British Gas Smart Meters - Beat The Chill This Winter

Every year we battle we our heating costs but we can never really see how much energy we are using and constantly worry about the costs. Our house is only small, a two bedroom terraced property but it’s surprising how much it actually costs to keep warm, then with the added factor of electricity to run all of our household gadgets, our energy payments rocket, especially in the colder months.

As we cannot physically see how much energy we are using, it’s hard to grasp the costs and it soon mounts up and our purses suddenly become a lot emptier. A solution for us would be to use less energy, but we don’t leave lights on, we only put full loads of washing in the washing machine but we are guilty of using a tumble drier. This I can justify as we have little outside space (only enough for our wheelie bins) so drying outside is not an option and our space inside is rather limited as to where we can hang the washing (adding to that the mounds of washing that pile up whilst waiting for loads to dry is unbelievable)

We’ve tried to keep an eye on how much energy we are using from energy statements but it’s not real time, it would be impossible for us to see how much energy we have used over a 24 hour period and I know when speaking to others, my nana for example, bless her cottons, she worries about the cost of her energy bills over the winter and I can see why.

This is where a new solution from British Gas comes into play which is helping those see how much energy they are using in real time, not only that it shows the cost of said energy by the minute, leaving you in control of your energy costs. This solution has arrived in the form of British Gas smart meters that work in conjunction with smart energy monitors.

Using the smart meters it can show you exactly how much energy you use by simply leaving items plugged in, like that laptop or phone charger or having your central heating on for just that hour longer in the mornings. The readings from the meters are accurate, which means no guessing about the cost of your bills.

The best part about the meters is that they are easy to understand, you don’t need a PhD or be a rocket scientist to use them. Using a traffic light system to show your level of usage you know exactly what bracket you come under. Green for low usage and red for high usage, it really is that simple. Knowing this you can look at areas to improve.

The British Gas smart meters allow you the ability to track your usage, be it over the past few days, weeks and even months which is great if you want to see how well you are reducing your energy usage.

Earlier I mentioned that the readings were accurate, I wasn’t lying there. One of the main benefits of the smart meters is that you will receive accurate bills as the meter sends readings of your energy usage automatically without you having to submit any readings.

The new smart meters don’t look a whole lot different to traditional meters at first sight but they communicate to an in-home display unit (a Smart Energy Monitor) to allow you to view your energy consumption for both gas and electricity.

You can register your interest for the new smart meters upgrade on the British Gas website with no upfront cost involved for the meter exchange. You don’t have to do this straight away but due to the new government mandate, all meters must be exchanged for smart meters by the end of 2019. The Oxford Economic reports that the benefits of smart meters could total £25.3 billion, £11.2 billion of that helping households and businesses see the energy they use and saving households an average of 5% on their energy bills.

The smart meters have already been rolled out to customers with over 15,000 providing feedback as to how useful they have found the meters and how easy they are to use.

For more information on the British Gas smart meters you can view the video below and also visit them on Facebook and Twitter