Smart Meters: How Smart Are They?
- Published: 13 May 2016
The UK’s ground-breaking roll out of smart meters has already reached millions of homes and businesses and is costing the government around £11 billion (1). With costs like that, the British government obviously thinks there are some significant benefits to be had. But what are they? How smart are smart meters, really?
The UK’s rollout of smart meters
If you haven’t had your smart meter installed yet, you can expect to be notified soon, as smart meters are due to be installed in every home in England, Wales and Scotland by the year 2020 (2). With more than 30 million homes and small businesses to get around (3), this is a fairly impressive operation when you think about it, and one which requires hefty input from the private sector as well as the government efforts and funding.
The rollout is largely being driven by the European Union. The EU asked all its member states to consider the use of smart meters in their countries as a means of controlling energy use and tackling climate change at consumer level (4). As a result, the UK government decided to adopt smart meters in all domestic premises as one of a number of measures being taken to improve our aging energy system.
So what is a smart meter exactly?
Smart meters will replace your traditional gas and electricity meters and will largely perform the same basic function: recording your consumption so that you can be charged correctly by your supplier. However, in addition to this basic role, they also perform a number of additional intelligent functions which are designed to help householders take control of their energy consumption and make savings where they can.
How does it work?
Smart meters are called ‘smart’ because they provide much more information about your energy usage than traditional energy meters. They come with an ‘in house’ display which allows you to see in real time how much energy you are using, which should help you to understand when energy intensive processes are taking place.
As well as this, smart energy meters are able to communicate directly with your energy supplier, using technology similar to that used in mobile phones. This means an end to estimated meter readings and direct debts which are too low or too high; leading, in theory, to correct billing each and every time. With suppliers armed with much more information about when and how you use your energy supply, it is hoped they will develop and offer more competitive tariffs based on your individual energy profile.
What are the benefits of having a smart meter?
It’s clear to see where the benefits of smart meters lie for your energy supplier. Once you have one of these meters, your energy supplier will no longer have to send out employees to read the meter; there will be less chance of errors and they will have a more informed, efficient way of administrating their business with you. But what benefits do smart meters offer to householders? Well, you’ll be glad to know there are actually quite a few!
More accurate bills
If you are a pay as you go customer right now, you’ll probably be familiar with the ‘average’ direct debit nightmare. For most of us, the energy company sets up a monthly payment amount based on our house size, family size and a good degree of guess work. After a few months, often longer, we realise we’ve been paying too much or too little, and are faced with either trying to extract our credit back from our suppliers, or raise the money to pay an unexpected debt.
With a smart meter in our homes, our supplier will know precisely how much we are using day by day, week by week, and rather than waiting for a meter reader to call round or for us to call in with an actual meter reading, they’ll be able to adjust our payment amount so that we’re always up to date with our bill payments.
No more meter readings
Exciting (and hopefully cheaper) new tariffs
Faster, easier switching of suppliers
Greater understanding of energy consumption
Do I have to have a smart meter?
More accurate bills
If you are a pay as you go customer right now, you’ll probably be familiar with the ‘average’ direct debit nightmare. For most of us, the energy company sets up a monthly payment amount based on our house size, family size and a good degree of guess work. After a few months, often longer, we realise we’ve been paying too much or too little, and are faced with either trying to extract our credit back from our suppliers, or raise the money to pay an unexpected debt.
With a smart meter in our homes, our supplier will know precisely how much we are using day by day, week by week, and rather than waiting for a meter reader to call round or for us to call in with an actual meter reading, they’ll be able to adjust our payment amount so that we’re always up to date with our bill payments.
References
1. [Online] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/energy-bills/11975065/Smart-meters-will-cost-11bn-but-youll-be-lucky-if-yours-saves-you-30.html.
2. [Online] http://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/smart-meters-explained/.
3. [Online] http://www.moneysupermarket.com/gas-and-electricity/smart-meters/.
4. [Online] https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/markets-and-consumers/smart-grids-and-meters.