smart meter data

[gar]

131007-1059 EDT

I have previously indicated I am studying smart meter data. At my website page http://beta-a2.com/energy_c.html I have presently displayed two plots or graphs from my DTE Smart Meter.

I would like to see data from others with different lifestyles. I mostly work in my basement with lights and equipment on about 16 hours per day, and this increases my mid-day average usage. Also some equipment is on 24 hours per day. I have presently cut my daily usage from about 40 kWh to about 20 kWh. However, it won't stay at 20.

If in your home there is no one around during the day, then your usage will probably peak in the morning, drop to a sleep time level, and peak again in the evening. The evening period probably will be longer than the morning time.

If you do a Google search with --- DTE smart meter --- or some other power company, and possibly one or two other modifier words there will be a preponderance of hits on sites expressing opposition to smart meters. Some of the individual single additional test words I use are: data, plot, graph, reduce, energy, website, procedures, reading, getting, resolution, granularity, information, power, fraud, and scam.

There is practically no support or honest discussion about these meters. It is amazing the erroneous logic and ignorance expressed by so many of the commentators.

In one Google result the claim was made that the power density was 0.2 mW/sq-cm at a 3 ft distance from the meter. If we assume an isotropic radiator, then this means a transmitter output power of:

Surface area of a sphere is 4*Pi*r^2.
3 ft = 36*2.54 = 91.44 cm
r^2 = 8361
area = 4*Pi*8361 = 105,071 sq-cm.

For 0.2 mW / sq-cm this means that the source transmitted power has to be
0.2*105 = 21 W.
That size transmitter can not be packaged into the space of the smart meter. Suppose the antenna is fairly directional, then the transmitter power would be lower, but also the energy density would be less at 3 ft in directions that are off of the main beam path.

Even if the power density was 0.2 mW/sq-cm what would that do to a human, and it is not continuous. In my opinion most of the arguments are not valid, just hysteria.

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[Ragin Cajun]

gar,

How did you get the data for the graphs from the power coompany meter?

I have some brand of smart meters on my home (2) and such data would be nice to have.

BTW, I am on Duke Energy in SC.


Thanks,

RC

 

[gar]

131007-1235 EDT

Ragin:

Each DTE customer has available their account information on the DTE website.

Once signed in I select "Analyze my bills", "When does my home use energy", and "Energy use analysis". At this point 5 classes of graphs are available.

Call your power company and find out what is on their website and how to access the data. This may be difficult. You will have to find the correct person to talk to.

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[K8MHZ]

Gar,

I just sent an e-mail to a GE meter applications engineer about the transmitter power used in the meters.

If I get an answer I will post it here.

 

[gar]

131007-2049 EDT

The following site has useful information on RF power levels, power density, duty cycle, radiation patterns, and attenuation.

http://www.dteenergy.com/pdfs/smartMeterWhitePaper.pdf

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[GoldDigger]

131007-2049 EDT

The following site has useful information on RF power levels, power density, duty cycle, radiation patterns, and attenuation.

http://www.dteenergy.com/pdfs/smartMeterWhitePaper.pdf

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There is one statement in White Paper that I find somewhat misleading (and a whole lot more that I did not evaluate at all, so this is not a quality metric.)

It notes that the RF energy density falls off as the inverse of the distance from the meter squared. Perfectly good physics.
It then notes that for multiple meter arrays (if they all transmit simultaneously, which is not likely to happen) the energy density falls off more slowly, just inversely to the distance.

The details are more complicated than that:

1. Once you get five or so times the largest dimension of the meter array away from the array (far field region), it gets back to an inverse square dependency. But the base level will be higher because the array of meters will act sort of like a directional antenna.
2. While you are within the near field of a linear array of meters, the energy density decreases as the inverse of the distance.
3. While you are within the near field of a square array of meters, the energy density does not decrease with distance at all.

And please, no "meters squared" jokes are called for.

 

[gar]

131008-1059 EDT

As one changes the beam shape from an isotropic radiator (square-law effect) to a perfectly collimated beam with no losses there is a gradual change in the function of power density to distance. So the statements about power density around a meter require some definition of the radiation pattern. The white paper gave a qualitative discussion on this.

The moderate number of people that are in opposition to smart meters on the basis of radiated energy need to be subjected to psychophysical tests to evaluate at what signal level they can detect radiation. There could be some people that are electro-sensitive, this can not be ruled out, but I believe virtually all of the reported problems are based on suggestion rather than actual sensitivity. In other words they possibly are psychosomatic problems.

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[GoldDigger]

131008-1059 EDT

As one changes the beam shape from an isotropic radiator (square-law effect) to a perfectly collimated beam with no losses there is a gradual change in the function of power density to distance. So the statements about power density around a meter require some definition of the radiation pattern. The white paper gave a qualitative discussion on this.

The moderate number of people that are in opposition to smart meters on the basis of radiated energy need to be subjected to psychophysical tests to evaluate at what signal level they can detect radiation. There could be some people that are electro-sensitive, this can not be ruled out, but I believe virtually all of the reported problems are based on suggestion rather than actual sensitivity. In other words they possibly are psychosomatic problems.

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In many cases I would call them psycho-ceramic, but not to their face.

 

[K8MHZ]

131007-2049 EDT

The following site has useful information on RF power levels, power density, duty cycle, radiation patterns, and attenuation.

http://www.dteenergy.com/pdfs/smartMeterWhitePaper.pdf

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Great link, thanks!

So a typical meter has a 1/4 watt transmitter on 915 MHz with less than a 1 percent duty cycle.

People are in much stronger RF fields every day and I'll bet they don't even notice it. Some cars have so much RF hash it makes operating 2 way radios very difficult. And that is blasting at you the entire time you are in the car with the engine running. I'll bet you can't find a single radio operator that has even heard a transmission from a smart meter, let alone one having a signal so strong it interferes with the radio.

I have a radio that will tune to 915. I'll set it on the counter which is about 3 feet from the meter and check to see if I can even detect the RF using a radio.

 

[K8MHZ]

From Wiki:

The majority of provocation trials to date have found that self-described sufferers of electromagnetic hypersensitivity are unable to distinguish between exposure to real and fake electromagnetic fields,^[2][3] and it is not recognized as a medical condition by the medical or scientific communities. Since a systematic review in 2005 showing no convincing scientific evidence for it being caused by electromagnetic fields,^[2] several double-blind experiments have been published, each of which has suggested that people who report electromagnetic hypersensitivity are unable to detect the presence of electromagnetic fields and are as likely to report ill health following a sham exposure, as they are following exposure to genuine electromagnetic fields.^[4][5][6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrosensitivity