I’ve a sister that works for the
gas board, do you want to meet her?
That was always one of my
favourite daft jokes, but perhaps it now needs updating to:
I’ve a sister that works for the
gas board, I only let the smart meet her.
Or maybe, just maybe, I should
drop it all together.
Anyway, back to why I’m writing
this post.
Since being a homeowner - over
ten years now - I’ve always been very pedantic with my utility suppliers. Very anal about getting the best annual
deal for my money that I possibly could.
However in recent times I’ve
actually concerned myself more with my actual usage, and it seems the
government would like us all to get familiar with the amount of electricity and
gas we are using as we are using it.
Last winter I treated myself to
an Owl micro-home electricity monitor, which was about £25. I was mindful of rising electricity
costs, and I actually wanted to know how much – and where – I was using
electrical juice.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one,
and I found a few others willing to share electricity saving ideas. My personal favourite was changing my
fish tank from tropical to cold water.
Which was a frugal move, not tight at all.
But now, with the government
mandating that all homes will have to install smart meters by 2019, there will
be millions able to share real time data and ideas.
British Gas is placing itself at
the forefront of this initiative, and has already installed over 400,000 smart meters free of
charge across homes and businesses in the UK.
What does a smart meter do?
Essentially it details, in pounds
and pence (or in energy units if you prefer) how much energy, gas and
electricity, you are using.
If you switch your cooker on the meter
will immediately show you how much energy it is using.
Data is also stored, and these
meters have useful menus to give you things like your day’s energy consumption.
It also means accurate billing
rather than estimates, as these meters automatically send information back to
directly British Gas.
How will this help me save money?
The Energy Saving Trust estimates
that you could save as much as 10% on your bills.
By knowing how much energy things
use, rather than being ignorant to their consumption levels, you are better
placed to decide if something is worthy of being on.
You may find some electrical
units use as much energy, thus as much money, in standby as when they are
operating, digiboxes sometimes fall into this category.
I don’t carry my unit in my
pocket, but have it in view casting it a glance every once in a while. I know when my son has left the –
rather expensive – spotlights on in the bathroom for example.
It also helps trouble shoot, so
if the unit is recording higher than you think is should be, you can find the
unit pulling more power than it was perhaps designed to.
Some wasteful habits I haven’t
changed, but at least I am aware of how much they are costing me.
Don’t just take my word for it
This is a sponsored post on behalf of British
Gas, who you can also follow on Facebook.
Posts
