Smart meters are high-tech electricity and gas meters that will replace your existing meter. They will measure your exact gas and electricity use and, most importantly, send all the information back to your energy supplier – meaning no more estimated bills.
How are smart meters different from energy monitors?
Smart meters are much more sophisticated than energy monitors, which simply give you a good estimate of the amount of electricity you are currently using. See What is an energy monitor? to find out more about what energy monitors can and can’t do.
As smart meters transmit regular
meter readings to your supplier automatically, they will remove the need for your meter to be read and you should get accurate bills based on your actual usage.
Smart meters also offer additional possibilities for the future – such as improved ‘time-of-day tariffs’ offering cheaper rates at off-peak times to smooth out national energy usage through the day. Plus, they will make it easier to sell your own micro-generated electricity (such as from a solar panel or home wind turbine) to the National Grid.
Importantly, smart meters will actually replace your current meter, whereas energy monitors simply clip on to your power cable.
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