Several months ago PG&E installed a smart meter at my place. This has been a big controversy in California with customers complaining of their bills skyrocketing after the meters were installed. It appears that in some cases, the meters were inaccurately counting heavy usage where there wasn't any. Also they seem to interfere with things like radios & baby monitors.
I'm happy to say that mine hasn't done any of that. my bill hasn't changed at all. Plus I get to log on to my account & see what my usage is. This is good. Of course they say see when you use the most & change your ways. Well, what I see is what I would expect.
What I mean is that the two times that my usage escalates quite a lot is exactly when I already knew it would. Sunday afternoons & Wednesday afternoons. Why? Because those are the two times during the week that I do laundry. That's right. When I run the washing machine & the dryer. And yes. The chart online shows heavier usage on Sunday. That's because I have more to dry. Meaning on Sunday I run the dryer 2 times to dry everything while on Wednesday I have less, therefore I only run the dryer once.
And the other time it's high is after 6PM. Hmmm. Dinner anyone? But only at the beginning of the week, because that's when I use the oven. Since I get home after 7 on work days, I only use the microwave, & that shows.
Now other people can use this chart to actually change the way they do things, so that's good. It doesn't effect me too much. Now when winter comes & I start using my furnace, then maybe I can try something different. But for now I have to say that i am glad the smart meter hasn't killed me with jacked up prices.
I'm happy to say that mine hasn't done any of that. my bill hasn't changed at all. Plus I get to log on to my account & see what my usage is. This is good. Of course they say see when you use the most & change your ways. Well, what I see is what I would expect.
What I mean is that the two times that my usage escalates quite a lot is exactly when I already knew it would. Sunday afternoons & Wednesday afternoons. Why? Because those are the two times during the week that I do laundry. That's right. When I run the washing machine & the dryer. And yes. The chart online shows heavier usage on Sunday. That's because I have more to dry. Meaning on Sunday I run the dryer 2 times to dry everything while on Wednesday I have less, therefore I only run the dryer once.
And the other time it's high is after 6PM. Hmmm. Dinner anyone? But only at the beginning of the week, because that's when I use the oven. Since I get home after 7 on work days, I only use the microwave, & that shows.
Now other people can use this chart to actually change the way they do things, so that's good. It doesn't effect me too much. Now when winter comes & I start using my furnace, then maybe I can try something different. But for now I have to say that i am glad the smart meter hasn't killed me with jacked up prices.
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