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Re:Why are UK electricity bills so expensive? by gnrl on Friday December 20, 2024 @12:21PM (#42472934)
What's the reason to avoid smart meters?
Re:Why are UK electricity bills so expensive? by oceanplexian on Friday December 20, 2024 @01:30PM (#42473482)
The security is broken and it broadcasts your information in the clear. I set up a RTLSDR plugged into my laptop in my kitchen and was able to read the energy utilization of my entire neighborhood after about 10min of work.
Re:Why are UK electricity bills so expensive? by KaiserPro on Friday December 20, 2024 @02:29PM (#42474127)
> The security is broken and it broadcasts your information in the clear. I set up a RTLSDR plugged into my laptop in my kitchen and was able to read the energy utilization of my entire neighborhood after about 10min of work.

In America, yes. Here the meter->gateway is encrypted zigbee, the gateway is over 3/4g.

However the remote contactor is more of an issue. You can be turned off remotely without much ceremony.

Re:Why are UK electricity bills so expensive? by dfawcus on Friday December 20, 2024 @04:36PM (#42475300)
Where does "here" mean.

In the UK only "central" England and south transmits data over the mobile network. In northern England and Scotland, the data is transmitted over UHF radio.

Re:Why are UK electricity bills so expensive? by KaiserPro on Friday December 20, 2024 @05:38PM (#42475805)
Sorry yes, I should have been more specific. The important thing is that it is reasonably well encrypted. Its not like the USA where they just yeet it in the clear for all to see.

The downside is that the non cellular backhaul is provided by arquiva, who are shits.

Re:Why are UK electricity bills so expensive? by benj111 on Friday December 20, 2024 @01:57PM (#42473776)
what information is it actually leaking though?

If someone wanted, they could drive up to my house and see the colour of my door. The fact that someone has always been able to create a database of front door colours isn't inherently a data leak.

A UUID and electricity usage for the past half hour for a house in the general vicinity isn't useful. Even if you could put a name to that UUID, I struggle to think of how that would be a major issue. Especially considering with a thermal camera, and assuming construction details from the age and type of the house, you could already estimate your neighbours energy usage anyway.

Remote shutoff on the other hand....

Re:Why are UK electricity bills so expensive? by krisoft on Friday December 20, 2024 @02:19PM (#42474016)
Could you perhaps use it to monitor which houses are unoccupied?
Re:Why are UK electricity bills so expensive? by dfawcus on Friday December 20, 2024 @04:34PM (#42475276)
Because they're designed for demand side load shedding.

Also to enable "surge pricing" such that folks ration of disconnect themselves, rather than pay the surge price.

Other than that, they don't really have a benefit for the user, the details one variable use could simply be monitored by manual reading on a weekly basis.

Re:Why are UK electricity bills so expensive? by lizzas on Saturday December 21, 2024 @04:01AM (#42478384)
Get a solar system and it can run the meter in reverse. Which is cool!