Ever heard of smart meters? There is a good chance that you haven’t. While we all know what a smart phone is (most of us actually own one), not many people know what smart energy meters are.
What is a smart meter?
In a few words, a smart meter is usually an electrical meter that records your consumption
Smart meter by Cisco
of electricity. Smart meters were invented by energy utilities in their search for a means to match energy consumption with energy generation. Traditional electricity and gas meters only measure your total consumption and do not display data on when the energy was consumed. Smart energy meters provided the utilities with a cost effective way of measuring this information. This is also how they came up with different prices for energy on different times of the day.
So, why should I care about a smart energy meter?
A smart meter can offer several benefits to energy consumers. With real-time insight in your energy consumption:
- Energy suppliers could end estimated bills, which is a well-known customer complaint
- Energy consumers can better manage their consumption. Smart meters can be equipped with a real-time cost indicator, an great saving opportunity!
- Consumers become more aware of their environmental footprint, a great opportunity for less carbon emissions!
Tomorrow, we will discuss an interesting research published by Ernst & Young about the introduction of smart energy meters. They interviewed households in 13 countries and came up with some interesting results.
NEWS POWERED BY: EUROPEAN ENERGY BAROMETER
The post Are You A Smart Energy Customer? appeared first on European Energy Barometer.
