Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Running Your Electric Meter Backwards

Posted by kdawson on from the power-to-the-peeps dept.

kog777 writes to note a story in International Business Times about "net metering," or generating your own power without disconnecting from the grid. Forty states have laws allowing individuals to do this, and many of them offer subsidies and tax breaks for people who do. From the article: "When the sun shines bright on their home in New York's Hudson Valley, John and Anna Bagnall live out a homeowner's fantasy. Their electricity meter runs backward. Solar panels on their barn roof can often provide enough for all their electricity needs. Sometimes — and this is the best part — their solar setup actually pushes power back into the system."

10 of 526 comments (clear)

  1. You can do the same thing... by Centurix · · Score: 5, Funny

    With a Ferarri when you stick it in reverse.

    --
    Task Mangler
    1. Re:You can do the same thing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      One method that John doesn't cover is tapping into your neighbors connection to the grid. There is this really old couple that lives next to me. They appear to be completely oblivious to the fact that they get $500+ utility bills every month, yet they live in an 750 square foot house with no central heat and air. I've found that my energy bills have been cut dramatically, even though I have remodeled my garage so that there is a server room with AC running 24/7 for my 20 servers.

      Thanks god for social security.

    2. Re:You can do the same thing... by finiteSet · · Score: 4, Funny
      There is this really old couple that lives next to me. They appear to be completely oblivious to the fact that they get $500+ utility bills every month
      Yes, but think of all the money they have saved over the years by diverting their sewage into your water line.
      --
      If we start buying CDs then the terrorists have already won.
  2. You can do this without solar panels. by Peter+Cooper · · Score: 5, Funny

    Back in the 'good old days' you could hack the meter and switch the wires around so that the meter would run backwards, even though you'd still be getting electricity. A one-time friend of the family did this in a shop he owned. He figured he'd switch it, operate for a week on, week off, so the bill would be low, but not too low. Unfortunately he forgot about this arrangement and the meter showed him to be $1000+ in 'credit' with the electricity board saying they were going to be visiting in a week or so. Panic ensued, and he bought a bunch of electric kettles and rigged them up 24/7 to suck juice from the grid to get back into the red.

  3. Re:realities? by Mongoose · · Score: 4, Funny
    ...and that is only on the sunny days.


    Have you ever lived in Southern Califorina? If there is ever a could in the sky people run off the street to take shelter in the nearest building. Don't ask what happens in a freak rain shower! Drizzle of doom...
  4. Re:realities? by nacturation · · Score: 5, Funny

    Before you do something, ask yourself "what would happen if a million people did this"? Well, if a million people jumped off a cliff then it would only be a small drop before I landed a mountain of soft pillowy bodies.
    --
    Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
  5. Re:Price issues by dangitman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Otherwise, if everyone started generating their own power part of the time, the power company would go bankrupt.

    So, what's the downside, then?

    --
    ... and then they built the supercollider.
  6. Re:realities? by LordKronos · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just like when 1500 sheep jump off a cliff.

  7. Re:OT, sick day scams... by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 5, Funny
    I don't need to have seen the exact car to know that it has at least 5 digits in its odo. ALL CARS DO.

    I think Bill Gates has one with three digits, and it's in kilometers, not miles. The car was custom built, and they explained there wasn't room for more digits. Gates, of course, said (and who doesn't see this coming) "No problem. 640k should be enough for anybody."

  8. Storm Watch! by JacksBrokenCode · · Score: 4, Funny

    Welcome to KCAL 9. We're sorry we had to cut away from this evening's high speed pursuit but we have received word that Ventura is experiencing scattered sprinkles. Johnny Mountain is down in the trenches, reporting from the eye of the storm. We'll hear from him after this break, if he's still alive!