Smart meters are being introduced to homes across the UK, allowing customers to monitor their gas and electricity usage more accurately, which could help customers to make savings on their energy bills.
The smart meter is a replacement for your current energy meter. After the initial installation, your energy supplier will maintain a constant link to your smart meter, allowing them to monitor your gas and electricity usage very accurately.
Not only does this eliminate the need to wait for someone to come and read your meter, but it will also spell the end of inaccurate billing. You don't even need to take your own meter readings and submit them, as the process is fully automated.
The Smart meter allows the consumer to take control of their energy usage and could end up saving them 10% on their energy bills each year
uSwitch.com
The Energy Savings Trust found that a third of people don't find their energy bills easy to understand. The smart meter allows for completely clear and accurate billing, cutting out the confusion associated with standard energy bills.
A smart meter also offers you the ability to track your energy usage over set periods of time, from as little as a day, up to a full year. By monitoring your usage, you can identify times of high energy use in your household, and see which appliances are the highest contributors.
You can use this information to help you recognise where energy could be saved, and your supplier can also use it to offer energy saving solutions specifically for your needs.
There is a great advantage to having a smart meter for customers who generate their own electricity, as the meter can monitor exactly how much electricity you sell back to the grid. This means that these customers can be paid accurately for the excess electricity they are generating.
The introduction of the meters will mean that consumers should no longer be surprised with bills that are far higher than the estimated bills they were paying. This has so far affected over 11 million people in the UK with customers owing an average of £137 to their supplier.
The smart meter allows the consumer to take control of their energy usage and could end up saving them 10% on their energy bills each year. Making consumers aware of exactly how much energy they use and when they use it will give them the power to change their usage habits and see an immediate effect.
uSwitch has teamed up with independent supplier first:utility to offer one of the first plans on the market that offers free smart meter installation when you switch. However, availability is limited to certain regions. Enter your postcode into our gas and electricity price calculator to find out if you're eligible.
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