How to get the best from your smart meter

Smart meters are now in over half of households and small businesses in the UK. But, aside from sending meter readings to your supplier, how else can they help? 

With the cost of living crisis ongoing, can they be used to help us save some much needed funds? We&#;ve gathered some tips to help you get the most from your smart meter, and hopefully be better off financially as a result. 

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What do smart meters do?

The main purpose of a smart meter is to automate the process of sending meter readings to your energy supplier. Your supplier can then bill you accurately - and only for the energy you&#;ve used - rather than relying on estimates and any ad-hoc readings you provide.

Smart meters also come with in-home display units that show you how much energy you&#;re using at any given moment, as well as your usage over time.

Do smart meters work with prepayment meters, too?

Yes, they do! Smart meters can be set up for people who pay their bill when they receive it, pay by direct debit or who have prepayment meters. If you have a prepayment meter (also known as a pay-as-you-go meter), your display will show you how much energy you&#;re using as well as how much credit you have left before you&#;ll need to top up again.

It can help you predict how often you&#;ll need to top up and how much you&#;ll need to spend. This can be handy when you&#;re trying to work out your budget.

Four ways to get the most from your smart meter

Smart meters could also be used to help you reduce your energy bills. Here are our top money-saving tips:

1. Check your display

The display screen that comes with your smart meter gives you an easy way to check how much energy you&#;re using without having to brave the basement, garage, or outdoors to find and check your traditional meter. If your display unit is plugged in somewhere out of the way, or worse, is still in its box, then it&#;s not being useful. Ideally, your display will be plugged in and placed somewhere you can glance at it as you go about your day. Then, you&#;ll be able to reap the benefits.

2. Track your usage

Your smart meter&#;s display unit shows how much electricity you&#;re using in almost real-time, and how much gas you&#;re using every 30 minutes. Have you just put the kettle on, or set a load of laundry running? Your display will show you everything you do and how much it costs.

The display screen also assists you in keep a running total of how much money you&#;re spending on energy per day, week and month. This can help you budget better, as you&#;ll know exactly what you&#;ve spent at any given time. So, the next time you need to top up or you get a bill, it won&#;t be a surprise.

3. Spot trends and make a plan

Comparing your energy usage over time using your smart meter can help you spot trends in your usage. This may then give you ideas on how you can reduce the amount of electricity and gas you use. 86% of people with smart meters say they&#;ve changed how they do things around the house as a result of seeing their energy usage laid bare.

For example, if you notice that the amount of electricity you use is much higher on days you run the washing machine, you may decide to only do a wash when you have a full load to put on, or instead use your machine&#;s eco settings.

4. Measure the impact of your efforts

Because you can use your display to track your usage and compare it over time, you&#;ll be able to see quite quickly what effect your energy-saving tactics are having, and if it&#;s worth sticking with them. For example, if something is easy to build into your daily routine and reduces your energy usage significantly, then keeping it going is a no-brainer! But, something that&#;s harder to stick to and seems to only save you a few pennies may not be worth the effort.

Do smart meters save you money?

Simply having a smart meter installed won&#;t usually save you money. In most cases, the savings you could make come from the changes you make around the house to use less energy.

That said, some people notice that switching from a billing system based on estimates to one based on actual usage means they save up to £20 a month. This isn&#;t the case for everyone, though.

Being more aware of how much energy you&#;re using and when can help you to work out if you&#;d benefit from switching to a different tariff.

Here are a few extra money-saving ideas you might want to try to reduce your energy usage:

• hanging laundry out to dry instead of using the tumble dryer on nice days
• turning electronics and appliances off at the mains instead of leaving them on standby
• only boiling the water you need in the kettle, instead of filling it to the brim every time
• swapping time spent on games consoles and other high-energy electronics for &#;off-grid&#; entertainment like board games or reading a book
• re-arranging your rooms so no furniture is blocking radiators and heat can circulate more effectively
• using a slow cooker to batch cook meals so you spend less time using energy-hungry appliances like the oven

Each of these changes may only save you a small amount, but together they could make a sizeable difference to your energy bills!

