Posted on 06/24/2011 10:23:26 PM PDT by smokingfrog
HOUSTON -- After KHOU 11 News aired the story of a man who said a smart meter installation ruined his AC, many people have come forward to share similar stories.
It's been a long couple of weeks for a Sugar Land man who only wants to be identified as Mike. "This is basically the first thing I noticed. Just trouble," he said.
He said first it was the alarm, but things just keep going wrong, next was the thermostat.
“Just all screwed up. Scrambled up," Mike said.
It was like a laundry list of home appliance disaster. He said his modem and computer were also malfunctioning. There was one thing in common with all of it.
"It's just been one appliance after another, and it has all been since the smart meter has been here," Mike said.
Mike is not alone, Zach Foster said that a smart meter installation caused his AC unit to fail -- specifically the start capacitor.
Mike said he has an AC problem too.
“Four or five years old, should not have been bad, had to replace both the starters on the compressor and the fan," he said.
One commenter on KHOU.com could sympathize:
“I have had to replace the circuit boards on three appliances and a printer all less than three years old. This has cost over $1,500 so far."
Another Centerpoint customer complained online, saying, "I cannot even turn on my air conditioner since the power flow is not reliable."
Centerpoint says that there have been about 500 complaints about smart meter installations here -- that's with 1.3 million installations so far.
There have been complaints about smart meters and appliance outages in North Carolina, California, Illinois, Florida, Virginia, Maine, and Texas.
(Excerpt) Read more at khou.com ...
Buying electricity is a privilege!
bump for later
My totally automatic whole house generator runs off my own free NG. Lucky here. And thankful.
Yeah, some folks around here have that setup, too. Do you sell of some to a gas company or are totally off the pipelines? Do you have a problem with salt messing up your heating system or do you filter it?
BTW, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want certain people to know. ;-)
It sounds like some of these “smart meters” have a manufacturing defect. It would be interesting to find out who made them. (Probably made in China for GE). I know that some utility companies got stimulus money to help them develop the “smart grid.”
Here’s something else that is interesting.
http://eon3emfblog.net/?p=2180
On examination of typical meters, including ABB, GE, and Landis Gyr, they report that, in addition to its RF transmitter, each wireless digital meter also has a component called the ‘switching-mode power supply’ (SMPS) – switching power supply for short. Its function is to ‘step down’ the 240v alternating current (AC) coming in from the utility pole power lines to the 2 to 10 volts of direct current (DC) required to run the meter’s digital electronics which record the electricity usage data.
The SMPS function emits sharp spikes of millisecond bursts constantly, 24/7. The SMPS on the OWS 514 NIC model, for instance, which is the smart meter model widely installed by PG&E throughout its territory, has been measured to emit spikes of up to 50,000 hz and higher. This constant pulsing of high frequencies, in addition to the RF function, is causing not only interference with other electric and electronic equipment in many homes with smart meters installed, but also is causing havoc with biological systems in its field of exposure. (see wikipedia and Prevention Magazine articles below)
Dirty Electricity
When current flows through the wiring of a building it generates a surrounding electro-magnetic field that radiates outward all around the wires at right angles to the direction of the current’s flow and reaches out into the room.
It is well known that switching power supplies can generate spikes of so-called electromagnetic interference (EMI), or high frequency transients, which then travel along the wiring in the walls, radiating outward in the wiring’s electromagnetic field.
Such spikes are known as ‘dirty electricity’ and can be conducted to a human body that is within the range of the radiating field. This function is on all smart meters used by all utilities and is on constantly, 24/7.
[For more on dirty electricity check out Dr. Sam Milham’s website and his new book, DIRTY ELECTRICITY: Electrification and the Diseases of Civilization and watch this blog for our in depth interview with Dr. Milham - coming soon. ]
One of the engineers explains it this way:
“Extensive measurements have demonstrated that all of the meters measured so far, including ABB, GE, and Landis Gyr, emit noise on the customer’s electric wiring in the form of high frequency voltage spikes, typically with an amplitude of 2 volts, but a frequency anywhere from 4,000 Hertz, up to 60,000 Hz. The actual frequency of the phenomena is influenced by the devices that are plugged into the customer’s power. Some houses are much worse than others, and this observation has been confirmed by PG&E installers that have talked to us.”
In other electrical news:
Power-grid experiment could confuse electric clocks
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2739718/posts
Check the foreheads authors of those scary biological effect rumors. They’re either very high, or they slope backward at an alarming angle.
Some of that stuff does seem to be a bit over the top. (and they’re trying to sell something)
I guess that would depend on if your electric company is a monopoly or an open market. Without competition and with certain companies (ie. Duke Power) fighting little independent start ups.....then it should absolutely be voluntary. If we have a choice of companies in a country which electricity is the norm and we pay for it...then we get to choose.
What if "they" decide I'm getting some A/C and no more and base their decision on special meters, I have Multiple Sclerosis and live in the Great Hot State of Texas. If I get overheated, (which doesn't' take much) my MS throws me all kinds of exacerbations (some of them I never "recover" from - mentally "cognitively" - and physical (a period of time I lost right eye total blindness for several weeks) - exacerbations can be a bitch.
I'm guessing a note from my neurologist will be useless. I have to get a note from neurologist if I have to fly because I need daily injections and airlines get a little jumpy when one carries syringes.
If you do have a smart meter, be sure to contact the utility company and tell them about any special needs you might have. Some smart meters are more sophisticated than others, and I think they might be able to still keep your meter turned on if they need to shut down power within the neighborhood for some reason.
Having a backup generator would probably be a good idea as well, if you can afford it.
LOL, nope, all legal. There were fires in my front yard from gas leaks. I have no idea how it ignited. ;-) There were other leaks, and the gas company offered my free gas, primarily I think because I never sued them.
No problems with salt, knock on wood.
The only thing “smart” about these new meters is how the wire companies in ERCOT conned the PUCT to have the homeowners pay for them.
The wire companies save enough by getting rid of their meter readers to pay the cost of the meter.
They also got stimulus money to pay for the meters. What do you want to bet the companies that make the meters are dem supporters?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.