Smart meters on the way to make life easier

Smart metering, which is "closer than you think", will mean that people could soon log on to the internet and switch off their geysers, whether you are at your office or away on holiday.

Speaking on the sidelines of Africa Utility Week yesterday, Tony Smallwood, Vodacom's executive head for Internet of Things, said: "One of the solutions we are working on with a metro is a unit that goes into a distribution board which will allow you to remotely switch on and off certain circuits of your board using your mobile phone."

The talks are being held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

In addition to helping the forgetful manage their homes and their bills, smart metering for utilities will improve efficiency, and reduce wastage and theft.

"Meters today require someone physically to go and read the meter, whereas the smart meter will transmit usage," said Smallwood.

"Instead of having and estimated bill, you will have actual billing on a regular basis."

Sensors will also feed data back to the municipality to be used either for preventative action or speedy repairs when problems develop. Loads of water being lost due to to a leaky pipe that is out of sight will be a thing of the past.

Smallwood said burst geysers might even be a thing of the past because a sensor would warn a homeowner that remedial action was required before damage can be caused to carpets, light fittings and fans, among other things.

Pylons could also be fitted with sensors, which would alert a control room to any tampering, thus reducing theft for scrap metal, which sometimes is so bad it leads to pylons falling over.

The data and analytics gathered would also allow better usage of infrastructure and resources.

In time, Smallwood added, there would also be time-of-use tariffing, where a unit of power would be priced according to the time of day.

Distributors of power, such as municipalities, already pay for power at different rates for different times of day, but the technology is not yet in place for the varied pricing to be passed on to the consumer.

This development would allow the price-conscious consumers to save money by running energy-hungry appliances such as washing machines at specific times of the day or night.

All of these innovations are just around the corner, according to Smallwood, and would lead to better use, management and costing of all our resources.

Article courtesy of the Cape Times