Skip to main content

Time To Get Smart - Carbon Footprints In Your House...

Smart talk?

The whole global warming and need for carbon reduction is very much debatable. But measures are being taken in Ireland to reduce your carbon footprint in your house...



It's now time for..."Smart meters scheme to help reduce home electricity bills...

HOUSEHOLD ELECTRICITY meters in the Republic are to be replaced by "smart meters" which offer a range of functions including the intelligent use of cheap-rate electricity, while also providing for householders to sell home-generated electricity back to the national grid.

The meters are to be rolled out over the next four years at a cost of almost €1 billion.

Launching a pilot scheme involving an initial 15,000 smart meters yesterday, Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan said they would help householders to reduce their electricity bills, improve the operation of the electricity system and reduce carbon emissions.

Smart meters can monitor and record the amount of electricity used by the householder, as well as when it is used.

This data is communicated directly to the electricity supply company which can establish very clear patterns of energy usage.

It also makes the customer aware of how much energy they are using and allows them to make decisions on when to use electricity. For example, smart meters could be set to automatically shut down electricity to selected electrical items at peak times when power is at its most expensive.

Minister Ryan pointed out yesterday that electric cars could be charged by smart meters at night when electricity was cheap, and used during the day, when electricity was expensive.
Because of the system's ability to read meters every half hour, very accurate billing information and time-of-use pricing will be available to the consumer.

The electricity supplier will also cut costs, by improving electricity planning and system management.

Smart meters also allow two-way flow of electricity in that as well as buying electricity from the grid a householder or micro-generator of electricity, will be able to sell it back to the supplier.
But while he insisted that "Ireland is leading the world" with the introduction of smart meters, Mr Ryan indicated that proposals to allow households to sell electricity into the grid as well as buying from it were not as yet finalised.

This has been introduced already in parts of Scotland where commercial customers who have installed wind turbines may sell electricity back into the grid. Indeed this is supported by the British government which pays the "micro-generators" a Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROC). The ROC is paid per unit of electricity generated.

Various forms of smart meters have been introduced around the world but few offer the opportunity to domestic customers to sell electricity back to the grid.

In Ireland the project is being led by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) which is co-ordinating the various departments and companies involved.

The Minister said letters inviting electricity customers to take part would be going out and he urged all customers who receive a request to participate.

"When customers realise how much they can save and the carbon reductions that ensue I believe they will find smart meters one of the smartest devices ever installed in their homes," he said." Irish Times Newspaper

Popular posts from this blog

Ireland's Celtic Tiger Excesses...

'Bang twins' may never get to run a business again... POST-boom Ireland is awash with cautionary tales of Celtic Tiger excesses, as a rattle around the carcasses of fallen property developers and entrepreneurs will show. Few can compete with the so-called Bang twins for youth, glamour and tasteful extravagance. Simon and Christian Stokes, the 35-year-old identical twins behind Bang Cafe and exclusive private members club, Residence, saw their entire business go bust with debts of €9m, €3m of which is owed to the tax man. The debt may be in the ha'penny place compared with the eye-watering billions owed by some of their former customers. But their fall has been arguably steeper and more damning than some of the country's richest tycoons. Last week, further humiliation was heaped on them with revelations that even as their businesses were going under, the twins spent €146,000 of company money in 18 months on designer shopping sprees, five star holidays and sumptu

Property Tycoon's Dolce Vita Ends...

Tycoon's dolce vita ends as art seized... THE Dublin city sheriff has seized an art collection and other valuables from the Ailesbury Road home of fallen property developer Bernard McNamara. The collection will be sold to help pay his debts. The sheriff, Brendan Walsh, is believed to have moved against the property developer within the past fortnight, calling to his salubrious Dublin 4 home acting on a court order to seize anything of value from his home to reimburse his creditors. The sheriff is believed to have taken paintings from the family home along with a small number of other items. The development marks a new low for Mr McNamara, once one of Ireland's richest men but who now owes €1.5bn . The property developer and former county councillor from Clare turned the building firm founded by his father Michael into one of the biggest in Ireland. He is the highest-profile former tycoon to date to be targeted by bailiffs, signalling just how far some of Ireland's billionai

I fear a very different kind of property crash

While 80% of people over 40 own their own home just a third of adults under 40 do. This is disastrous for social solidarity and cohesion Changing this system of policymaking requires a government to act in a way that may be uncomfortable for some. Governments have a horizon of no more than five years, and the housing issue requires long-term planning. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was intended to tackle some of these problems. According to its website its remit is to “drive the delivery of better public services, living standards and infrastructure for the people of Ireland by enhancing governance, building capacity and delivering effectively”. So how is the challenge of delivering homes for people in 2024 and beyond going to be met? The extent of the problem is visible in the move by companies, including Ryanair, to buy properties to house staff. Ryanair has, justifiably, defended its right to do so. IPAV has long articulated its views on how to improve supply an