Smart meters

Smart meters are a revelation! I finally got round to sorting my library card and I was then able to borrow a smart meter for 3 weeks. We have had it set up for 5 days now and it is almost turning into an obsession watching the figures go up and down.

I have trailed the smart meter all over the house testing out how much it affects our electricity usage to switch on the lights, work on the computer, make a cup of tea, have the lights on in the fish tank, hoover and all sorts of other things. It is fascinating.

I have made some interesting discoveries. Switching on one energy saving light does not create a massive spike (as expected), however using the oven, the microwave or the kettle is very energy intensive. To my surprise some things aren’t really that bad, e.g. having the laptop on or doing the ironing. Obviously nothing should be left on, if you are not using it, but having the oven on longer than absolutely necessary is a lot worse than forgetting to switch an energy bulb off.


Just to illustrate here are some examples:
When everything that can be switched off is off the energy usage is about 0.05kW. Some things like the fridge, the freezer and the pump for the fish can’t really be turned off, so there is a level of permanent energy use. If we switch on the main light in the kitchen, which has an energy saving bulb the usage goes up to 0.06. If I switch on the light in the bathroom, which has a complete overflow of lighting including 4 halogen lights usage goes up to 0.13kW

Using the normal electric oven means an increase of an amazing 1.92 kW, but using the fan assisted oven is even worse at 2.28kW. (Yes, I am one of the very lucky people, who has a range cooker that includes 2 ovens. In fact I have an incredible selection of kitchen gadgets, if only my cooking skills matched my collection of kitchen ware, I would be heading right for Master Chef...). The grill on the other hand 'only' uses 1.61kW, so now I know that using the grill in stead of the oven might sometimes save me energy.


Putting the TV on causes an increase in the energy usage of 0.08kW, and interestingly enough having the TV on standby has an energy usage of 0.02kW. Think about that - the lowest level of energy use would go from 0.05kW to 0.07, just by having the TV on standby. That is the same increase as if we left two energy bulbs burning all the time. Thankfully we are in the habit of switching the TV and various connected boxes off at the wall, but I hate to think about the money we have wasted in previous years leaving stuff on.


Charging a mobile phone is at the same level as switching energy bulbs on, but making a cup of tea is very energy intensive, it has shown increases of up 2.59kW to put the kettle on. It makes you think twice about how much water you are boiling. You can buy an eco kettle, that only heats the amount of cups you need (I think is has two chambers or something and loads a measured amount of water from one chamber into the other chamber that then heats the liquid???), but just looking at the water level indicator is a good start.

Obviously this is just how things look in our house and for our appliances, but it is a strange feeling all of a sudden to know exactly how much energy you are using, and there just might be days, when I would prefer to forget this information. Christmas Day for example, when I usually have absolutely everything on in the kitchen, not to mention christmas lights and all the other stuff. Suddenly Christmas becomes expensive at a different level.

Actually I think I might be turning into a bit of an energy geek. When setting up the smart meter you have the option of entering the rates you pay, that way it shows you the actual cost of the usage. So looking into all this really got me thinking about the rates we are paying and the best way to be set up. This sounds really boring, but I sat down and calculated how much it would have cost us if we had been on some of the other rates and hey it turns out, it doesn’t really make any difference. If I change to the rate that has a standing daily charge then electricity will be about £15 cheaper, but gas will increase by about £10, so overall not a huge benefit. I really should know it by now – the utility companies have lots of clever people working for them figuring all this out, so the chances of me out-smarting them by changing rates are not very high. But at least I did the calculation, so now I know for sure.


Anyway I should probably switch off my computer now and then sit and watch the figures go down on the smart meter by 0.01kW. Who needs entertainment, when you have a smart meter to watch...