‘Smart switch can provide feed-in to smart meters’

Smart energy meters can be influenced by certain types of switches with remote controls, according to a professor at the University of Twente. In some cases, the power consumption can not only decrease, but even up to 400 watts can be returned.

Professor of electrical engineering Frank Leferink of the University of Twente has conducted research into the phenomenon. He did that after a man from Renkum raised this with him. The man noticed that his smart meter also registered electricity returned, even though he had no solar panels. That happened after he hooked up a smart dimmer switch with remote control behind his TV. Professor Leferink concludes, according to Tubantia, that it is indeed possible that smart meters are influenced by certain smart equipment.

The man with the switch noticed that his daily power consumption dropped from 11kWh per day to 8kWh and later even to 4kWh. In terms of feed-in, it was about 400 watts, the researchers say. The university researchers looked at what happened with the specific dimmer in combination with 24 commonly used smart meters. In four cases, the switch did indeed affect consumption. The incident will be later investigated by a PhD student from the university. It also looks at the influence of other home automation systems with smart meters.

Netbeheer Nederland, the sector organization for network operators, is now aware of the problems. The organization tells Tubantia that it is “not realistic to assume that this will happen more often”. This is a specific situation, although there are more known incidents in which malfunctions occur in smart meters that can lead to a reduced registration of consumption.