Voltimum - YouGov survey: More smart meter owners report higher bills than savings

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In the ECA’s recent YouGov survey of adults who are eligible for a smart meter, just 1 in 14 respondents with a smart meter (7%) said that having one had reduced their energy bills, while 1 in 11 (9%) said they had increased.  This is despite 1 in 4 (23%) reporting that the main reason for having a smart meter installed was to reduce their energy bills.

Overall, nearly half of respondents (47%) said they were ‘very unlikely’ to have a smart meter installed during the next 12 months, with 20% ‘fairly unlikely’ to do so. Just 5% of respondents said they were ‘very likely’ to do so, with a further 13% ‘fairly likely’ to have one installed in the next year.

ECA Energy Advisor Luke Osborne commented:

“These ECA findings suggest that smart meter users seldom report lower energy bills – which seems at odds with the Government’s ‘save money’ message.

“Smart meters can play a role in stimulating a shift towards a lower carbon future. However, the Government needs to do far more to incentivise change and explain the benefits of using smart meters if they are to increase consumer confidence and take-up in the near future.”

While 61% of smart meter owners reported that they had ‘no issues’ with their smart meter, almost half (45%) reported they had experienced ‘no benefits’ in having one.  The benefit that came out on top for respondents with a smart meter was ‘more accurate billing’ (29%), while 1 in 11 (9%) cited ‘connectivity issues’ as a problem.

Furthermore, fear of data breaches and cyber-attacks came out as the top reason (30% of respondents) for not getting a smart meter, among those unlikely to do so. However, of those with a smart meter, less than 1% reported any issue with data security or hacking.

Luke Osborne added:

“Public awareness of data security has increased significantly recently. These ECA findings show that the Government must do more to explain to the public why smart meters do not present a security risk from hacking or other data breaches.”

Less than 1 in 3 adults who are eligible for a smart meter (32%) surveyed have a smart meter installed, despite a Government commitment for all UK homes to have one by 2020.

Brand: 
ECA


Topic: 
Smart Homes & Building Automation


Thumbnail image: 
ruslan-ivantsov-shutterstock-smart-meter.jpg.b6969c4bf83b82eb63c8bd3f98b9c0c6.jpg



Teaser: 
Having a smart meter installed at home very seldom means lower energy bills, according to new survey findings published by leading electrotechnical trade body ECA.


Type: 
Industry News



Main image(s): 



ruslan-ivantsov-shutterstock-smart-meter.jpg.24bbea8acb99f73174dfee99773320e8.jpg




Date of publication: 
02/04/2019


Target group: 
Voltimum


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Thing is about smart meters, unless you know and record your kwh usage on a regular basis, how would you know you've saved anything?

I do this and can tell our usage doesn't really change year to year............. but the cost per kwh rises ................  so our bills go up .......................and later this year my daughter does to university ...... but I suspect our lecky usage won't drop that much

 
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In our new house I have fitted energy monitoring to measure how much we use for heating and hot water (both via an Air Source Heat Pump) and find heating and HW usage is the minority.  Other "stuff" uses more than heating and HW combined.

 
In our new house I have fitted energy monitoring to measure how much we use for heating and hot water (both via an Air Source Heat Pump) and find heating and HW usage is the minority.  Other "stuff" uses more than heating and HW combined.
What do you find your base load of your house is.

Mine is about the 250W area, down to things like router, Virgin box, clock radio,  bathroom demist mirror which is designed to be heated all the time for some strange reason.

 
I haven't anaylsed the base load yet. A lot of the "standby" stuff like satellite receivers etc have been on a timer so only on from 5PM until midnight in an attempt to cut down "standby" usage. I don't think that actually made a measurable difference when I fitted the timer so probably a waste of time.

I first need to quantify how much the big appliances are using.  In any event they are now used only in the daytime to use the Solar PV as much as possible.

 
What do you find your base load of your house is.

Mine is about the 250W area, down to things like router, Virgin box, clock radio,  bathroom demist mirror which is designed to be heated all the time for some strange reason.
Hmm, you didn't get your mirror from Landrover did you? The reason I ask is that I noticed the other week that the demist wasn't working on the drivers side mirror, I also noticed that the passenger side mirror gets how whenever the engine is running. Before rushing in to find a fault I decided to consult the wiring diagram, and there it was, the mirror heaters are fed direct off an ignition controlled live, turn on the ignition and power is fed to the heated mirrors whether they need it or not, absolutely mad! I couldn't help wondering if it was a ploy to create work for their mechanics when after a few years the heaters in the mirrors fail and the idiots decide they can't live without them. lol 

 
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