It’s time to get a smart meter, go green and save on energy bills by...
SMART meters are helping people cut their energy use by showing exactly how much they are spending, and when. And a new breed of energy tariffs, only available to people with smart meters are set to make it even easier for people to make savings.
Every household in Great Britain is being of f e re d a sm a r t m e t e r by t h e i r e n e rg y supplier. They will tell you exactly how much your energy costs in pounds and pence. A smart meter can also show spikes in energy usage so you can see which appliances are using the most energ y. This can help you save money in the long-term by switching to a more energy efficient alternative.
Al s o, to enc ourage p e opl e to acce pt a smart meter from their supplier, most are of fering great deals to s mart meter customers.
Most of the biggest suppliers now of fer smar t m et er -only tariffs that are substantially below their standard varia b l e ra t e , a n d s o m e smaller boutique suppli ers of fer s om e of th e ch eap est available smar t meter-only deals.
DISCOUNTS
Figures from Ofgem, the energy industry regulator, show that the average standard variable tariff (SV T) across Britain’s Big Six energy suppliers was £1,136 a year as at July 2018. This compares with an average across 14 tariffs only available for people with smart meters, the average annual cost was £1,049 - a 10% saving compared to the average
SV T. One supplier was offering a smart m et er tarif f at a massive 25% lower than the average SV T.
Smart meters send accurate readings directly to suppliers, meaning an end to estimated bills. These digital readings al s o giv e suppli ers a more accurat e picture of how much we’re all using, at what times of the day. This has allowed many to develop new time of use tariffs that charge less for energy during quiet periods. If you can set appliances that u s e t h e m o st e n e rg y t o r u n w h e n demand i s lowest, th e sav ings could be huge.
One supplier is currently of fering a rate between 11pm and 6am that is only a fifth of its peak daytime rate, and it’s only a third of the average daytime rate.
12.5 million smart meters have already been installed across Britain and they are b ein g of fered to e v er y h ouseho l d in th e countr y, so f lexible time of use tariffs could soon become the norm.
Exciting new technology is already being developed to help us make the most of these new tariffs. For example, as we use more and m o re w i n d a n d s o l ar p ow er, o u r sm a r t m et ers could aler t us w h en it’s windy or sunny, and plenty of energy is being generat ed . Ne w t e ch c onn e ct ed to our smar t meters could allow us set our appliances or chargers to switch on automatically to make the most of that cheaper energy.