Free Powerpal Smartmeter for those living in suburbs within 20km of the Melbourne CBD
Supported by the Victorian Government Energy Efficiency Upgrades scheme.
Further info at https://www.powerpal.net/
Free Powerpal Smartmeter for those living in suburbs within 20km of the Melbourne CBD
Supported by the Victorian Government Energy Efficiency Upgrades scheme.
Further info at https://www.powerpal.net/
Referrers receive a $5 Gift Card.
Can't you already use ZigBee with something like a https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07681Y7ZV ?
Yes, but I want a free one under the VEET scheme.
Right, I see your point :-)
It's free but a sensor to the flashing light makes no sense when our smart meters have already zigbee built in. Why can't we get the proper solution via the VEET scheme … waste of money.
+1
Much of the justification for rolling out smart meters was to give end end users visibility into their usage. But now we require a level of technology that would have worked just as well detecting the black stripe on the spinning wheel of the old meters.
FYI this offer is unavailable to those living in apartments.
Increase in radius.
Also previous radii centred on Bentleigh and Sunshine, this is a single radius from the CBD.
Does anyone have a referral code?
about to ask the same
J3DFFWYK
Why only 20km? That's a weird cutoff.
That's Nunawading, but not Ringwood. It's Greensborough but not Eltham. In Caroline Springs, it's everything east of the main road, but not west!
It's Williams Landing, but not Tarneit, Wyndham Vale, Werribee or most of Point Cook.
What should they make it then?
All of the state?
This device also needs power to support it. Will it increase power consumption?
Was curious about the same thing. Turns out it’s a battery operated box.
https://support.powerpal.net/hc/en-us/articles/360025914634-…
How safe do you think this thing?
lol, wut?
I mean, you know. All these IOT stuff usually are not that "secure" from being hacked
Good question to ask the provider I would think?
Friend works for the electric power distribution says don't do it.. didn't explain why but probably more disadvantages than advantages
remember smart meters for air con how on peak times the government can adjust your power consumption so you won't overload the grid?
lol. wut?
double wut yeah?
'probably more disadvantages'?
What possible disadvantages of seeing how much electricity you're currently using are there?
This bargain is for a device that just displays power, nothing to do with the power retailer or supplier.
@damion: well there is a privacy aspect too of course if you don't care then that's ok
collecting data for marketing
maintenance issue… who's responsible when the meter breaks
wut wut wut
@Poor Ass: lol, k.
@wiipantz: lol wut
@Poor Ass: The smart meters we were trialling for a state distribution network in ~2010 were being mainly discussed for the lad shedding capabilities. The goal was to have network abilities to isolate high consumption premises and dump.
This was to minimise total number of houses offline which is a kpi of the industry. The conditions of connection for most providers had this buried deep in the terms.
Knowing the power you use is much more valuable to others than it is to the user, in general, but here at OzBargain I am sure the advantage swings to the site users.
Just had a guy pop past randomly and do this. Took about 15 minutes with faffing about finding a bill. So probably 10 mins. Free. Working well and interesting to see how things effect your $ amount per hour.
fyi - you can only pair to one device. which is a bit crap.
There’s only one person in my house who cares about power consumption - which is a bit crap.
the range is quite bad too. So could be entirely useless. Can't access it from the kitchen and bedroom is at the back of the house so id have to leave the phone near the front which isn't idea..or set up a secondary cheap phone just to collect data
That’s a bit shit.. Might be running old Bluetooth maybe..
@Axytrix: It is Bluetooth.
@hashtagbargain: Yeah it is bluetooth. Shouldnt have expected a government scheme to actually work. Much like those energy switches that are uselesss. Or the LED lights that were replaced. eh
It says it can cache your usage data for upto 60 days. You can check in at your convenience, no need to have a dedicated phone.
Read the FAQ for more info.
@hashtagbargain: ah thanks hash!!! legend
United Energy & Powercor (the power distributors) allow you to log in and see the raw usage from your smart meter in half-hour blocks. It's actually quite helpful and gives a great insight to power usage without needing any other devices installed. Worth checking out and saves you the hassle of this scheme.
Got mine installed however it isn't at all accurate. Last night it was registering 53w use when I had the oven, kettle, washing machine, and TV going!
It seems to have registered around 1kwh/day for me. My power company app (and my bill) wildly disagree lol.
Hi, the referral links don't seem to work, they have the wrong suffix, here is an example of what they should look like now:
https://www.powerpal.net/invite/GM7PPJGC
Installs are back on again, after a temporary shutdown, my installer took Covid-19 precautions (e.g. he didnt come in to the house, we were never closer than 2 metres to each other)
Whole of Melbourne metro is covered and other areas can join the waiting list
- I've found it to be a very useful app, e.g. Every winter I have a fan heater cranked up and with this device and app I realised it was costing me 50c per hour!
(happy for my link to be removed once the referral links are updated)
You need to mention that in the referral thread: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/139622
Urrh. Another power usage display that requires a transmitter to be attached to the flashing LED.
The smart meters already have a transmitter built in.
When is the VEET going to cover a zigbee wireless display?