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ABC News posted a story re: Jacked Mains Voltage is increasing power bills

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HackedFridgeMagnet:
Yeah this whole fact free video really annoyed me.

@EEVBlog can you do a video debunking many of the claims in this. Then ask it to be run on ABC as a response. Or even on Media Watch?

vk6zgo:

--- Quote from: EEVblog on November 09, 2018, 12:58:57 am ---
--- Quote from: optoisolated on November 08, 2018, 02:20:03 am ---https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-08/high-voltage-fuelling-increased-electricity-consumption/10460212  :-/O
"I was getting up once every three or four months to change light globes," he told 7.30. "And this is what led me to look at voltage.
"I'm being force-fed more electricity than I need," he said. After he realised the scale of the problem he started a company that specialises in filtering out extra voltage in homes and businesses.
7.30 visited his house in Melbourne on a day when the grid was delivering electricity at 254 volts — just above the allowable voltage limit.

--- End quote ---

I saw this segment and they didn't show 254V, it was 244V
I'd love to know how he's going to "filter out extra voltage"

--- End quote ---

He could install a transformer as big as a fridge.

This is what CH 7 did in Perth so they could use  220/381v  Siemens transmitters on the then WA 250/433v system.

Of course, that is only a fixed reduction, but they also used , as did their neighbours up the road,
Automatic Voltage Regulators (AVRs).
These were motorised transformers which adjusted their ac output to maintain the selected level.

These were later replaced with "Power Conditioners" which do the same thing, & more.

IconicPCB:
I noted my solar installation was cycling on and off on particularly sunny days due to excessive voltage rise of the mainswhihc is not hard to comprehend, I am at the end of the line so anyting that got injected ahead of me would elevate the voltage.

So in desperation i wrote a letter to my MP who allegedly passed it onto the then minister for energy who is no longer the minister for that portfolio.

Dont know what happened to my letter but i noted line voltages have been reduced so much so that my inverter hardly ever drops out nowadays.

Inverter voltmeter indicates a grid voltage of 238Volts presently ( end of sunny day , 16:50 eastern standard time).

What ever and whoever ... thank You . I am generating more power now and selling it into the grid at  $0.52/kWh.
My quarterly bills are always in credit but then again I paid 11KAUD for a 5kW system.

Kleinstein:
The usual distribution transformers have some extra taps for voltage adjustment. So the utility companies could adjust the voltage range in some ares. Those living close to a transformer might get a little higher voltage essentially all day and those at the far end might get a little low voltage under high load conditions.

With a lot of solar power send to the grid, the voltage can change a little more, as the load to the transformer is no longer 0 - 100% but could be -100% to +100 % in theory.

The utility might be tempted to set the voltage relatively high, so that PV inverters drop out because of too high a voltage on days with a lot of sun and little demand (e.g. cool sunny days).

If one would use a transformer to reduce the voltage a little, this would not have to be that large, as the transformer would only need to be rated for the current and voltage difference - so something like 5% of the power to get a 5% voltage drop.

station240:

--- Quote from: EEVblog on November 09, 2018, 01:06:15 am ---
--- Quote from: vk6zgo on November 08, 2018, 07:42:11 am ---The light globes didn't last much longer, but by now, compact fluorescent globes were being pushed hard, as having longer life, as well as being more efficient.

--- End quote ---

The lights in the video the guy was complaining about changing more frequently were in sealed enclosures.

--- End quote ---

For those aware of the issue, lights inside sealed fixtures have a shorter life.
I found Halogen lamps to have massively reduced life if put inside glass lamp covers, due to overheating.
Yet as incandescent bulbs are banned in Australia (mostly), Halogen lamps appear to be a suitable replacement, but aren't in this case.

Compact Fluro bulbs aren't that much better as they contain electronics as well, and Australia only gets the crap quality ones.
That leaves LED lamps, as they produce less heat to start with.

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