When I moved into my old apartment for the first time in 2021, I received constant Notification from my energy supplier to book a smart meter appointment.
At the time it felt like a nonsense as both my partner and I were working in the office five days a week at the time and valuable weekend appointments were hard to come by. However, once we signed up, the smart meter was worth the constant appointment hunting. Knowing that our exact usage was being communicated to the provider was a godsend, and seeing exactly how much money we were spending was definitely a no-brainer for me.
And then we moved into a dead zone.
Smart meters run on a network specifically designed for the devices and managed by Data Communications Company (DCC). Accordingly Energy BritainThe DCC network reaches 99.3% of properties in the UK. This means that, annoyingly, my specific area of South Essex is within the 0.7% mark and has limited or no coverage and therefore my home is not suitable for a smart meter installation.
When I first discovered this fact, I admit I didn’t think much about it – but that was my first mistake. After a few months, my energy supplier Octopus kindly informed us that our monthly direct bill was due to increase by over 162% – and that’s for a two-person household.
Essentially, Octopus allowed us to predict how much energy we used at home by allowing us to forget to send manual meter readings.
Of course, as soon as I received this frankly terrible bill update, I rushed to submit the meter readings and luckily the recommended monthly direct debit was reset to the original amount.
Miss turning off the Octopus
Not only does the lack of smart meters mean I have to remember to send manual readings to avoid being charged a lot of money unnecessarily, it also means we miss out on Octopus’ incentives to get households to reduce their energy consumption. Essentially, the provider offers power-down hours where you earn points that you can redeem for an amount off your bill if you use less energy than usual during a certain period.
It may sound pointless, but gamifying energy conservation is definitely a helpful way to get households to make thoughtful decisions. Yes, we can all make decisions like this in everyday life, but it’s a bonus that Octopus actually rewards you for it.
What is the advantage of a smart meter?
I truly believe that a smart meter is one of the best things you can do for your home. It may not be fancy or compatible with Alexa, but the humble smart meter eliminates the need to worry about sending manual readings to your provider, so you can be sure you’re always being billed for the right amount of energy and not letting them make wild guesses about your usage.
Additionally, a smart meter allows you to see exactly how much energy you are using and how much it is costing you. This means you can decide when to put equipment into use to save money. Speaking of which, and perhaps most importantly, smart meters are literally free – and you don’t have to install them yourself.
What to do if you don’t get a smart meter?
If you’re like me and live outside the 99.3% coverage area in the UK, or your home doesn’t readily support a smart meter, then there are one or two ways you can ensure your bill accurately reflects your usage. The most important thing is to send manual meter readings once a month.
It’s also worth contacting your energy supplier and getting them on the waiting list or even asking directly when smart meters are expected to start working in your area.
