Smart Meters -The end of distilling as I know it

[YHB]

Once upon a time I used to enjoy my Sunday mornings in the shed, the same time I used to receive an electricity bill every 3 months - bliss.

Then along come the evil Smart Meters.

My wife now has a small remote hand set that tells her when any light or device in the house is switched on, for how long and how much it cost - boil a kettle and the graphics on the little bastard goes crazy. She is now monitoring how much water I put in the kettle to make sure I am not wasting too much electricity.

She could not work out what one cost was associated with, I had to own up to it being the thermostatically controlled fermenter heater in the shed.

I am not looking forward to Sunday morning any more, I can just picture me firing up the boiler and her chucking bricks at the shed.

Need to come up with some good reasons for using the electricity - any ideas?

[Mash]

Cheaper than the vodka.

You might also want to make an complete pita of yourself on a non distilling Sunday. Result "why don't you go back to your shed"

Hide it Saturday night. You will be to busy on Sunday to find it for her.

Finally. Does she go shopping change your day?

[Icefever]

Bugger... these women are devious, what next the water bill?...where will it end.

Today a smart meter....tomorrow the world.....run for the hills guys

[Admiral Toad]

I got one if those plug in meters and have been extolling the virtues of how efficient my keg boiler and still dragon kit is compared to that silly old T500/air still/having to buy gin etc etc
Thankfully she hasn't factored in what all this kit has cost.......
Brian just tell your good lady that you're helping to subsidise renewable energy/nuclear/'insert applicable'

[optic]

Is there no way that you can accidentally break the bloody thing, failing that keep tutting about the cost when shes got the hairdryer etc switched on, sure she will admit defeat eventually .

[Anavrin]

The power meter I use to see how many watts my boilers using also counts up the cost of the elecrons used, I think I worked out that even for 3 stripping runs and a long spirit run, your only looking at about £5 max for the electric. (Based in 12p per KW/hr)

[Mr Four Square]

Pay for the power. Subtract the cost of alcohol. A man needs a hobby.

I have endured a couple of " I don't know why our power bill is so high" conversations and played dumb... successful so far

[Easydrinker]

I have quite a good memory Brian,and remember a post of yours from way back where you allotted £5 a week to your brewing hobby.
Even with historically low inflation,is there no way that this can be "stretched" to include electricity?

Another approach to try is maybe that distillation is an aid to keeping your mental faculties.
That might sound kind of twisted,hic!,but instead of doing crossword puzzles and Sudoku,
you are testing yourself,and keeping your grey matter ,and motor skills alert with the design and build of ever better apparatus.
Not to mention the wide circle of acquaintances that you have made,that keep you corresponding on certain websites.

Now, what would Mrs.YHB prefer,a gibbering idiot,or a smart chap tinkering away in the shed,with the odd brew needed for "research" purposes?

Robert.

[YHB]

I have changed my mind, Smart Meters are bloody great. I now have a free Kw meter for my boiler, courtesy of the utility company.

I took the remote handset into the shed, to see what the effects of running the boiler were. But when I changed it to power instead of cost I could see the effect of a small change to the potentiometer.

The readings are pretty instantaneous with hardly any lag.

So instead of my wife having the meter in the house I will be using it in the shed.

The government is very supportive of our hobby, passing a law that results in every home in the UK has to have a remote power monitor by 2020.

[packapoo]

Cloud, silver lining and all that....

[John51]

My T500 takes about 10 hours as I run it slow. So about £1.50 a time, no never mind. Tumble driers really hike up the bill though.

wrt water meters, there was a thread here a while back and the consensus was, iirc, the water for a full reflux run was about 30 pence if metered.