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MacDisein30 Dec 2012 17:46Hello,
I am new here and would like to ask my first question.
I am planning to build a single-family house next year. At the moment, I am trying to get an overview of the options offered by the different trades.
Since I work as a software developer, I am naturally interested in technology, and I have been looking into bus systems. After some research, including here on the forum, I have concluded that it probably isn’t worth it, as such a system would simply be underutilized.
For example, during the Christmas season in my current apartment, it annoys me that I can’t control the Christmas lights with a central switch—but for the four or five weeks when this matters, the effort is too much for me.
It would certainly be appealing to control any lamp or outlet with any switch, but usually you set it up once as you want it and don’t change it later.
Now I have been looking into smart metering, that is, the electronic monitoring of utility meters. This topic interests me a lot. For my new build, I would like to have monitoring for electricity, gas, and water meters.
There seem to be different options for this—I would prefer a connection via Ethernet. Essentially, it is important just to read the values via software on a PC.
Has anyone done this, especially for gas and water meters?
I’m not sure what my utility providers would say if I don’t use their meters, or if that even poses any issues.
Or do I always need a meter from the utility provider and then just connect my smart meter behind it?
I have read a bit about KNX FacilityWeb, which apparently are devices that have a KNX bus but each with their own web server. This could be a possible way. Ideally, I want a fairly integrated solution, not some patchwork arrangement where a scanning module is just clipped onto the existing meter. Or is this the only option because utility companies won’t cooperate otherwise?
What other systems would you recommend?
I also have no idea how much a standard electricity, gas, or water meter costs compared to a smart meter—maybe such an effort isn’t worthwhile in this case after all.
MacDisein
I am new here and would like to ask my first question.
I am planning to build a single-family house next year. At the moment, I am trying to get an overview of the options offered by the different trades.
Since I work as a software developer, I am naturally interested in technology, and I have been looking into bus systems. After some research, including here on the forum, I have concluded that it probably isn’t worth it, as such a system would simply be underutilized.
For example, during the Christmas season in my current apartment, it annoys me that I can’t control the Christmas lights with a central switch—but for the four or five weeks when this matters, the effort is too much for me.
It would certainly be appealing to control any lamp or outlet with any switch, but usually you set it up once as you want it and don’t change it later.
Now I have been looking into smart metering, that is, the electronic monitoring of utility meters. This topic interests me a lot. For my new build, I would like to have monitoring for electricity, gas, and water meters.
There seem to be different options for this—I would prefer a connection via Ethernet. Essentially, it is important just to read the values via software on a PC.
Has anyone done this, especially for gas and water meters?
I’m not sure what my utility providers would say if I don’t use their meters, or if that even poses any issues.
Or do I always need a meter from the utility provider and then just connect my smart meter behind it?
I have read a bit about KNX FacilityWeb, which apparently are devices that have a KNX bus but each with their own web server. This could be a possible way. Ideally, I want a fairly integrated solution, not some patchwork arrangement where a scanning module is just clipped onto the existing meter. Or is this the only option because utility companies won’t cooperate otherwise?
What other systems would you recommend?
I also have no idea how much a standard electricity, gas, or water meter costs compared to a smart meter—maybe such an effort isn’t worthwhile in this case after all.
MacDisein
As a software developer, this topic should not fascinate you, but rather shock you. 😀
I have tried everything to prevent a smart meter, but unfortunately, you are powerless against the power companies. Am I paranoid? Maybe a little. I work professionally in pattern recognition and understand the power that a smart meter holds. It is possible to create detailed habit profiles of a family based on consumption behavior, even down to which TV program is being watched. A nice way for power companies to make some extra money on the side by selling this data to industry. Many smart meters can transmit data almost in real time. This way, your home becomes transparent.
You probably won’t be able to read the device yourself—I HOPE. Because if you can, so can anyone else. Hopefully, it transmits over a secure connection with a closed port. But security costs money, so the electricity price might go up a bit. After all, it is in our interest that the data is secure. You can read the devices’ data via special websites, which you would either need to crawl or that might offer a web service. Honestly, I don’t believe that will be freely available.
I have tried everything to prevent a smart meter, but unfortunately, you are powerless against the power companies. Am I paranoid? Maybe a little. I work professionally in pattern recognition and understand the power that a smart meter holds. It is possible to create detailed habit profiles of a family based on consumption behavior, even down to which TV program is being watched. A nice way for power companies to make some extra money on the side by selling this data to industry. Many smart meters can transmit data almost in real time. This way, your home becomes transparent.
You probably won’t be able to read the device yourself—I HOPE. Because if you can, so can anyone else. Hopefully, it transmits over a secure connection with a closed port. But security costs money, so the electricity price might go up a bit. After all, it is in our interest that the data is secure. You can read the devices’ data via special websites, which you would either need to crawl or that might offer a web service. Honestly, I don’t believe that will be freely available.
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MacDisein30 Dec 2012 19:30I am not interested in smart meters that send their data to the energy supplier, but rather a solution that allows me to analyze and monitor consumption values within my own intranet.
That said, I must also say that I’m not overly paranoid; some things can be seen as too critical. We leave traces everywhere, and I don’t see such a great risk in this.
That said, I must also say that I’m not overly paranoid; some things can be seen as too critical. We leave traces everywhere, and I don’t see such a great risk in this.
Then the answer is as already mentioned. If anything, you will only be able to access it through the web interface. I highly doubt that the end user is allowed to access the Ethernet port, let alone that I would connect this thing to my router 😀 That would mean I’d have to keep it on all the time.
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MacDisein2 Jan 2013 19:45As I mentioned above, my concern is not necessarily a meter from the energy supplier, but rather a solution that can be accessed via LAN.
Thank you anyway for your answers.
Thank you anyway for your answers.
It has already been mentioned that you will usually access it through some kind of web interface; ideally only with a proprietary device from the utility provider, which will cost several hundred euros. Unfortunately, studies in recent years have shown (I’m too lazy to look up the references) that the promised energy savings for the customer are quite limited. Instead, the utility gains huge advantages by being able to analyze your data. I personally participated in a research project where one of the key concepts was "dynamic pricing" related to specific times of the day. In short, this means that to make it "better" for the customer, prices vary throughout the day: highest during peak hours and lowest at night (even worse and more complicated: peak times are dynamically determined and prices are adjusted even more dynamically, based on supply and demand). Realistically, some consumers may benefit occasionally, but in the end, only one side wins...