RRK
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Roman
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Realistically they would do something you would have absolutely no power over, if lamp bans got this tyrannical they would just switch your smart meter off, or disconnect you from the transformer until you complied!
No need for such drastics. Bans work at the supplier level, so most of the lamps in use will dry out after some time. One crazy individual does not bother anyone.
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joseph_125
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To be fair, if it got to that point even a internally located meter (like in some older houses pre ~1950s here) would be an issue since as long as your house is connected to the grid, there's bound to be some means to shut off power to your house, either at the power pole, or at the pad mount transformer. The way to circumvent this would be to install a off grid power system, either ironically wind/solar or just a onsite gas powered generator. Over here I believe they can only shut off your power if you don't pay the bill, and only during the warmer months. During the colder months, instead of shutting your power completely, they'll put a limiter on your power meter that only gives you limited power, typically 120V 15A. Enough to run the furnace so you won't freeze and some lights but nothing else.
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Rommie
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Difficult to do here, as most of our power feeds to individual residential properties is underground, unless it's a very rural area. No way to do it without access to the premises, unless you dig up the road and try and disconnect a live cable They'd be most likely to get a warrant to force entry.
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AngryHorse
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Rich, Coaster junkie!
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Also UK houses are split up on a 3 phase supply, in theory they can drop the breaker in the substation, however they can’t isolate just YOUR house, they would turn several other houses off too that were completely innocent of any non bill payment!
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Current: UK 230V, 50Hz Power provider: e.on energy Street lighting in our town: Philips UniStreet LED (gen 1) Longest serving LED in service at home, (hour count): Energetic mini clear globe: 56,654 hrs @ 14/9/24
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joseph_125
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Most newer neighborhoods use underground distribution here, although I believe each pad mount transformer only serves a handful of homes and I think each home's feeder is run directly to the pad mount transformer so individual houses can be disconnected there. In older neighbourhoods, overhead distribution was standard and it's even easier to disconnect your house with house. I wonder how you they enforce non payment there, over here it's common for them to pull the meter and cut the power entirely or restrict your total power draw to 15A. I think easy access was why meters were moved outside here. In really old installs they would be in the basement next to the fuse panel and a meter reader would have to come in and read your meter every month.
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AngryHorse
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Rich, Coaster junkie!
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Pretty much the same, they pull your service fuse, but to gain access to the property, they need Police assistance! This is why our government is hell bent on forcing smart meters on every body, as then they then can do it remotely!
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Current: UK 230V, 50Hz Power provider: e.on energy Street lighting in our town: Philips UniStreet LED (gen 1) Longest serving LED in service at home, (hour count): Energetic mini clear globe: 56,654 hrs @ 14/9/24
Welcome to OBLIVION
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arcblue
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I've never heard of the power restriction to 15A before. That is interesting. With the new smart meters that probably is easier to do. Here, with non-payment, I've only heard of the utility disconnecting power at the meter, locking it out, and I have heard of customers reconnecting themselves. In the illegal reconnect scenario, the utility will then have to come out again to cut power at the pole. And I've heard of a homeowner climbing the pole to reconnect it there too! The utility charges a reconnect fee even after the bill is paid up. It's very hard on people that are struggling to afford electricity already.
Having an off-grid solar + wind (or even small hydro) with diesel generator backup would seem ideal. Use whatever electricity you want, whatever lighting you want, maintain your own system, not be reliant on the grid if it goes down and not have to pay the utilities ever-increasing costs. But the start up costs for such a system are high and the maintenance can be a challenge too. It was surprising to me how many solar panels one needs to make it thru darker, cloudy, winter days when you need more lighting and more heating. There are so many losses in the system, the panels, the wiring, transformers, all that need to be taken into account. Having magnetic (especially NPF) ballasts in lighting creates more losses which is not so great in an off-grid system.
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I'm lampin...
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Robotjulep
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HID lighting is the best!!!
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Well, unfortunately this type of "one size fits all" thinking is quite prevalent in modern thinking and with the current government here. I'd give some more examples outside of lighting but it's gonna get too political. The other thing is bans like these serve to fill the "do something" quota.
Hopefully someone does something about the cheap junk LED products that aren't designed to be repaired and something about the low CRI and high CCT LED products that have this nasty blue undertone.
Someone needs to invent a new type of HID lamp that will wipe out LED in terms of efficiency and longevity. However, I don't think that's gonna happen.
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I collect: Light bulbs, fixtures, and gear, Electric motors (Preferably AC induction motors), Computers, and Stereo equipment.
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