That's interesting, I've probably visited the pretty little town as my late MIL is buried in the cemetery there. Our daughter is in Banking up in Edinburgh working in risk analysis and fraud prevention.
Utility supplier gone bust.
- Thread starter Venod
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Dolorous Edd
Senior Member
There's no getting around the fact that electricity generated during peak hours is more costly than electricity generated during off-peak hours. It's an inevitable consequence of the fact that electricity cannot be stored cheaply, and so there is capacity that is needed for the peak that must necessarily lie idle for many hours a day.
Smart meters are part of a long term attempt to expose domestic consumers to these variations in cost and encourage them to shift demand towards the off-peak. In principle it is a well meaning effort to reduce industry costs and help the push to net zero (although the cost benefit analysis is a bit flaky).
Could the technology be abused? Like any technology, yes. But there's nothing sinister about it.
Smart meters are part of a long term attempt to expose domestic consumers to these variations in cost and encourage them to shift demand towards the off-peak. In principle it is a well meaning effort to reduce industry costs and help the push to net zero (although the cost benefit analysis is a bit flaky).
Could the technology be abused? Like any technology, yes. But there's nothing sinister about it.
It is lovely, I did a lot of cycling in that area also. Also near Malvern (another one of 'those' locations wink wink).
Thanks for the intelligent chat!
What exactly is going to be hijacked or ransomed? Are you worried that someone will pay your bill for you?
The utility company, not the individual consumer.
On a scale of likelihood and impact, I think a scenario of being attacked by the smart meter network ranks much lower than the energy provider being attacked by phishing of their employees or their website being attacked and data exfiltrated.
Websites have always been attacked, that doesn't mean that companies abandoned the notion of having a website.
Same with smart meters.
- Location
- London
Many of the/the current ones seem to malfunction - if it's a British Gas one you then have to deal with their appalling anything but smart call centres and useless chat operatives.
They don't give a damn.
Just waste your time. So the smart meters are anything but a timesaver.
Once you get a smart meter from british gas the idiots seem to make it impossible to enter a reading from the web online account page - fark knows what it's for - what is smart about that?
I also don't trust them to not be hacked.
I have no desire to link any appliances in my house to the internet - why would I?
With a decent company (British Gas is very definitely not) it is no problem whatsoever to give regular updates to the utility company via an online account - always assuming that your meters aren't under the floorboards or somewhere really daft.
I like tech (I spent much of my life promoting it) but use it appropriately - some tech actually hands control to other people/makes things more complicated if there is a fault.
So I'm with @Drago on this.
- Location
- London
no-one is talking about being ransomed.
It is not hard to imagine that the systems could be hacked - there are countless examples of data networks being hacked.
Not all of them made public.
I can think of no better way of someone figuring out whether you are home/away than by taking a very quick peek at energy consumption.
Besides - I see little to no real advantage in the things.
So a rant about British Gas, move supplier?
And your comments about smart meters being an exploitable vector are misinformed given the way they are deployed in the UK.
"I also don't trust them to not be hacked" <--- I see this on message boards so often, I don't know who planted this conspiracy theory, maybe it started on Facebook. But why are people so worried about smart meters being hacked, when the typical house is home to internet routers, mobile phones, games consoles, computers, laptops and so on. All MUCH more targetable than a smart meter.
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Z’ha’dum
Some people seem to think that the smart meter is a gateway into their home systems
but it doesn't use the home network in anyway - it has its own system
and as an addendum - I have no idea how our water meter gets its reading to the water company - but as they seem to get reading with no involvement from us at all - including sending anyone round to look at it - then that must be a smart meter as well - even though it doesn't have a the bit that the customer can see.
Never seen anyone screaming about the water meter being a problem though!
but it doesn't use the home network in anyway - it has its own system
and as an addendum - I have no idea how our water meter gets its reading to the water company - but as they seem to get reading with no involvement from us at all - including sending anyone round to look at it - then that must be a smart meter as well - even though it doesn't have a the bit that the customer can see.
Never seen anyone screaming about the water meter being a problem though!
- Location
- London
With respect it is not a conspiracy theory at all.
I am not suggesting that the government, putin or some dark global force is behind the things.
I am not on facebook.
I do not embrace ALL tech just for the sake of it - it's there to be used appropriately and according to need. This strikes me as an entirely sensible and reasonable position. Some tech I use, others not - a fair old chance that I was sending data messages and docs remotely well before you realised it was possible - definitely well before the vast vast majority of the population.
Fine by me if you have a different position.
For all I know there are other companies as useless as British Gas - npower was definitely one.
By reading my own meter i create a nice simple non-tech buffer between myself and potential hassle.
- Location
- London
I don't think that.
I sleep easy.
It sounds more like a bloke in a pub has been overheard saying "those smart meters, insecure they are mate".
I'm still waiting for someone to post a plausible scenario that exploits smart meters.
- Location
- London
that's what all those foxes are doing wandering around at night.
- Location
- London
just chill.
I am.
