You may have noticed plenty of television adverts or newspaper articles talking about smart meters  or read leaflets which your energy company may have posted to you.

A smart meter is the the newest kind of meter measuring your gas or electricity consumption. It’s a digital meter which is also connected to the internet, allowing your energy company to be able to read your meter at any time, without you ever having to submit a meter reading.

There are obvious advantages for the energy companies and it should help them to make savings but there are also certain benefits for the consumer too. For a start, it will eliminate estimated bills altogether but it will also help the consumer to easily look at their energy consumption at any time and make him or her aware of how much gas or electricity is being used. For those who are keen to make savings and reduce the size of their bills, then you will be able to see how much energy it takes to boil a full kettle, to leave the bedroom lights on upstairs or to use the hoover, for example. Once consumers have that kind of information then it’s possible to make informed choices on how to reduce consumption and, as a result, receive smaller bills.