    L1011
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 71,182 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121950219#Comment_121950219

    Only 1000 out of 1,600,000 would be much less than the % of faulty traditional meters. The Indo article was sensationalised with an inaccurate headline; but that's par for the course with the Indo now.



  • #14
    coylemj
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,622 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    Sensational headlines are nothing new but they have taken on a sinister role in the age of the internet and clickbait. Put simply, a website sub-editor will post a grossly misleading headline in order to get you to click on the article. Because they are measured on clicks. Which generate advertising revenue.

    At least I'd give the Indo credit with employing the jounalist who wrote the article in the first place, my main gripe is with so-called news 'aggregators' who write no original contant but simply lift stories from other sources, slap an even more sensationalist (and usually false) headline on it and reap the advertising revenue which follows.



  • #15
    vinniem
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 385 ✭✭vinniem


    I use the Harvi that came with Zappi, the MiEnergi app is very good for recording usage.



  • #16
    swoofer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,678 ✭✭✭swoofer


    This is from the Telegraph in UK. "  According to the latest figures from the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero, of the 30 million meters installed in British homes, almost four million are not working properly. The estimate was 2.7 million in June last year, but has now been revised dramatically upwards. "



  • #17
    homer911
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,150 ✭✭✭homer911


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121924416#Comment_121924416

    Unfortunately the ESB Networks data only provides usage in the preceding 30 minutes. Gaps in the data appear regularly and as they don't provide the meter reading at the time, its impossible to compute usage in this period. I'd recommend taking weekly meter readings on the top of any given hour to impute an approximation of the usage during these lost periods
    (That's if you really want to know..)

    It would be interesting to know how ESB compute your usage (and on what basis) if one of these drop-out periods happened when transitioning from one smart meter time to another



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