Are you smart with energy?
With rising energy bills, it’s increasingly important to understand your energy consumption and how it contributes to your costs. This guide explores how smart meters can serve as an effective tool for monitoring and reducing your energy use.
What’s a smart meter?
Smart meters are an upgrade to your existing meters.
They track your gas and electricity usage and can send readings to your supplier every 30 minutes. This helps energy companies balance the demand and supply – allowing householders to take advantage of potentially cheaper tariffs.
For pre-payment meter users, smart meters allow you to check your credit and top up from home.
What’s an in-home display?
An in-home-display is a visual device connected to your smart meter. It shows you how much energy you are using (in £ and kWh) in real-time, per day, week, or month.
It can show you the impact of turning particular appliances on or off. This will give you a better understanding of your energy usage, helping you reduce your bills.
How to read a smart meter in-home display?
Time-of-use tariffs
Offer varying electricity prices based on the time of day.
Save money by shifting consumption to off-peak hours. For example, Economy 7 offers 7 hours of cheaper rates at night.
Check what tariffs your provider is offering.
Smart products & appliances
Many devices, like washing machines and lights, can now be controlled remotely e.g. via smartphone.
Schedule them to run during off-peak hours if you are on a time-of-use tariff for lower energy costs.
Optimise savings with smart central heating controls, like timers or programmers.
Demand flexibility service
As it can be expensive for energy companies to import enough electricity, there are rewards for those using less during scheduled events lasting for about an hour.
You can check online to see if your energy supplier is participating and sign up to get notified.
Explore further benefits of Smart Meters
Want to keep learning about smart meters and how they could save you money? Keep reading in our ‘How do smart meters work’ here.
For further resources, visit Smart Energy GB, who have lots of helpful articles and tips to expand your understanding.