Are smart meters o/s money saving?

sammy_kaye18

Hi guys
I'm getting back on the OS band wagon, finally sat and sorted out my debts - the letters are written and ready to be posted and now I'm looking at ways I can cut down my outgoings and I'm wondering if having smart meters will be better.

I currently use payment cards and have arrears on gas and electric after I lost my job.

My gas is £48 a month and I have £361 arrears but I only have gas for the heating and water.
My electric is £87 a month and I have about £800 arrears. We have two lizards too so they run two bulbs each for about 12 hours a day.

My husband works from 7.30am until 6.30pm
My son is in school from 7.30 until 4/5pm
My daughter is in school from 8.30 until 4/5pm
It's me in the day by myself so only thing running is computer and lizards. Occasionally the kettle. No heating.

Would a smart meter make sense? or do you think it would end up costing me more in the long run?
Is it a better way to save and pay off the arrears?
Do other OS members have them? Experiences please both good and bad.
X

Ilona

You would be better off posting this on the Energy forum, people there will be able to give you answers.

It's not the smart meter that will save you money, that just monitors how much energy you are using. The only way to save money is to use less, switch things off.

If you have a smart meter and change supplier it's unlikely that it will work with the new supplier.

Personally I would not have one, I can monitor my usage myself.

ilona

caronc

Like you I'm home each day. I'm not arrears so cannot comment on them being helpful for those but I do find having a smart meter makes me more mindful of my fuel use. I don't stint on heat but over the last year have been much better at not switching on the oven to heat then wandering off for ages, not over filling the kettle or boiling it and then not using it so reboiling to make a cuppa, minimising use of the tumble dryer, turning things off and not turning the electric shower on until I'm just about to step in it. My bill for dual fuel has over the year reduced by over £25 per month and I have plenty of credit sitting to cover extra use over the winter. I was surprised how much small changes have made. I thought I was pretty savvy with my usage but obviously wasn't.

Carrot007

Pretty much as above! (Ilona)


The instant usage info on the display can help inform you what uses a lot, but unless you can use less it's not going to make a difference.


If might allow a slightly better smart/online tarrif but that just depends on the supplier.


I have one, the display was unplugged a while back! (it does use some electric!). I am going to move suppliers anyway as the current one cannot easily provide my read data from it so I can make graphs in excel and check things (could be none do!).

WeegieWumman

Electrician told me that in homes he visits where smart meters are installed, at least half the customers have the monitors permanently unplugged and stored somewhere out of sight.

bouicca21

I have nowt to contribute re smart meters. What really stands out to me is that you are paying 3 times as much for gas and electric as I do.

I'm out quite a bit but when I'm in the heating is on and so is my computer. No lizards! I suspect I set my heating lower than many others, but I don't expect to wear t-shirts in the winter and I'm comfortable wearing extra layers.

I think you need to monitor what the money is going on. Are you on the right tariff? Do you need better insulation? Should you buy a nice warm cardi? A smart meter might help but you can monitor usage without one.

trailingspouse

We don't have one - yet.

I'm pretty confident that we're not using any more than we need to - if it's cold we turn the heat up a bit, if it's warmer we turn it down. I'm sitting here now with the central heating on but I don't feel the need to turn on the gas fire. I dry washing outside if it's dry or round a radiator if they're on. So tumble dryer usage is minimal. The only light on is the one in the room I'm in. I don't see how a smart meter could help us to reduce the usage further.
In fact, if I'm understanding it correctly, you can tell your smart meter to turn the heating on before you get in. As things stand, it gets turned on when I get in - so if I had a smart meter I could end up using more!!

Slinky

Your electric bill is more than my combined gas & electic bill and I work from home in a 4 bed house (only heating 2 bedrooms). I pay £81 for both. Can you investigate is there any cheaper way of providing heat for the lizards? Even if it costs you a bit more to buy up front but saves you money in the long term.


I only heat the room I work in during the daytime with an oil filled radiator and make good use of layers and fingerless gloves.

Shropshirelass

Having studied the smart meter when we first got it, we were surprised to see how very much electricity the shower uses. With two school going children, if they enjoy showering like mine did, this could account for quite a bit of your total consumption.

Living_proof

Slinky wrote: »

Your electric bill is more than my combined gas & electic bill and I work from home in a 4 bed house (only heating 2 bedrooms). I pay £81 for both.

We are in the same circumstances but my current bill for both is £46. I do have solar panels so even on a dead dull day like yesterday the electricity is covered in daylight hours, with the exception of using the kettle and some parts of the washing machine cycle. If it made financial sense I would add a battery to the system, but the payback time would be beyond the grave for me! The electric shower is only used by one person, and the other shower runs off the combi-boiler. I very rarely use the tumble dryer and prefer to dry outside and don't use a dishwasher, although I do have one. I use a Panasonic combi oven for everything 99% of the time which is mega quick to heat up and it's well insulated. I do a fair bit of batch cooking which saves energy in the long run. Changing to energy efficient bulbs a few years back made a huge difference. The house is 9 years old so well insulated and the main rooms face south, which helps. My last house in Scotland was over 200 years old, stone built and it wasn't possible to make changes to the building because it was listed. Just when I left six years ago the energy supplier estimated my usage over the next year would have been £180 per month had I stayed (both fuels). You are young enough to take a long term view with how you change your lives and housing to achieve better energy efficiency. It won't get any easier or cheaper!

silverspirit

I am wondering if I should get a smart meter. I do turn things off and am pretty careful but it might be quite rivetting to watch the smart meter when I turn things off