Re: energy in UK

On Fri, 18 Apr 2025 09:19:54 +0100, Martin Brown
<'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:

On 18/04/2025 01:26, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2025-04-17 23:11, Don Y wrote:

On 4/17/2025 1:44 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

Probably all of Spain has smart meters now. But the reason was,
AFAIK, that here the contract limits the current you can draw. For
instance, a contract can say that you can draw 15A (3450W). The meter
has the ability to switch off when you try to draw 16A for a time.

>
Wow!  Now THAT is interesting.  Here, the size of your service (ampacity)
effectively determines what you can use -- that, and your wallet.

 
I think that is an Spanish only feature.

>
ISTR Italy and to some extent Japan have similar rules. When I lived in
Japan only the aircon had a really juicy 240v supply. The domestic ring
main 100v could not support for example a 3kW kettle. They had special
slow electric kettles come thermos flasks to have boiling water on tap.
>
You also had to be careful not to run the aircon at full pelt and the
washing machine at the same time or the circuit breaker would trip.

 
They charge us for the watts we actually take, and also a fixed monthly
amount for the size of the pipe. Meaning, if we contract for a maximum
of 15A, we pay for that, €/month. If we contract 30A, we pay double
fixed amount per month. And the smart meter controls that we don't
contract 20 and take 21.

>
In the UK it is done by size of fuse into the home. You can overload the
circuit a fair bit without blowing the fuse but it is expensive if you
do since the electricity company has to come out and do the bonded
repair. There are lead seals on the fuse connecting to incoming mains.
>
A few homes last rewired in the 1950's are still on 40A, most are on 60A
or now 100A circuits. You pay for what you use. A few tariffs have a
higher price for going beyond a certain amount for high use premises.
>
Local mains supply here had to be reinforced a couple of years back to
support then PM Rishi Sunak's luxury heated swimming pool (he paid for
the network upgrade himself). Wife is fabulously rich.
>
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/mar/12/rishi-sunak-has-electricity-grid-upgraded-to-heat-his-private-pool
>
Where I live in a rural backwater the mains is actually more like US
style two phase and neutral rather than normal UK 3 phase. This is a
sore point with businesses that would like to use 3 phase equipment.
Each village is across one pair of the 3 phase distribution line with a
transformer ratio to give 240v output.

The "US style two phase and neutral" is not actually two phases (at 90
degrees), it's single phase from a center-tapped transformer, with the
center tap grounded to neutral (white wire in US).  This is not the
safety ground (green wire in US).

If I understand, Australia uses a corner-neutral 3-wire 3-phase
distribution system, at least in rural areas.

So people try to contract the minimum they actually need.
 

Previously, al houses had a limiter switch with a lead seal. People
managed to bypass that switch. By passing the meter is harder, I have
not seen it done.

>
Traditional way in the UK is a copper nail through the cables on the
wrong side of the meter. A method beloved of illegal cannabis farms.

Yes.  There are two reasons.  The first is of course to reduce the
electric bill.  But far more important is to prevent detection by
looking for unusually high electric bills.

Ammonium Nitrate fertilizer sales are monitored for a similar reason.

Joe Gwinn