Really?

pseudodox

I know I have overfilled the kettle when the water won't fit in my coffee mug & flows over onto the work top.  Do they really think we are totally stupid?  At least it is not Albert making a cuppa.

I am currently listening to the radio - I suppose a SM would be warning me it is using energy.  Oh dear - I hadn't realised.  Better turn it off.

EssexHebridean

For years the argument about only putting as much water in the kettle as needed has been being used, but it has also been ignored by folk because they weren’t able to physically see an impact on their energy use. Now we have devices that help people see a difference by taking particular behaviours, and rather than saying “excellent, that will be more people able to. It down on their energy use, reduce their bills and put less strain on the grid in the mid -Corrie commercial break”, and we choose to sneer at that…?

Many of us posting on here have huge educational privilege - either because we were fortunate enough to gain a good education as young people, or because we have chosen to educate ourselves subsequently. It would be great if we would all remember that.  A lot of those arriving here don’t have the knowledge we do in our particular “pet subjects” - be that energy, debt management or whatever. For those people to arrive here and immediately feel belittled isn’t really going to encourage them to stay and broaden their own knowledge, is it. 

Qyburn

Our smart meter hasn't stopped Mrs Q overfilling the kettle. 

booneruk

Even if this is obvious, some people don't see the obvious. A smart meter IHD gives visibility on your electricity consumption, so paying attention while boiling will show the difference between a boil with the optimal amount of water for your needs vs one that has too much - blah blah.

Anyway, the real bonus with smart metering is being able to access smart tariffs.

EssexHebridean

booneruk said:

Even if this is obvious, some people don't see the obvious. A smart meter IHD gives visibility on your electricity consumption, so paying attention while boiling will show the difference between a boil with the optimal amount of water for your needs vs one that has too much - blah blah.

Anyway, the real bonus with smart metering is being able to access smart tariffs.

Exactly this! Agreed on the smart tariffs too - but that’s a step too far for the advertising as it takes too much explaining for a 30 second ad. Once folk are converted, then we can encourage that thinking! 

mmmmikey

What's blindingly obvious to many of us isn't obvious to everyone.

There are still lots of people who have no concept at all of how much energy different appliances use. Think of people who don't leave their TV on standby (even though modern ones use a trivial amount of electricity) or people who always charge their phone at work and can't understand why their electricity bills are so big. 

A lot of the time it's because they've never stopped to think about it. These adverts are aimed at them and as much about awareness as anything else - i.e. encouraging people to stop and think.

JohnSwift10

My daughter used to leave the TV on all day and night for her cats to watch, and they mostly slept in front of it, and it was only after she got a smart meter and IHD she realised how much electricity the TV was using as she went around the house switching things off to see how low she could get the display.

pseudodox

And it assumes you have a working IHD

Gerry1

Not sure the silly claim is even technically realistic.  It seems to show a kettle that must be used on a hob.

• If it's a gas hob then the IHD can't show its usage in real time, it might be almost 30 minutes later.  Nor is the IHD likely to warn of excessively high or long gas consumption by the kettle: even it's a 4kW burner, that will be far less than the peak demand of a 20-30kW boiler.  Similarly, when the CH is in use the kettle's wasteful usage will be lost in the noise, especially if it's a modulating boiler.

• If it's a hob with electric rings, the IHD won't tell her she's using the wrong type of kettle: the high thermal mass of the rings and the metal kettle will waste more energy than a plastic jug electric kettle with auto shut-off.

Netexporter

EssexHebridean said:

booneruk said:

Even if this is obvious, some people don't see the obvious. A smart meter IHD gives visibility on your electricity consumption, so paying attention while boiling will show the difference between a boil with the optimal amount of water for your needs vs one that has too much - blah blah.

Anyway, the real bonus with smart metering is being able to access smart tariffs.

Exactly this! Agreed on the smart tariffs too - but that’s a step too far for the advertising as it takes too much explaining for a 30 second ad. Once folk are converted, then we can encourage that thinking! 

I was pleased to see that "Einstein" is celebrating the virtues of load-shifting/TOU tariffs, on the latest advert. Not before time. But as you said, upthread, people have very different levels of awareness of how energy works.

Perhaps Great British Energy should have an education division, to co-ordinate the raising of awareness of all things energy related?

teaselMay

Morning kettle boil and toast are often the biggest peak in my energy use. It is useful to see what I'm using and the data provides positive feedback in reducing consumption and changing my habits.

Ironically for me as the only human in the house it's meant that I do use the tumble drier occasionally where, because I'm trying to save money, I might not have previously because it uses less power than I'd expected. Although everything still goes outside unless no chance of it drying.