Can smart meters help the environment?

Smart meters give homeowners the opportunity to see how much energy they are expending. The hope that comes with smart meters, is that the increase in information available to consumers will make them more conscious, potentially leading to a reduction in energy usage and therefore, lower carbon emissions. Theoretically, a smart meter in every home across the UK, should reduce the country’s energy usage and help the environment.

With a smart meter, you can see how much energy is being used around your home. Due to wireless technology, your supplier will also receive this data, allowing you to get a more accurate bill.

Smart meters are made up of two separate parts. One of these is the meter itself, which sends gas and electricity readings to your supplier, and the other is the in-home display, which allows you to observe your energy usage.

Along with being able to see the amount of energy used in the previous hour, week and month, an in-home display, means homeowners can analyse a breakdown of the cost, their electricity usage, and in some cases, carbon dioxide emissions. The distinct visibility of this data allows homeowners to be more aware of their energy usage and notice areas where they could cut down.

Smart meters are increasing in popularity as they have the potential to reduce energy usage. Simply with homeowners aware of their energy usage, might prompt them to be more conscious of how they use their appliances. As a result, this would decrease the demand for electricity on a larger scale, helping the environment and reducing energy bills.

As smart meters deliver live data, they allow suppliers to accurately meet energy demands, without over-delivering. Not only does this reduce wasted energy, but the fact that this data is sent wirelessly eliminates the need for someone to travel to different properties to take meter readings, in turn lowering vehicle emissions.

Homeowners who have a pre-payment meter will get the additional information of seeing how much credit they have left, any emergency credit, debt balance and whether their credit is running low.

Electricity can be generated in several different ways. For many years, burning fossil fuels including coal, natural gas and oil, was the primary method. The use of renewable energy sources has been on the rise, although there is still a long way to go, before the UK’s National Grid can be deemed to be green. Therefore, electricity generation in the UK is still carbon-intensive.

One way to reduce the rate at which carbon emissions are released into the atmosphere, is to lower the demand for energy. With smart meters, energy consumption becomes more visible to homeowners, potentially encouraging more conscious behaviour when it comes to powering appliances.

Most homes in the UK, still use electricity that is generated by burning fossil fuels. However, for homeowners to reduce their carbon footprint, electricity needs to be generated from sources of renewable energy.