FAQ Billing Issues Stop Smart Meters   BACK TO FAQ INDEXQ Is it true that your bill goes up after getting a smart meter Many people have experienced hikes in their utility bill after a smart meter was installed. A recent survey published on EMFSafety. Network. org documented how many people have received higher billsover one third of those surveyed. Heres another account of the overbilling issues. Heres another article. Smart Grid Meter Hacking: Full Version Software' title='Smart Grid Meter Hacking: Full Version Software' />Q My bills have shot up since the installation of the smart meter. My utility tells me its because I am using more electricity. But weve lived in the same house for many years, and our usage is very stable. I think theyre wrong. What can I do Document your usage from the past to show how unusual the bills are after installation of the smart meter. Latest trending topics being covered on ZDNet including Reviews, Tech Industry, Security, Hardware, Apple, and Windows. Ask for an energy audit from your utility to help demonstrate how the new meter is not reflecting your actual usage. Consider enlisting the help of an electrician to help you trace the source of the higher bills to the meter. They have devices to measure usages, so that you have another source of data to counter the utilitys assertion that there is nothing wrong with their meter. Q Why is my bill higher now with a smart meter Overbilling that occurs after smart meter installation is an unsolved mystery. Utilities will tell you that you are using more, or that its been an unusually hot or cold monthwhatever it is, according to them, the problem is NOT with their brand new, untested, strange RF emitting device which itself uses electricity  that you pay for. The problem must be YOU, they say. We have only heard of a very few cases of a utility refunding money due to overbilling. Nick Douglas. Staff Writer, Lifehacker Nick has been writing online for 11 years at sites like Urlesque, Gawker, the Daily Dot, and Slacktory. Is it true that you bill goes up after getting a smart meter My bills have shot up since the installation of the smart meter. My utility tells me its. Two scientists in California worked hard for a long time, and got 1. CPUC. The utilities have little reason to care about you getting overbilled with lax oversight like that and no threat of fines or punishment for them. So, we dont know why it happens, but clearly higher bills are one of the things some customers suffer after installation. A recent poll revealed that about one third of people who had smart meters installed had experienced bill increases and one quarter of those had had bills doubled, tripled, or more. Document your historical usage, and then call, email and write letters to your utility. Its clear that some meters are defective, and they seem in no rush to ferret out which ones. Medieval 2 Mod Broken Crescent 2.3. Make them demonstrate that your meter is not to blame. Call local media that deal with consumer issues, such as consumer hotlines of local TV stations. Q What can I do to bring down my utility bill If youve addressed the above possibility that it is your smart meter itself that is to blame, you can think about ways to cut your usage. Saving energy is not a difficult thing to learn, and certainly doesnt require a smart meter, special software, or hourly data It does need some awareness and willingness to change. Learn to read your meter. The no tech way to do it read the tag or sticker on appliances to find out what the electrical usage draw is. Look for how many watts a device uses. For example, your blowdryer a big draw might say 1. W on the side, your crock pot a low draw might say 1. W on the bottom. Cut down your use of high draw appliances. Electric clothes dryers and air conditioners are two big energy hogs. All around the world people are reporting wireless is affecting their health. Weve collected many smart meter health complaints and posted them here. A TrendLabs Research aper Securing Smart Cities Moving Toward Utopia with Security in Mind Philippe Lin, Dr. Morton Swimmer, Akira Urano, Stephen Hilt, and Rainer. Line drying clothes is one easy way to shave off a chunk of your electric bill. Some appliances require a little multiplication. Your vacuum cleaner or dishwasher might only give other numbers, because their draw is variable during usage. Find the V or volts, and the A or amps. Multiply these to get an approximation of the watts. My vacuum, for instance, says 1. V and 1. 2. 0. A. That makes 1. 44. Knowing which items in your house draw a lot of electricity and which dont, you can change or reduce your own usage. When you go to replace an appliance, look for the Energy Star rating to see how efficient it is. Choosing a smaller fridge or a HE high efficiency washer are two changes that can help when its time to replace your old ones. Although there has been a big push by utilities and governments to use compact fluorescent bulbs, these have serious health and environmental risks of their own they contain mercury and other toxic substances and emit high levels of electromagnetic radiation. We recommend LED bulbs if you can afford them, or use incandescent bulbs, turn them off when you leave the room, and go to sleep with the sun A higher tech way to do it Get a Kill A Watt device 2. You can directly see how much an appliance is using. Further up the tech spectrum is software that monitors various aspects of home energy usage. Saving on your gas bill is usually simpler. The appliances using gas are often fewer in numberperhaps just the water heater, central heating, and the stove. Turn the water heater temperature down but keep above 6. Celsius 1. 40 degrees Fahrenheit to protect against risk of Legionnaires disease. Insulate if you havent already. Get a free energy audit from your utility if they offer it just dont let them slap on a smart meter while theyre in your home. And install a programmable central heating thermostat 3. This type of thermostat automatically turns down your heat during certain hours, so you dont have to remember to. All these low tech and no tech ways to save energy show up the smart meter for what it really isa way for your utility to fire meter readers and to squeeze more money out of youNOT a way to cut down on energy usage. The smart meter program is costing ratepayers billions of dollarsif just a tiny fraction of that had gone toward customer education and efficiency improvements, there would be REAL energy savings, and REAL cuts in climate pollution Also, see the section in Links on saving electricity. BACK TO FAQ INDEX.