The smart meter is the “next generation of electric and gas meters.” While it may be new to Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Italy and the United States have been perfecting the technology for some time. Learning from their mistakes has been a real advantage and shortened the learning curve here. In fact, the government is so sure that this is a crucial step in national energy savings, that it is currently projecting replacing 46 million traditional metering devices in 25 million UK homes with smart meters by 2020.
For homeowners, this new technology means the end of estimated billing and unpleasant surprises at the end of the month. Instead, metering will be accurate and readily available for personal monitoring. You will be able to view your energy usage and costs in real time online. There will be no more awkward, unexpected visits by the meter man. All communication and two-way access will be conducted via mobile connection.
One advantage of being able to self-monitor your energy usage lies in activities and times of day that are costing excessive amounts. Simply choosing to run the dishwasher, washing machine, or tumbler drier at off-peak hours can result in significant savings. Monitoring your appliance energy consumption might also mean choosing to replace inefficient models for the newer Energy Saving Recommended products now available on the market.
As a family, self-monitoring can become a challenging but rewarding activity. You will be saving money that can be spent on more discretionary items while doing your part to protect the environment through making simple, small changes in your lifestyle. Everyone can become active in turning off lights, unplugging electronics when not in use, using only what energy is really needed, and watching your meter readings drop as your savings increase.
For those who are interested in creating their own energy through wind turbines and solar panels, smart-metering technology will allow homeowners to sell back their excess electricity. The accurate and up-to-date readings of these meters will allow such exchanges to take place without difficulty. You may not have access to panels or turbines, but if you are concerned about saving money and reducing carbon emissions, smart meter technology will be a welcome improvement.
So, do you have access to smart meters in your area? Would you install one if you could? Please share.
Guest Post Author Bio: First Utility is an energy company with a difference. We want to help you understand your energy usage, reduce your carbon footprint and ensure you receive accurate bills. For more information about how smart meters can save you money visit www.first-utility.com.
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Definitely a welcome change! I swear our meter man doesn’t even knock, but leaves a ‘I’m sorry no one was at home’ note every single time!
Wouldn’t be sorry if this device takes over his job!
Good point. We are lucky where we live because our company send us an email when readings are do. If we miss doing the reading they do an estimate but we get the chance to read it ourselves if we want. This system seems to work pretty well.
Smart Meters Are NOT Green.
Concepts and theory sounds great, but upon closer inspection:
1. Customer information from smart meters is NOT formatted for customers and does NOT change customer behavior towards conservation.
2. Cost – Benefit is horrendous for customers being promoted to profit the utility monopolies and their suppliers, not customers or our society or our environment.
3. The Smart Grid does NOT use or require a smart meter on each home. The necessary smart information for the grid can be gathered much more efficiently and timely and inexpensively at energy distribution points.
4. The vast amount of unnecessary and nearly useless information to be handled and stored may actually end up raising energy usage.
5. This massive Billions-of-dollars smart meter program will leave NO funds for programs that would truly bring energy saving solutions and the public will not be receptive to real solutions after being burned by these so-called smart meters.
Interesting perspective. You bring up some great points. I agree with you on number one. People may just become aware of their usage and not necessarily make a chance to reduce consumption. There needs to another incentive in place to drive this. As far as the other points, I think it depends on where you live. In Canada where I live there is no competition for power, we can only get it at one place and rates are set by the government.
Smart Meters – something to be afraid of? http://www.squidoo.com/beware-of-smart-meters
Thanks for sharing. I will check this article out.