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.
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.