Action Line: PG&E SmartMeters make home appliances go snap, crackle, pop
Readers are reporting bizarre behavior by some household appliances.
The suspect? PG&E’s new SmartMeters installed to monitor household electricity and gas usage and report back wirelessly to a central location.
It has been happening frequently on certain frequencies common to both or because the signal is broadcast over home wiring.
Sometimes it is loud pops and cracks on AM radios and baby monitors; sometimes it is wireless speaker systems and wireless headsets receiving loud pops and crackling.
Owners of HDTVs and remote garage door openers also reported interference.
Here is what some readers are saying about this:
“Our portable phones started crackling and popping after the SmartMeter was installed. ?”… I think the SmartMeter is interfering with our wireless phones.” P.W.
“My husband and I have a vacation home near Arnold. After a SmartMeter was installed, we had ongoing problems with our outdoor motion sensor lighting going on all the time.
“PG&E finally replaced the meter with the old model, and the problem was resolved.” Melissa A. Look
“For the past few days my home alarm keeps getting set off as if it’s sensing something opening. It happens randomly during day and night, so basically my alarm system is now useless.” Brian
“I have a pair of Sony wireless headphones I use when I watch TV. I noticed the static immediately after PG&E installed the SmartMeter.”
Ross
“Thank you for your column on SmartMeter interference (Action Line, Aug. 10). I’ve been having to turn off our baby monitor purchased in 2008 for a while since it has become very noisy with static.
“Now I know the reason! We recently had a SmartMeter installed by PG&E.” Veronica Wong, San Jose
PG&E says the SmartMeter is a legal transmitter and meets all Federal Communications Commission standards.
If this is happening to you, you can file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission online at esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm
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Most modern day electronics will use power even when they are turned off. If a small light, clock numbers, etc stay lit it's using power, if it's an instant on device then it is using power when it's turned off. I keep my computer desk stuff on a power strip which I switch off when I power it down. Everything takes a minute or two to come up when I turn it on but that's okay. I do save a little on the power bill by doing that. There are also power saver appliances and electronics that do not remain partially on the whole time which will also save you money. Our flat screen TV takes a minute or so to come on, it's a power saver.