Do you know what a smart meter is and why you should have one?
Published: 10 November 2009 By MoneyHighStreet Staff 1 Comment
Smart meters are due to be installed in all homes by the end of 2020 but do you know what a smart meter is and why you should have one? If you don’t you’re not alone but it’s time to find out.
Britain’s energy supplies need a huge amount of investment, including over £13 billion in smart meters alone.
The UK needs to reduce carbon emissions and ‘go green’. People are trying to save money on energy bills.
Smart meters allow consumers to accurately monitor their energy usage and according to research by uSwitch.com over 70% of people say they would use them to help cut the cost of their energy bills.
Nearly a quarter would use the smart meter energy information to better manage their payments to their supplier and to avoid going into debt.
Currently though some 57% of people don’t even know what a smart meter is and with the energy investment programme overall expected to add £548 onto household energy bills for the next 15 years, many are either not prepared to pay at all or only want to contribute a small percentage.
As Will Marples, energy expert at uSwitch says, ‘The switch to smart meters could be a disaster unless people fully understand the reasoning behind the move and how it will benefit them in the long run.
He went on ‘At the end of the day household energy bills are likely to increase substantially and consumers will be looking for value-for-money in return.’
And added ‘People can also start to take steps to ready themselves for what is going to be a sea change in how household energy will be managed in the future. By moving to a cheaper energy plan and lowering their energy usage now they will be in a better shape to absorb the increased costs when they come.’
Are you on the cheapest energy plan?
With online energy comparison sites, such as Confused.com or uSwitch you can quickly check for the cheapest energy plan that suits your energy needs.
Not only that you can switch energy supplier very easily – far easier than you might think and you really can save money.
See our MoneyHighSreet article on ‘Switch energy supplier – how easy is it?‘ for more info.
When consumers do find out about smart meters they are liable to be very disappointed.
To save money you need to change your behaviour and that means understanding your energy usage in detail and being wiling to adapt.
Getting realtime access to data is key but smart meters may or may not provide that – and it will be a long time before we know.
Meanwhile there are plenty of gadgets out there from the likes of Owl, CurrentCost, Ewgeco, AlertMe etc. These gadgets can be obtained now, will not break the bank and give consumers the data they need to reduce their bills.
I for one am not waiting to see if the government can solve my problem. I’ve read David MacKay’s book and am acting upon his advice. The cost of gadget and book paid back in a few months.
Paul (Consumer, Bucks)