Though Pacific Gas and Electric have quelled the issues that folks thing they’ve been seeing with higher bills after the SmartMeters were installed on their homes, more problems are starting to crop up with homeowners and their SmartMeters. Now folks are starting to report that the wireless communication process that SmartMeters use to send your electric bill out would seem to be interfering with home electronics.
The problems reported extend across a variety of platforms from baby monitors, wireless instruments and cordless phones. It also seems the PG&E knoew about like issues back in 2009. In one case, PG&E stated that the family whose baby monitor was affected, declared that the instrument needed improved shielding from stray frequency transmissions.
What I’m trying to say here is that if you had a SmartMeter installed on your home and you suddenly started having problems with some electronic device, it’s possible that your item in your home and the new SmartMeter don’t like each other.
Some recommendations to help deal with this interference from the SmartMeters could be as follows:
- Move your equipment around to try and find an interference-free spot.
- Reorient or move the antenna of the device having issues.
- Try a different electric outlets.
- Try the equipment base on a different outlet on a different household circuit than what it’s now on.
- Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV/wave spectrum technician for help.
- Consider the possibility that your instrument just might not be properly shielded and look for specs of your item and newer, replacement items to determine this. You might have to replace the equipment with “shielded” equipment that is designed to withstand interference. (In the process, you can think PG&E for forcing you to have to buy new stuff.)
What made me curious was an article I read in a newspaper earlier today that stated PG&E was having folks/victims of this issue sign non-disclosure agreements before having their issues dealt with. I found that odd.
It’s an interesting read over on the Santa Cruz Sentinel and you should check out the full details.
(If you would like your product tested in a real-world scenario, don’t be afraid to contact us here at the SoB Consumer. We’ll give it a good once through and then we’ll call it as we see it! Thanks! You can follow me on Twitter at SoB_Consumer)
