Ze Linky
After years of just lurking I've decided to register (ah!) so I can add some more Gallic perspective. Hi everybody. I'm French and think Brexit is the worst idea since Napoléon tried to invade Russia. So there.
Awesome site and very entertaining forums. Beers all around, a Friday special to Monsieur Dabbs.
The "someone needs to come and check the numbers" thing is not the normal situation, the main reason why Linky is being installed being precisely to allow for remote checks, as it can be polled by your supplier over BPL (which I guess it's the case for most/all smartmeters in other countries).
The fact Linky uses BPL is also the main reason why you have people complaining and thinking it can cause health issues. Not so much the "local" EM radiation, as measures showed that it doesn't emit more than your average Internet box, but more the fact that being a cheap box the communications are sent over BPL both ways : to the outside but also onto your local circuitry.
I've had the Linky installed almost a year ago and nobody is complaining at home. And I now have bi-monthly "actual" bills, instead of the rough estimates from before with one yearly reading. So I'm sure remote polling works.
But I do have a friend whom I consider as a rather serious and educated guy who had to install a low-pass filter between the Linky and his circuits because his wife couldn't sleep anymore. He did make some blind-testing and it seemed conclusive. The possible suspect is the "antenna" effect by the house circuits, increased perhaps by the additional "dirt" emitted by Linky.
Now ENEDIS (the electricity "suppliers' supplier" in France, owns the Linky) says that it only emits (or rather, is polled by the supplier) in short bursts over a day, so no continuous emission...
I don't have a strong opinion on this, again my family is not impacted, and I didn't understand most of my physics classes at school anyway.
Which is probably one of the reasons I ended up in IT.
There are other "fun facts" about the Linky here, like for instance the belief that the small LED on the front panel is actually a camera. Or that it can detect which appliance(s) you are using just by analyzing the signal, etc...
Some people are selling "cages" so you can prevent the installer from opening the cabinet (if not inside your house obviously) and replace the meter without telling you (which happens sometimes, and doesn't add any love towards Linky).
There is however a serious concern regarding Linky, even if not specific to the device : it happened a couple of times that the installer (often a young guy barely trained freshly hired by the ENEDIS "partner", eager to install as many meters as possible) didn't tighten the "mains" cable clamps properly (either too much or not enough), causing arcs and in some cases fire.
I was watching VERY carefully when the guy installed mine, but he did use the ENEDIS-approved torque screwdriver.
There is this nice ANFR site for technical questions, alas only the titles were translated :
https://www.anfr.fr/en/controle-des-frequences/exposition-du-public-aux-ondes/compteurs-communicants/compteurs-linky/
Disclaimer : I have NO vested interest in Linky installations.
Now, folks, where can I find how to add bold/italic/etc... and hyperlinks in comments ?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
