A fan of Martin Lewis asked about making a change to their home
Martin Lewis has offered some thoughts on how energy bill payers can save money on their household bills. A recent episode of his BBC podcast featured a collection of listener questions from the past year. This included a question from a listener about smart meters.
The listener said that they had always turned down the offer to have a smart meter installed due to the “poor reputation” of these devices. The person said firmly they “do not under any circumstances want a smart meter fitted”. In response, Mr Lewis outlined some of the advantages of these devices.
He said: “I am generally relatively pro smart meters. If you have a smart meter, first of all you don’t need to do meter readings any more. The amount of energy used is automatically passed through to the energy company.”
He also said you can get better rates if you have a smart meter. The expert explained: “It means a whole range of special tariffs are available to you, and we’re going to see more of these time-of-use tariffs coming later, where you may be offered much cheaper rates for using energy overnight, if you can shift your electricity usage overnight.
“It’s good for charging an EV [electric vehicle] for the same reason that you’re able to measure it in that way.” Mr Lewis said there could be further changes on the way which will help smart meter users save on their bills.
He explained: “In future, I think one of the ways people are going to be able to save substantially is by having a smart meter and using most of the electricity in storage heaters and everything else, that puts on their energy at night.”
Reducing your energy usage
The money-saving expert highlighted another benefit of smart meters for keeping on to of how much energy you are using. He explained: “I also think the in-home display that most people get with a smart meter that allows you to see exactly how much energy you are using, while it can be depressing, it’s also a great way to manage your energy usage.
“Lots of people tell me, I looked at the meter, I saw it was running at 19p, I know that must mean I left the lights on upstairs. They are so intuitively linked to what their display is telling them, they can work out what’s on where in the house and when it shouldn’t be on, which is also useful and helps you bring down your energy usage.”
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