If you ’re a UK home owner connected to the electricity or gas grid , it ’s likely you ’ve already been require to instal a overbold metre .
Since 2011 , energy suppliers have visit more than 21 million home and little businesses to swap out old mechanical or electric meters for new , connected unity , which give customers and energy suppliers more information about how and when we ’re using energy .
In an era when vigour toll are far gamy than before , anything that serve consumers use less sound like a great estimate , but saucy meter have proved divisive . There are privacy questions regarding the information gather by their operators , with additional concerns about their role in drive skin consumer onto pre - payment plans .
Quite asunder from anything else , the smart meter rollout has n’t always go bad swimmingly . There have been repeated delays , so the plan ’s behind where it should be . bad , the first generation ‘ SMETS1 ’ meters could lose their wise function when customer change supplier . And even if neither of those put you off , there ’s the small matter of a few hours without power while you get a new measure installed .
Despite the potential benefits of a smart metre , many consumers wonder why they should bother – it ’s not mandatory , after all . So what are the risks and benefits ? We look at what the upgrade could do for you , and whether you should set up a smart meter at all .
A smart solution?
The fundament for the smart metre rollout was lay in the Energy Act of 2008 , and induction themselves begin in 2011 . Previously , energy meters simply measured the amount of electricity or gas being used by a household or business . They display the total , and needed to be read either by the energy supplier or the consumer . It ’s a system of rules that run well for 10 , but after gas ( 1986 ) then electricity supply ( 1990 ) was privatised , things got a piffling more complex .
As vigor suppliers reduced the bit of metre readers , they begin to rely more on consumer ’ own readings . When these were n’t forthcoming , they had to guess at a figure and bill consequently , which could cause problems if the idea was ill-timed , if there ’d been a price alteration , or when client switch supplier .
There ’s another more pressing issue , because of the change usage and multiplication of electrical energy . While we ’re used to paying a flat rate for galvanising power , that does n’t speculate what it in reality cost to sire , which varies throughout the day harmonise to supply and demand . The latter peak from about 5 - 8pm on weekday , but more than a third of UK power now number from wind and solar , which are variable .
Keeping the power system balanced when supply does n’t get together demand often means fire up polluting DOE source , or paying much higher rates to source . This problem will only become more acute as the UK adds more renewables and , at the same time , more consumer change over to galvanizing auto and heating , increase the overall demand for electrical energy .
In the future , more home and business will have the engineering to store off - crest vigor for role during peak sentence , but for now , smart meters are an important tool in helping manage demand by further customers not to apply electrical energy at visor times . They let vigour supplies seewhentheir client are using power , so they can charge more or less look on how rich it is at that moment . And as we ’ll see , this can be both a good and a bad thing .
How do smart meters work?
Smart meters are little dissimilar from the digital time they put back .
They measure and display the amount of gas or electrical energy you ’ve used in the same style , but they also record when you used the mogul . Most importantly , they ’re connected to a cellular modem , through which they account data point back to your zip supplier .
A smart measure always comes with an in - household display ( IHD ) building block . These are typically a small colour video display that can show how much power you ’re using , or how much you ’ve used over the retiring week , month or year . These link wirelessly to the meter and usually have a battery , so you may carry them around the home and see how the power you use varies depending on what you throw on or off .
In fact , there are two types of bright meter in the UK . Consumers that upgraded before 2019 will have a first - genesis , SMETS1 meter , while those upgrading now will typically get a SMETS2 gadget . Almost unbelievably , SMETS1 meter are n’t always cross - compatible between energy supplier , so consumers who switched provider after having one instal sometimes recede their smart functions . This issue is now being addressed with an on-going raise program .
What are the benefits of a smart meter?
chic meters have plenty of benefits , both for energy suppliers and consumer . They mean neither suppliers nor homeowner need to bother with regular meter readings , as utilisation information is automatically sent to the supplier . In turn , this does aside with inaccurate estimated readings , and ensures that if the price changes , the provider know exactly how much power to charge at the former and new rate .
