Get Smart… Meter!
Living in Dundas, we are one of only a few neighbourhoods covered by our utility company, Horizon Utilities (serving all of Hamilton and St. Catharines, Ontario) that will get Time-of-Use billing on our electricity use starting in Jan. 2010.
(Full disclosure: I have recently been contracted by Horizon Utilities to assist with a project.)
To make that work, our utility has installed a Smart Meter at the front of our home, next to the garage, where the old “dumb” meter used to sit. (This is a photo of our own smart meter.)
Our smart meter (i.e. digital) records our total electricity consumption hour by hour, and sends that information to Horizon Utilities through a wireless connection. How cool is that?!
Our former “dumb” meter – an electromechanical device – required a meter reader to come to our home and read the dials to capture our energy usage information. Now it’s automated (though I feel badly for the meter reader who lost his/her job.)
Once Time of Use billing kicks in – Jan. 2010 – this is how we’ll pay:
- More money for electricity used during peak hours
- Less money for off-hour use (9 p.m. to 7 a.m.)
We are an early adopter of the smart meter (not by choice, it was our utility’s decision) but by the end of 2010, EVERY home and business in Ontario will have a smart meter, as mandated by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.
Smart idea – now we just have to hope that consumers – including us! – will check their TOU billing to adjust their electricity use accordingly for savings. (And, in the process, help reduce the pressure on the energy grid to use ‘dirty’ sources of energy.)
Bill
17 Oct, 2009
This blog is a brilliant idea and I’ll be following along as we have a 50-year-old house with the original windows, and lots of leaks, I’m certain. So I expect to be using your advice soon.
Heather
17 Oct, 2009
Hi Bill
I am glad to hear it’s struck a chord with you; I know others also starting to sit up and pay attention to this eco-renovation stuff.
Are you in Ontario, and so entitled to the same rebates as me, i.e. up to $10,000 as long as we do it in time?
Sandy Manners-Horizon Utilities
21 Nov, 2009
Hi Heather,
Have you been online yet on the Horizon Utilities website to see the data your smart meter has been transmitting? Although you are not yet on Time-of-Use billing, you will be able to see how much electricity your household uses during on-peak, mid-peak and off-peak time periods. Most customers are fascinated to see how much power their home uses when everyone is asleep and everything is supposedly turned off. In most homes that “phantom power” is responsible for about 10% of your household’s electricity bill!
Sandy from Horizon Utilities
Heather
22 Nov, 2009
Great to hear from someone at my utility company! I have blogged about “phantom power,” http://www.ecorenovate.ca/2009/10/31/phantom-power-ooooh-scaaary/
But I haven’t taken the next step to see how much electricity my family uses while we sleep. I am going to check that out on your website; thanks for the tip.