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Smart Meters Can They Save You Money?

Well it is down to the crunch for us in Ontario big brother is going to monitor when we use our power and has some nice special rates for us in store.

The idea as far as I know driving this project which is costing the taxpayers millions across the province is to reduce the demand on our electrical grid.

With Nuclear stations needing repairs and upgrades I can see the need to reduce usage. I am just not convinced this was a great path to take to get to that end.

For those who do not know of this technology I will give a basic outline.

It should be called time of use not smart meter at all this idea is old as the moon and is used in may countries. The meter have several different buckets into which it stores the amount of energy used based on the time of day. The meters then by one means or another transmit that data back to a central computer on a daily biases or even more frequently.

Her is an example of the billing rates from Oakville Ontario.

RESIDENTIAL kWh ENERGY USAGE RATE (Current rates changed annually based on previous years spot market prices.)

Conventional Meter
Residential Consumers

(May 1, 2009 to October 31, 2009)
First 600kWh $0.057/kWh
Balance kWh $0.066/kWh

(November 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009)
First 1000kWh $0.056/kWh
Balance kWh $0.065/kWh

Interval Meters (Smart-Meters)



Time-of-Use Price


Weekends & Holidays


All Day

Off-Peak $0.042/kWh


Summer Weekdays


(May 1, 2009 to October 31, 2009)

7 am to 11 am
Mid-peak $0.076/kWh

11 am to 5 pm
On-peak $0.091/kWh

5 pm to 10 pm
Mid-peak $0.076/kWh

10 pm to 7 am
Off-peak $0.042/kWh


Winter Weekdays

(November 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009)



7 am to 11 am
On-peak $0.088/kWh

11 am to 5 pm
Mid-peak $0.072/kWh

5 pm to 8 pm
On-peak $0.088/kWh

8 pm to 10 pm
Mid-peak $0.072/kWh

10 pm to 7 am
Off-peak $0.040/kWh


So Basically the smart meter is smart as it can dump the usage into different rate brackets based on time of day.

The rumor that one can save moneis on the rate by using every on the off time is out there being propiganded by the government. I ask you to look at the rates think about what you use in your home adn aask questions here and we all can work towards some resonable thngs we can do to off set the shoulder and peak rates.

I personally can not see much room for savings for the average person. I do foresee a 10 to 30 % increase in the energy charges on their electrical billing.

I do know a bit about this metering system and such and would be glad to answer questions openly and honestly with no political agenda in mind.

Just a bit to think about.

Money Save They Meters Smart

I have one of these new smart meters on my gas line. I recently installed a programmable thermostat. I looked at my last year usage and this years usage to find that I have saved some serious money so far. I do not know if I will get a smart meter on my electrical grid.

Smart Meters Can They Save You Money? History & Civil Business Politics

Yes programmable thermostats are a great saver. I believe it is in the range of 10% per degree you set back when asleep or away.

I think any one with an electric hot water tank would benefit from a similar strategy of have a large tank charging it over night and shutting it off during peak and shoulder rate times.

Only problem I have is, already I have done all the right things and now and getting a kick in the [huh?] because of those who do not conserve where they could.

Timers are awesome on pool pumps also.