Smart Meters are really useful. Everyone should get one.

With high energy costs, it’s good to be able to see the actual consumption in your home on the smart meter.

Here is an example of when a toaster is switched on. The “before” shot is when no heating or cooking equipment is on. The “after” image is when the 4 slice toaster is switched on. The cost per hour goes from 8 pence per hour to 38 pence per hour!

Before toaster	After toaster switched on

So the smart meter indicates the toaster costs 30 pence an hour, but its only used a few minutes so the cost to toast 4 slices of bread for say, 2 minutes is only about 1 or 2 pennies. Not a big cost, but it’s only a toaster. Even at 8 pence per hour with no electric heating on, this cost for 24 hours will be £1.92 a day or £57.60 for 30 day month. So already, this meter is showing how expensive electricity costs. Now add cooking costs and heating costs and the bills can mount up very quickly. If you switch on a 2 kw electric fire, and run it for a hour or longer, then the cost builds up. Your smart meter will show you costs in real time, daily, weekly, etc.

Another surprising revelation is different household fixtures. By switching on different lights in the house, and different electrical items, you can find out which items are costing you the most.

This particular smart switch in the pictures was provided by British Gas as you can see, and by using this link, you can navigate to their smart meters information and also see the British Gas prices. But most providers will install a smart meter. Just ask them and see what they say.

Take control of your costs and this will help keep the bills a little lower.

Try saving on energy bills by comparing and finding the least expensive supply.