For many consumers , a chic meter ’s IHD can be very useful . hump how much power you ’ve used in a workweek , month or year can really help you budget . Additionally , seeing how much electrical energy you ’re using at a give moment can be an excellent way of life to zero in on power - thirsty appliances or wasteful habit , and give you a great good sense of what really uses the electrical energy in your home .
But for consumer , the material benefits of impudent metering are probable to total from the pliant and free-enterprise tariffs that they make potential .
The UK has had Economy 7 and other two-fold - pace duty since 1978 . Before smart metering these needed a limited dual meter which logged daytime and cheap rate use separately .
unexampled wise meters support a much wider range of off - peak and variable rate tariffs , which can potentially spare user a luck . As an example , many electricity suppliers now offer off - peak and galvanising vehicle ( EV ) tariff , with perhaps four , six or eight hours of discounted electricity overnight .
With smart metering , these are becoming more and more whippy and sophisticated . So - telephone ‘ time - of - use ’ duty like Octopus Energy ’s Agile Octopus even offer up a conciliatory charge per unit that changes half - hourly based on that day ’s wholesale electricity price . During full point when requirement is down and supply plentiful , this toll can call on negative , meaning that you ’re from time to time being paid to take electricity from the grid .
More typically , such conciliatory tariff tender restrained savings to people who can shift their electrical energy use forth from the evening peak . By charging motorcar , and running dishwashers and other convenience when demand and price are dispirited , these users pay less , and dilute the overall demand at crest times – lowering the UK ’s reliance on more polluting energy source .
This is a similar goal to the National Grid ’s Demand Flexibility Service , which uses incentive payments to reward customers who can abbreviate down on their peak fourth dimension electricity use . Several push suppliers and thousands of customers took part in several trials during winter 2022 - 23 , and the service will bear on in winter 2023 - 24 . However , as the trial are point at little periods on specific days , they ’re only available to users with a smart meter .
One terminal benefit of smart meter is that they ’re bi - directive . In other words , they can measure any power you export back to the grid – for case from solar panel or a shelling storage system . Again , this does away with the need for export meter version , and it afford up support for variable charge per unit . As an example , Octopus also bid a variable export tariff with half - hourly pricing .
If you ’ve get a chic metre , time - of - use tariff and a large battery , you could make money by storing electricity when it ’s cheap and sell it back to the grid when need is high . It might feel like a cozenage , but in fact you ’re helping balance the UK ’s evolving power grid . With aid from the large stamp battery in EVs , this is likely to become quite widespread in the future .
What are smart meters like to use?
impudent meters are easier to use than conventional ones . You do n’t need to take meter readings , but you still can should you need to – either from the meter itself , or from the IHD . It ’s still a good mind to do this whenever you flip-flop supplier .
You don’tneedto do anything else with a impudent metre , which just work in the background , but you ’ll get the most from one if you habituate the IHD to at least keep track on your spending . IHDs are essentially portable displays , usually with a touchscreen . It ’s well-fixed to change between their main data concealment , although accessing and configure advanced mapping – like setting a daily budget – can be a pain .
What are the downsides of a smart meter?
We ’ve established that there are loads of effective thing about smart metering , but there are some downside . top dog among these is that vigour provider can change the mode of a smart meter without needing to visit your home . If you owe money for your banknote , your supplier could remotely throw your meter to prepayment style , which requires upfront payment and typically costs more .
In February 2023 , in response to a growing number of forced metering change , Ofgem asked all vigour suppliers to pause this practice until they had agreed a new set of guideline . If and when it take up , some customers can refuse to be moved to prepayment , as detailed inthis Citizens ’ Advice article .
A smart meter can also be used to unplug a consumer remotely . However , energy provider are n’t allowed to unplug homes unless they ’ve first contacted you to discuss repayments , and visit your home to tax whether disconnection would feign your personal situation .
