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Over time, our kitchen appliances have evolved to make our lives easier and greener. Smart meters are doing that, too

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The kitchen is the heartbeat of our home, and we constantly make small changes to this room to suit our needs. Over the decades, they’ve become almost unrecognisably more convenient and environmentally friendly. Modern fridges can keep our food fresher for longer, and there are now options for hobs that can help us waste far less heat when cooking. We can prep ingredients a lot more quickly too, thanks to an array of electronic appliances that are becoming more efficient all the time.

Another piece of technology that could help you use energy more efficiently is a smart meter. Smart meters can help you take control of your energy bills and carbon footprint, by showing you in near-real time how much energy you’re using in pounds and pence. Once you have that information, you can start making changes around the home that could save you money, and also help you do your bit for the environment.

The evolving kitchen

Ever wondered what we did before kettles and toasters? The best kitchen tech is the stuff we couldn’t imagine everyday life without, like the humble fridge. For so long, fridges were one-size-fits-all solutions, but now some of them can even help us waste less food with localised temperature and humidity settings for different types of ingredients. The traditional gas hob, though effective, is slowly being phased out for the equally as effective and far more environmentally friendly induction hob, which heats up rapidly and doesn’t continue to waste heat once turned off, unlike the ceramic hob.

When we bake a cake, we no longer have to spend what feels like hours sweating over a whisk or wooden mixing spoon. Instead we can call on our trusty all-in-one mixers to save us time by creating the perfect mixture in minutes. And although appliances like food processors, kettles and juicers have traditionally been power-hungry, constant technological advances have gradually allowed these to become more efficient, and some even use rechargeable batteries instead of needing to be plugged into a socket.

The future is smart

Aside from updating our appliances to more sustainable solutions, there are everyday changes we can make in the kitchen to shrink our energy bills and our carbon footprint. Other than hot water and heating, the kitchen makes up the biggest portion of your home’s energy use. The boiler uses 82 per cent, while cooling and freezing takes up four per cent, cooking three per cent and washing your clothes and dishes uses six per cent, with the rest dispersed throughout the rest of the home. Therefore, an energy-efficient, serviced boiler is a good appliance to update to get your home running a bit more cheaply and more sustainably.

You can also save £8 a year (plus 14kg CO2) by washing clothes at 30 degrees, and you’ll save the same amount again by only running the dishwasher when full, reducing your number of weekly loads.

An even easier switch you can make is getting a smart meter installed by your energy supplier. Thanks to its handy in-home display – a handheld digital device that sits in your house – you’ll be able to see just how much energy you’re using, as well as how much it’s costing you. So when you start making changes around the home like those mentioned above, you’ll soon start to see the benefits with your own eyes.

By getting a smart meter, you’ll be joining the millions of people across Britain who are doing their bit to reduce energy waste on a national scale. And that all adds up to an energy system that’s better at coping with the demands of the 21st century, while also making the best and most efficient use of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.