Six Things You Should Know About Smart Meters

It’s estimated that over 22 million households now have smart meters installed. And that’s around 40% of the population. Despite hold ups in installations due to the pandemic.

If your household doesn’t have one chances are your energy provider will have contacted you to offer you one. Or like us you may have contacted your energy provider to get a smart meter installed.

This is because energy suppliers have been told by the government that by the end of 2021 they must have taken ‘all reasonable steps’ to roll out smart metres to every household in the UK. And from January 2022 suppliers will have annual targets for the number of smart meter installations they must carry out. This is so by the end of 2025 all UK homes have a smart meter.

What are smart meters?

A smart meter is a gadget which automatically sends meter readings to your electricity and gas supplier so they can see your energy use. So you won’t need to submit manual readings again *hooray*. It also means you’ll be able to see your energy usage quickly and easily via a small box. This will display real-time information about your energy usage. And how much it’s costing depending on your supplier’s rates and the tariff you’re on.

If you don’t have one, here are some things you should know about smart meters

Smart meters are free

You won’t pay anything to get a smart meter installed as both the meter and the installation are done free of charge by your energy supplier. So you won’t be charged for the convenience of not having to submit meter readings again.

You can get a smart meter even if you don’t own your home

Even if you’re renting your home, if you pay the energy bills for the property then you can request a smart meter. Although it is recommended to tell your landlord so they’re aware just in case you’re breaching your contract by having something installed without their permission.

Smart meters will make your bills more accurate

Your bill will always be accurate as your provider knows EXACTLY how much energy you’ve used so no estimations will be used. Currently some suppliers rely on customer meter readings to produce accurate bills, but if you submit yours late it might not be accurate. And some suppliers just estimate your energy use so you could be paying too much. Or in some cases not enough and then you may owe your supplier a lot of money. If you don’t have a smart meter installed then stay on top of your meter readings.

Once they’re fitted you don’t need to do anything

Once it’s installed there’s nothing you have to do. Although you may become a little bit obsessed looking at your energy usage on a daily basis and seeing where it spikes. Or how much gets used when you switch on the kettle, or the washing machine.

Smart meters should continue to work if you change energy provider

This one is dependant on how long you’ve had your smart meter and which one it is. All newer types of smart meters (SMETS 2) should carry on working if you switch provider. Energy suppliers have been required to supply these more recently so if you’ve not had yours for long chances are it’s what you’ve got.

Older smart metres (SMETS 1) do stop recording data if you switch provider. But you can then request a smart meter from your new provider. Or some meters are being given a software update so that they function like a newer model.

Having a smart meter won’t automatically save you money

A gadget like this won’t automatically save you any money. But it might encourage you to use electricity in a different way as you’ll be able to see live usage and which appliance and devices use more energy than others. But ultimately it’s up to you to be efficient to get the financial benefits.

Do you have a smart meter?

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