According to a new report by Smart Energy GB, the recent roll out of smart meters has helped around three quarters of customers understand their energy bills better. But are the meters as efficient and as useful as the energy suppliers claim they are?
Nearly 80% of domestic energy customers have now begun taking steps to minimise their energy usage, for example turning off lights, not having the heating turned up as high, or even changing the way in which their household appliances are used. A simple display illustrating the use of energy is really helping people to further understand the way in which their energy spend is calculated.
However, one apparent flaw to the system is it's reliance on a mobile network to transmit the data back to energy suppliers, such as the meter supplied by Ovo. Despite the UK spending £11bn on the project, paid for by customer's bills, this is still an issue that will affect a large number of consumers living in the rural areas of the country. Even in built up cities there are still black spots where signal is weaker than it would be expected to be - and surely a customer would rather have this resource used for their own personal communication, rather than having it taken up by themselves and their neighbours to transmit extra data.
Earlier this year MPs on the energy and climate change committee warned that the government's programme regarding smart meter installation to homes by 2020 could end up as a 'costly failure' to the UK - particularly because of the meter's reliance on the mobile network, and how it is almost non-existent still in some areas of the country.
Smart Energy GB is continuing to promote their use for the domestic consumers, while insisting that a new network is being built in order to facilitate the use of smart meters in homes. "All smart meters in households across the country will run through a new, secure, dedicated national data and communications network, currently being built solely for smart meters. It is scheduled to go live in 2016 and will cover 99.25% of England, Scotland, and Wales," it says.
Do you have a smart meter for your home, or even your business? How has it affected you and the way your household manages their energy usage? Every household and microbusiness in Great Britain can have a smart meter installed as part of the national roll-out until 2020.