Hartlepool United players David Ferguson and Jamie Sterry with HUCSF Manager Keith Nobbs promoting the benefits of Smart Meters.
Search ‘get a Smart Meter today’ or get in touch with your energy supplier. Visit @SmartEnergyGB advice page
- Control
With a smart meter, you can see how much energy you’re using – and what it costs – on an in-home display. This could take some of the guesswork out of balancing your budget.
- Accurate billing
Having a smart meter means you get a bill based on how much energy you used – not an estimate.
- Saving and budgeting benefits
When you’re on a tight budget it can be a struggle to make ends meet. Even when you’re doing everything you can to save money. A smart meter could make things a bit easier.
The in-home display is sometimes called an IHD. It comes with the smart meter and can help you keep a closer eye on how much energy you’re using, and how much it’s costing you. This can help you work out how to save energy and money around the home. For example, by switching the TV off at the wall.
- Prepay (many of your beneficiaries will be paying for energy using prepay meters)
A prepay smart meter allows you to top up online, on your mobile or at the shops. You should be able
to put money on the meter from the comfort of your home, rather than having to go to a top-up point.
- Renters
Many people on a low-income live in rented accommodation and may believe they aren’t able to get a smart meter. We want to dispel this myth. Here’s some basic wording.
If your gas and electricity bills are addressed to you and you pay them, you can ask your energy supplier for a smart meter. You don’t need your landlord’s permission, but you should let them know.
If you don’t pay your energy bills, ask your landlord to get one installed for you.
- Automated meter readings
The smart meter automatically sends readings to your energy supplier.
- Being socially responsible: National environmental benefits
Smart meters provide information to make Great Britain’s energy system more flexible, more efficient and greener.
As a nation, we are using more energy. We also want to make better use of green energy, like solar power and wind. That means we need a flexible energy system that provides more power, when people want it.
Smart meters help, because they provide information about how much energy people use at different times of day and of the year. That information can help make better decisions about how energy is produced and stored.
- AIHD Display
The accessible in-home display is sometimes called an AIHD. If you need an accessible in-home display, they’re available from some suppliers.
An AIHD could be helpful if you:
- are blind or partially sighted
- have difficulties using your hands or wrists, or
- have difficulties with memory loss
They have larger buttons and can read information out loud. Ask your energy supplier about an accessible in-home display.