Something wrong here !

[Knobhead]

Eddy currents shouldn’t add to the bill as far as I remember from collage days. The strength of the eddy current is proportional to the current flow through the cores. By generating the eddy current power is lost in the main conductor giving the effect of high volt drop.
I could be wrong on this, I am thinking back over 30 years.

 

[Flyingsparks]

Could a high volt drop lead to higher current flow ?

I will collect the data logger next week and download to my laptop. Hopefully be able to get a clearer picture of what loads are been drawn & when and will also be able to check the recorded voltage readings.

 

[mogga]

you could try disconnecting one of the cables that your customers not using n see if any neighbourds lose power

 

[needasparks]

Could a high volt drop lead to higher current flow ?

That is correct, simerly a higher voltage will make a slightly lower electricity bill.
current and voltage are bi-proportional hence why pylons run at high voltage at a greatly reduced current flow for transportation purposes.

 

[mark1979]

what about these voltage optimisation units which reduce the voltage to save you money?

 

[needasparks]

what about these voltage optimisation units which reduce the voltage to save you money?

Oh you mean the magic beans, I have some here in exchange for your cow. save you walking all that way to market.

 

[ipf]

'nearest neighbour is half a mile away'. Seems like it's in the middle of nowhere. Any leakage invoved ?

 

[nickblake]

any street lighting seen some of them connected a house supply : they've not got storage heaters have they

 

[telectrix]

what about these voltage optimisation units which reduce the voltage to save you money?

reduce the voltage, you increase the current, or the time taken for the kettle to boil. either way, you don't save anything. to raise the temperature if a specific amount of water takes x no. of calories. these calories equate to joules, which equates to kW, energy can't be created, only converted from 1 form to another.

trhe only way you will save with one of these units is on lighting, but your lights will be dimmer. easier and more cost effective to train the kids that switches can be turned off as well as on.

 

[mark1979]

agreed tel, but the point i was making is that higher voltage wont reduce your bill.

 

[telectrix]

no, it won't the current may be less but the wattage is watt counts.

 

[Mark42]

I’ve never been sure about how electricity meters work – can anyone explain please?

If they accurately measure power: ‘worked out’ by ‘knowing’ both current and voltage, I agree that messing with the voltage does nothing.

But maybe some types measure ONLY current (via some kind of CT arrangement) then do the ‘calculation’ assuming a nominal fixed voltage at 230/400 regardless of what the true value really is.

If the latter I assume increasing the voltage in some way (and hence reducing the current for a given load) would ‘cheat’ the meter.

 

[micknew]

There is no way of cheating the meter apart from bridging it or one other illegal way.
It measures power used in watts as Tel said.

 

[Knobhead]

I’ve never been sure about how electricity meters work – can anyone explain please?

If they accurately measure power: ‘worked out’ by ‘knowing’ both current and voltage, I agree that messing with the voltage does nothing.

But maybe some types measure ONLY current (via some kind of CT arrangement) then do the ‘calculation’ assuming a nominal fixed voltage at 230/400 regardless of what the true value really is.

If the latter I assume increasing the voltage in some way (and hence reducing the current for a given load) would ‘cheat’ the meter.

Look at File:ElectricityMeterMechanism.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A 1KW resistive load at 230V will draw 4.34A.
Apply 240V and the same load will draw 4.53A giving an output of 1.088KW. so raising the voltage increases consumtion for the same applience

 

[Mark42]

Thanks for looking it up Tony – I was too lazy to do it myself

So a meter does measure voltage AND current, so genuinely gives an indication of watts per unit time. I agree that messing with the voltage therefore does nothing.
Sure, the power output of resistive appliances is increased with increased voltage, and the meter runs faster and charges you more in unit time, but the kettle boils faster, the thermostat cuts off the immersion heater earlier, and so on. The same total amount of energy is used to do the job.

So how on earth do these voltage regulator things pretend to save money? Maybe by making all your lights dimmer so you can’t see anything so need to switch more on, but for the most expensive loads which need a fixed amount of energy to do their job, they can’t make a blind bit of difference. How do they get away with it?

 

[Knobhead]

If you search the forum you’ll find several threads where we’ve ripped them to pieces. In one the manufacturer got involved, not that he got any converts around here!

 

[SparkyDips]

you could try disconnecting one of the cables that your customers not using n see if any neighbourds lose power

hahaha remember the "Gas Man" episode of Bottom?? have a look for any suspicious cables hanging freely along the outside of the house. lol