Tv3 Target - Smart Power Meters

Fair Go is a New Zealand tv program that investigates a wide range of issues that have become a problem for one or many New Zealanders. They try to solve the issues by looking at the information they can find and by contacting the companies and people involved. I recently watch a show that talked about the new Smart meters that will be used in every home in the near future.

 The smart meter is a energy saving device used to lower power bill costs and help people save energy. In a few years the new smart meters could do a huge amount but at the moment the average consumer has no advantage with the smart meter because of the technology that is not yet available. Having a smart meter might let retailers do smart charging like for instance charging more at peak times. These are not optional meters everybody is going to get one in the future. By 2013 all 1/2 a million genesis energy customers will have an advanced or smart meter. Genesis says the benifits are:

• Accurate monthly bills
• No estimates
• No intrusive meter reading for those with internal meters
• The ability to look at your usage online

This is a possible version of what your smart energy home might like in a possible future:

At the center of it will be a device of some sort maybe a computer, maybe not:

 

Your flash new smart appliances will all talk to it wirelessly:

 And the device will talk to your smart meter your new mini turbine, the new solar cells on your roof and a national grid:

Between them those smart devices and appliances will figure out what power is cheapest to use when:

 

 The smart energy future will be a wonderful place but it isn't quite here yet. In the future there will be things like smart appliances come along. E.g Fisher and Paykel will bring out a washing machine that talks to the smart meter and the smart meter will send a message to the was machine that will say " hey washing machine powers cheap right now you better start" and the washing machine will start, do the washing and you wont have to worry about it.