Some users are implicated about the data gain by a impertinent meter and shared with the energy supplier . It ’s an understandable concern , but meters can only report how much gas or electrical energy your house manipulation , and when . According to Smart Energy GB , the dead body tasked with promoting the impudent metering rollout , smart meter data is encrypted and shared only with your zip supplier . Some anonymised energy - purpose data is also partake in with energy meshing operators – the company that bring off local energy infrastructure .
It ’s conceivable that , should your saucy cadence data be intercepted , half - hourly energy economic consumption entropy might be enough to reveal more about your menage – for example , including when you sleep or when your home is empty . Users can glower this risk by choose out of half - hourly data and just ship daily update , but this could prevent you realize many impudent metering benefits .
A terminal , potential concern about bright metering is that it might ultimately provide Department of Energy caller toforcecustomers onto time - of - use tariffs . For me , these are capital : I mostly go from home , so I ’m here to charge up my EV , run appliances and do other energy - intensive things whenever electricity is tacky . They do n’t suit everyone , though . If you ’re out all day , then cook dinner party and run gizmo at peak times , you ’re likely to pay importantly more .
As yet there are no plans to force client onto variable or time - of - function tariffs , but these do boast heavily in governments ’ strategy to manage energy consumption and maximize the function of renewable power . As it stands , they ’re a money saver for those who can be flexible , rather than a way to penalise those who ca n’t .
In practice
There can be other hard-nosed drawback and limitations to saucy meters . It typically takes 2 - 4 hour to instal smart electricity and gas meters , and you may be unplug for much of this time . Smart meters call for a 3 thou mobile data signaling , so they ca n’t be installed in all area . Also , as I mentioned , SMETS1 meters that have n’t yet been updated ca n’t always be switched between suppliers without losing their smart feature of speech .
There ’s surely plenty of room to improve the smart metre user experience . My IHD – a wide used Chameleon model – can show how much electrical energy we ’re exporting at a give second , but it does n’t show the export total for a day , hebdomad , calendar month or yr as it does for our consumption . More importantly , it ’s ignorant of the half - hourly tariff we ’re signed up to , so its cost calculations are completely awry . We get much more useful historical entropy from our vigor supplier ’s app .
I reveal by accident that there ’s a convoluted complexity to the organisation on which smart metre feed . Ours was originally establish by Bulb , who did n’t add it to the relevant database , so when we switched to Octopus it took weeks before the company could prove communicating and get any interpretation . I was told there could be up to 14 different parties involve in smart measure provisioning . We also had problems getting our tycoon export ready up – although it uses the same m , you want a second meter number , and our internet operator apparently did n’t add this to the correct database , either .
To be fairish , the energy suppliers themselves have a go at it that the arrangement is imperfect . For exercise , Octopus CEO Greg Jacksonhas addressed it in more than one blog post .
Final thoughts
Smart meter definitely have their flaws , and their rollout has n’t gone swimmingly , but they are an indispensable component in modernising the UK power web . The diligence say they ’re secure , and that your data is protected and only share with your free energy supplier . Meanwhile , rules apply by Ofgemshouldoffer aegis from forced metering changes and disconnections .
Set privacy and billing concerns by , and the selection over whether to have a smart beat is actually quite simple . If you’re able to be pliable with the time of day that you employ electricity , you ’ll generally do good from the dual rate or sentence - of - utilization tariff that sassy time support . This is particularly the case if you ’re a heavy user , for example if you ’ve got an electric car or a large class . It ’s also especially rightful if you generate or store electricity that you require to export into the power grid – in this case a smart meter is probably essential to stick the best price .
There ’s much less motivator to get a smart meter if you ’re a light electricity user , and specially if you ’ve no choice but to use power at peak times . You ’re less likely to save money with a time - of - utilization duty , and unless you have electric heat or an electrical fomite you probably wo n’t benefit importantly from gaudy overnight rate . In these cases , make a smart metre wo n’t commit you to getting a impudent duty , and it will unloosen you from the scuffle of meter meter reading . However , if you do n’t want the rise , you ’re unlikely to be leave out out on chic metering ’s other welfare .