Like many Duke Energy residential customers, I was aware my home had a smart meter, but wasn&#;t sure how to take advantage of its benefits. After checking it out, I learned how small behavior changes can lead to savings and no surprises when I get my bill.

Smart meters are two-way digital units that send energy usage information daily from customers&#; homes. I can monitor and evaluate my use, look for irregularities and take steps to save money. So far, meters have been installed for more than 60 percent of Duke Energy&#;s customers in the Southeast and Midwest.

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The hourly usage chart shows when peak usage happens.

My key to unlocking the trove of information from my smart meter was to first create an online account. It&#;s easy to do; just start here. After registering and logging in to My Account, I was ready to evaluate my use, find ways to save, and get educated on how to use Duke Energy&#;s automated tools to keep me informed and avoid billing surprises.

Here&#;s what I found at the &#;My Usage & Savings&#; tab under the main menu:

Robert Moreland

Charts show my electricity use in kwh (kilowatts per hour) on an hourly, daily, weekly and monthly basis. They display the high temperature for the day, my kwh use, and comparisons to other days of the week and times of day. The data goes back two years, allowing me to make comparisons of the same month in previous years.

Robert Moreland, Duke Energy&#;s project director for smart meter deployment in the Carolinas, told me that monitoring usage allows me to see trends or irregularities. &#;While the meters track overall usage, they don&#;t know how you are using your energy,&#; he said.

The graphs on the website are good starting points for exploration. Abnormally high use at off hours, for example, may indicate improperly functioning air conditioning or heating units.

This calculator shows how much you could save by adjusting your thermostat.

While I found no real surprises, my peak use was late afternoon and early evening, when washing clothes, using the dishwasher and kitchen appliances, and running my air conditioner. I felt I could make improvements.

The Usage Calculator let me enter information about my home including its age, square footage, age of air conditioning units and thermostat settings. I could play with the settings and &#; bingo! &#; with minor tweaks to my thermostat, I could realize some significant savings.

When it comes to bills, I hate surprises. One of the most significant benefits smart meters offer customers is avoiding surprises through the usage alert feature.

&#;Because smart meters are read nightly,&#; said Moreland, &#;we&#;re able to provide notification mid-billing cycle to customers who&#;ve signed up for this feature through text or . The notice shows how much energy they&#;ve used, what they&#;ve spent, and, based on usage and weather projections, what their estimated end of the month bill will be. This gives customers the opportunity to take action and modify their usage.&#;

Sign me up!

Another way to avoid surprises is an equal payment plan. This no-cost feature levels out 12 monthly payments based on history, with settle-up &#; if needed &#; done in the 12th month. (Budget Billing is available for some customers, while others may be eligible for Your FixedBill.) 

I found these features and other energy-saving offers and ideas available in the Lower My Bill Toolkit tab. There&#;s even an online store with discounts for energy-saving products, free LED lightbulbs and information on home rebates for energy upgrades. I learned about these during a free Duke Energy Home Energy House Call.

&#;We want our customers to use less energy,&#; said Moreland. &#;And by better informing consumers, they can reach those goals easier.&#;

9 ways to save energy

• Have the HVAC system checked to maintain peak performance. Duke Energy offers qualified customers rebates to help offset the cost of replacing older units with energy-efficient ones. Use finditduke.com to find a certified contractor.
• Change air filters regularly. A dirty air filter makes an HVAC system work harder, which uses more energy.
• Set your thermostat as high as comfortable. The smaller the difference between the inside and outside temperatures, the lower your energy bill will be.
• If you have a whole-house fan, use it to pull cool air into your home at night or in the early morning through open windows. Turn the fan off and shut the windows during the day.
• Close blinds and curtains on sunny days.
• Use bathroom and kitchen fans to remove heat and humidity caused by showering and cooking. (And take short showers instead of baths to save even more year-round.)
• By using a ceiling fan, you&#;ll feel cooler and be able to raise the thermostat by as much as 4 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Run your dishwasher, washing machine and dryer at night when it&#;s cooler. Run full loads. Consider air drying dishes and clothes to save even more.
• If you&#;re going on vacation, learn about ways to save energy while you&#;re away.

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