Smartmeter – avoid electrosmog

Reading time 3 minutes

Updated – June 15, 2023

Smart meters – a current topic at this time, especially in connection with electrosmog.

The good old mechanical Ferrari meter is said to have become obsolete and will be replaced across the board by smart, electronic meters, so-called smart meters. The aim is to save staff who used to read the old meters. It was also a major administrative effort to leave a reading card when the customer was away at the time of reading, which the customer had to send to the utility company, supplemented by the meter reading, so that it could be manually transferred to the computer and the billing could ultimately be created.

The pioneers of smart meters are the electronic heat detection devices, which can be read using a vehicle that drives past the apartments and is equipped with the appropriate equipment. This is faster than manual recording and is independent of possible access to the radiators in the apartments.

The data from the smart meters should now be recorded centrally, at fifteen-minute intervals, not just after the end of a billing period, as is usually the case for a year.

This calls data protection advocates into action. Ultimately, consumption behavior can be traced, including the presence or absence, which can be used improperly. The supplier could also switch off the power supply remotely, and many other things would be very easy to implement.

Ripple control receiver

Ripple control receivers are used to automatically adjust the power of photovoltaic systems feeding in and are intended to avoid overproduction and thus upward deviations in network frequency.

If the usual 50 Hz deviates upwards by just 0.2 Hz, the output of PV systems is throttled by remote control command and switched off completely at 51.5 Hz.

BPR controllers could detect overproduction and more sensibly direct the excess energy, for example, into a heating coil in a buffer storage tank in order to convert it into heat, instead of destroying it through throttling or switching it off completely.

Data transmission methods and frequencies

Smart meters can transmit data to the utility company in different ways. This can be done via the mobile network (integrated into the smart meter using the provider's own SIM card), via PLC (Power Line Communication) or wired via DSL.

Mobile network

Data transmission in the mobile network takes place via pulsed data packets. In order to always guarantee a connection to the nearest cell phone mast, the smart meter periodically sends a call. This means that radiation exposure occurs every few seconds.

The following HF frequencies (radio frequency) with different bandwidths from 10 to 100 MHz are available:

• 5G band SA / 700 MHz
• LTE band 28 / 700 MHz
• LTE band 20 / 800 MHz
• GSM / 890 – 915 MHz
• LTE band 8 / 900 MHz
• GSM 900/935 – 960MHz
• LTE band 32 / 1,500 MHz
• LTE Band 3 / 1,800 MHz
• LTE Band 1 / 2,100 MHz
• LTE Band 7 and 38 / 2,600 MHz
• 5G band N78 / 3,400 – 3,800 GHz
• 5G band N85 / 26 GHz and 60 GHz (both not yet assigned)

PLC

PLC uses the power line as a carrier for the data streams modulated using OFDM (orthogonal frequency multiplexing) or QAM (quadratic amplitude modulation) using PolyTrax II technology, frequency hopping across all available frequencies.
Antenna cables are usually shielded one or more times to protect the actual signal from interference on the way from the antenna to the receiver. However, a power line is not shielded, nor are the supply lines of devices, sockets, etc. This means that such lines become antennas and radiate freely into the environment.

The PLC process uses the following country-specific LF frequency ranges (low frequency) in accordance with the so-called CENELEC standard EN 50065-1 (Comité Européen de Normalization Électrotechnique):

• Ripple control frequency range 110 Hz – 1.6 kHz
• – / 3 – 9 kHz
• Band A / 9 – 95 kHz
• Band B / 95 – 125 kHz
• Band C / 125 – 140 kHz
• Band D / 140 – 148.5 kHz
• G3 band / 155 – 487 kHz (including North America, Japan)

DSL

Smart meters with a LAN interface use an existing DSL connection for data transmission and therefore work without radio signals. They are the most health-wise alternative to the above procedures.

Conclusion

If you suffer from electrohypersensitivity (EHS) or generally want to avoid electrosmog as much as possible, you are well advised to ask your energy supplier for a smart meter - if it cannot be avoided - that has a LAN interface.

The next lesser evil is a smart meter that uses PLC. Here it is advisable, albeit expensive, to have all phases behind the meter Line filter, such as this Line filter 35 A FCC to install which block the PLC frequencies and therefore do not allow them to reach the in-house power network.