What are the pros and cons of smart meters?
Just like any change that comes with its pros and cons, smart meters also have their own advantages and disadvantages. They offer real-time energy tracking to help save on bills and reduce waste but also have a downside. In this article, we cover both pros and cons of smart meters to help you make an informed decision.
Difference between a smart meter and a standard meter
There are some differences between Smart Meters and traditional energy meters especially with the functionality. One of the main differences is that smart meters come with a digital display screen instead of a dial. Unlike traditional energy meters, smart meters don’t require someone to physically attend your property to take a meter reading. Smart meters track, display, and communicate your electricity usage throughout the day, while traditional meters record your usage over time that you would either need to manually read or have your energy provider estimate for your bill. Smart meters offer two-way communication, meaning that they can wirelessly send and receive information.
What are some advantages of smart meters?
Smart meters have many pros which will make them a popular choice among consumers in the next few years due to the roll out of the National Smart Meter programme, requiring the replacement of standard meters to smart meters. The many advantages of having a smart meter installed in your home range from financial to environmental benefits. Discover the advantages of smart metering today.
1. No more estimated bills with smart metering
With traditional meters, many Irish energy customers receive estimated bills, which are based on the average energy consumption of homes that are the same size as your home. Smart meters provide customers with real time data on energy consumption, eliminating the need for estimated bills. This allows customers to be billed accurately based on their actual usage, creating fairness and transparency when billing customers.
Many times, electricity companies will send an engineer to read your standard electricity meter. However, this isn’t always possible, as there is no warning when engineers may arrive to read your meter. If there is no one home when engineers call, they will be forced to use an estimated reading instead.
Smart meters remove all the hassle associated with traditional meters, as there is no need for an estimated bill due to the two-way communication between yourself and your supplier, as both parties have constant access to your usage levels. Meaning you will only get charged for the energy you actually consume. This is one of the important advantages of smart meters.
2. Reduced energy consumption
Smart meters create visibility for its customers, allowing them to see their exact energy consumption in real time, and which appliances are using the most electricity. This is an advantage to customers as they have more insight and information into their energy consumption throughout the day, making them more energy aware and allowing them to reduce their energy consumption where they see fit.
Smart meters also seamlessly integrate with renewable energy sources, like wind turbines and solar panels. This integration allows the efficient management of energy generation and usage, creating a more eco-friendly and sustainable power grid.
3. Lower carbon footprint
Besides improving energy efficiency and reducing consumption, smart meters are also good for the environment. With a smart meter, you are more aware of your energy consumption, making you use less energy. This reduces your carbon footprint and leaves you with an electricity bill that reflects your actual energy usage.
4. More information on your energy bills
With a smart meter, your monthly electricity bills will become ‘smart’ too. These monthly bills will provide customers with information on energy consumption, year-on-year comparisons of your energy usage, helpful graphs, as well as hints and tips to help you manage your energy better.
5. Improved customer service
Due to the ease of smart meters, ESB networks will be able to find and fix faults quicker. Moving house will become easier as energy suppliers hold the ‘master’ key to your smart meter and have the ability to switch your electricity on and off. This is helpful when moving house or when you're going to be away from your house for a long time, ensuring you only pay for electricity you are actually using.
6. Time-of-use tariff options
Smart meters have times when unit rates are higher, these tend to be between 5pm and 7pm. Time-of-use tariffs or smart tariffs are introduced with smart meters to encourage customers to move their usage times to time with lower unit rates. These tariffs help customers make further savings and help suppliers better balance their energy generation.
7. Easier error detection
Smart meters have the ability to detect abnormal energy usage patterns and potential system issues, which facilitates early identification of problems. This benefit of smart meters enables timely intervention and maintenance of meters to prevent energy wastage and system inefficiency.
8. Export and earn with microgeneration
Smart meters are helpful to suppliers when measuring the export of residual energy accurately and enabling them to calculate your payment correctly. Consumers without a smart meter, will be remunerated based on the ‘deemed export quantity’ calculation.
What are the main disadvantages of smart meters?
1. Excessive monitoring
Smart meters allow customers to monitor their energy consumption, this can have both positives and negatives. Constantly checking your smart meter to see how much you are spending can cause friction in your homes. Cutting out your energy use completely is impossible; this can cause issues when you get upset when someone switches on a light or boils the kettle.
2. Adjusting Habits
Smart meters make saving money a lot easier for customers. However, these savings do not happen automatically. It is the customer's responsibility to monitor their energy usage and change habits that could ruin their chance of saving money.
3. Money savings
Smart meters provide customers with detailed information on how they are consuming electricity and compare themselves to other homes. However, there is no guarantee you will save money. A smart meter only helps customers save money when they effectively monitor their energy usage and make a positive decision to cut back.
4. Tariffs could be higher at peak times
Standard smart meters tariffs are between 5pm and 7pm. During these peak times, electricity rates are usually higher than non-peak hours. Large energy users and residential customers on smart tariffs will see higher electricity costs during peak hours but lower prices at off peak times.
5. Uses a mobile signal
Smart meters require a mobile signal in order to commission the meter, and a smart meter without the mobile signal defeats the purpose of not requiring to taking meter readings physically. The electronic devices use a mobile signal that automatically sends a meter reading to your provider as often as every half an hour, putting an end to estimated bills. While smart meters do not use a traditional WIFI or internet connection, if you live in an area where the mobile signal is patchy, it will affect your smart meter too. This smart meter disadvantage mostly affects individuals living in remote regions where mobile signals are not entirely covered.
FAQs
Are smart meters worth it in Ireland?
More than half of homes in Ireland currently have a smart electricity meter. However, it is dependent on the household whether a smart meter is the right plan. If a smart tariff would save you money depends on your current plan and electricity usage. The above article provides you with the important pros and cons of smart meters for you to make an informed decision.
Can you go back to the normal meter from the smart meter?
No, it is not possible to switch back to a traditional meter. This includes moving into a property that already has a smart meter installed. This is due to traditional meters not being manufactured or refurbished anymore.
What are 8 benefits of smart meters?
- They help you better understand your energy usage
- They can help you change your habits to save you money
- They’re better for the environment
- You get accurate bills over estimated bills
- You don’t need to manually get meter readings
- Smart meters are free to install
- You get access to better energy deals
- Makes specialist tariffs easier to manage