I was alerted to this issue by my tenant, who called because there is no hot water, for the second time this month. The first time, we called out a plumber, who told us it was a thermostat, so we then called an electrician, who told us, oh, don't bother, it is shut off centrally, to conserve power (!). And lo, the hot water was back on the next day.
This morning it happened again. So I looked it up, and found this paper. The Centralized control over domestic hot water is called Ripple Control, and it was extensively installed during 2020 by the Central Government, because there was a trend for companies to opt out of it, due to its unpopularity. So nice of them, to do it while we were all hunkering down in our homes, because muh Covid.
The paper's authors are hoping that people will take up 'cleaner' hot water options. (Gag - also Weird, because most of NZ's power comes from hydro-dams). the hope is that homeowners adopt gas or solar hot water heaters - great for households who are living hand-to-mouth though - so I believe it is another wee stab at landlords. Many people can't really afford a new solar panel, just for the hot water. The claim is that Ripple control will be disabled when non-electric systems are installed - so, the government are trying to shape behavior, by making life a little uncomfortable.
Power lineman here , retired. Don't know how they shut off the hot water there , but... We have electric meters that can be shut off remotely, either by passing car or some other apparatus. The hubalub is , what neighborhoods get shut off or who gets shut down when peak load gets reached on that hot summer day?
Yes it is through the meters. the paper explains that a particular frequency is sent through to the meter that limits the hot water cylinder. Another frequency turns it back on.
The first episode happened after there was extensive flooding in another district. The theory put forward by the electrician was that the central government were controlling peak loads, the example they gave was early Monday morning when everyone showers to go to work. But that didn't really make sense to me, because the flooding was elsewhere.
Electrician son claims it would take only a few minutes to wire the HWC into the mains, bypassing the gizmo. 'Illegal' of course. But what isn't these days?
I claim it is illegal to arbitrarily prevent working men from having a hot shower.
There are actually a couple of ways to make this happen. RF could be broadcast to remotely operate specific units or wide area units via wifi or cellular. Another way is to actually use the power lines to convey a complex electrical signal that communicates with smart meters. The ability to remotely control every house is yet another example of a two edged sword. It allows the reduction in menial work on collecting usage data, but it can also be used to tyrannically manipulate who gets power and who does not.
I remember articles about smart thermostats in homes that were used to control the usage of heat and cooling by States here in the US. I always laugh about people installing smart tech in their homes that connects to wifi. It certainly sounds appealing, but it can just as easily be used against you.
I know right? We just went through great expense insulating the place, and installing a heat pump, because the government made new laws about tenancy. Now this. They are openly trying to force mom-and-pop landlords out of business.
We'll have to save up once again, while sounding mean to the poor tenant.
I was alerted to this issue by my tenant, who called because there is no hot water, for the second time this month. The first time, we called out a plumber, who told us it was a thermostat, so we then called an electrician, who told us, oh, don't bother, it is shut off centrally, to conserve power (!). And lo, the hot water was back on the next day.
This morning it happened again. So I looked it up, and found this paper. The Centralized control over domestic hot water is called Ripple Control, and it was extensively installed during 2020 by the Central Government, because there was a trend for companies to opt out of it, due to its unpopularity. So nice of them, to do it while we were all hunkering down in our homes, because muh Covid.
The paper's authors are hoping that people will take up 'cleaner' hot water options. (Gag - also Weird, because most of NZ's power comes from hydro-dams). the hope is that homeowners adopt gas or solar hot water heaters - great for households who are living hand-to-mouth though - so I believe it is another wee stab at landlords. Many people can't really afford a new solar panel, just for the hot water. The claim is that Ripple control will be disabled when non-electric systems are installed - so, the government are trying to shape behavior, by making life a little uncomfortable.
As my German friend used to say: Scheiße!
Power lineman here , retired. Don't know how they shut off the hot water there , but... We have electric meters that can be shut off remotely, either by passing car or some other apparatus. The hubalub is , what neighborhoods get shut off or who gets shut down when peak load gets reached on that hot summer day?
Yes it is through the meters. the paper explains that a particular frequency is sent through to the meter that limits the hot water cylinder. Another frequency turns it back on.
The first episode happened after there was extensive flooding in another district. The theory put forward by the electrician was that the central government were controlling peak loads, the example they gave was early Monday morning when everyone showers to go to work. But that didn't really make sense to me, because the flooding was elsewhere.
Put a few neodimium magnets around the meter, it might stop it working altogether but it could interfere with the wifi signal.
Electrician son claims it would take only a few minutes to wire the HWC into the mains, bypassing the gizmo. 'Illegal' of course. But what isn't these days?
I claim it is illegal to arbitrarily prevent working men from having a hot shower.
There are actually a couple of ways to make this happen. RF could be broadcast to remotely operate specific units or wide area units via wifi or cellular. Another way is to actually use the power lines to convey a complex electrical signal that communicates with smart meters. The ability to remotely control every house is yet another example of a two edged sword. It allows the reduction in menial work on collecting usage data, but it can also be used to tyrannically manipulate who gets power and who does not.
They are trying to do this in San Francisco too.
Interesting. Bad, of course, because of globalists, and F*ck them.
I wonder if there are other people around the world having the same problem?
I remember articles about smart thermostats in homes that were used to control the usage of heat and cooling by States here in the US. I always laugh about people installing smart tech in their homes that connects to wifi. It certainly sounds appealing, but it can just as easily be used against you.
And it is.
🤬🤬🤬
I know right? We just went through great expense insulating the place, and installing a heat pump, because the government made new laws about tenancy. Now this. They are openly trying to force mom-and-pop landlords out of business.
We'll have to save up once again, while sounding mean to the poor tenant.