Re: energy in UK

Carlos E.R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> 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.
 
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.
 
So people try to contract the minimum they actually need.

[...]

Is there some time-averaging provision for high start-up transients,
such as motors would need?

Is the metering based on wattage or current? 

The current draw of a multiple lighting installation in a shop may be
capacitive or the motors in a small workshop would be inductive and this
would determine the size of cables needed, so current-based netering
would make sense for that purpose.  The current wouldn't be
representative of the energy used, so wattage-based metering would make
sense for energy-consumption billing purposes.


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~ Liz Tuddenham ~
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