Smart Meters - What makes them so smart?

Your Smart Lowdown

Hidden away in cobwebby meter cupboard, quietly clocking away your usage and zipping it over to your energy supplier, introducing, the mysterious and divisive smart meter!

Happy taking your monthly meter readings and not sure why you’d bother getting your old meter replaced?  Smart meters are more than just a handy way to avoid having to clear away the cobwebs and send off your readings once a month, they’re vital to the future of our energy grid.

So in an effort to understand what they’re all about and the role they play in helping us achieve our Plan Zero goals, we’ve collated some of our best OVO energy guides and OVO member comments. Don’t just take it from Einstein.

Knowledge is Powerful!

Ignorance may be bliss but the more we know about the energy we use, the better we’re able to make energy-saving changes. Having a Smart meter not only means you’ll get more accurate monthly summaries, you’ll also be able to see a visualisation of this data in the form of usage graphs, available on your online account (data is beautiful, after all!) Read more about how to access and interpret these on the handy guide below.

With half-hourly readings our Smart meters can help identify which appliances might be the biggest energy guzzlers in your home. You can view this info, alongside some tips to help you minimise your usage and carbon footprint, on our new online feature - OVO Greenlight, read all about it here -

The Bigger picture - Your connection to the Grid

“No (hu)man is an island” and the same could be said of your meter. Each Smart meter which is connected to the national grid has a big part to play in ensuring the sustainability of our energy industry. The Smart network helps to monitor and manage not only what we use on an individual or household level but also on a national level. 

Want to know more about why this is important? Get up to speed with what’s going on behind the scenes to keep the power flowing on this member-written guide:

So how can Smart meters help?

With a much more detailed picture of when and where we’re using energy, we’ve got the chance to respond. We can work out when energy is plentiful and use this time to charge things up which is great news for electric vehicles and storage batteries. We can also make sure energy which is stored in these batteries is fed back to the grid at times of peak demand. This process is known as Demand Side Response, which you can learn more about here.

A flexible future

Up to date usage information also allows for other grid-balancing strategies, such as a Time of Use tariffs. These would encourage (and reward) you to use energy at times when others aren’t, spreading out the peaks of demand and our reliance on fossil fuels. Join in the conversation about the implications and practicalities of this type of plan in the discussion below.

Convinced? Here’s what you need to know about Installation day 

Find out what to expect from your Smart Meter installation on this OVO member guide.

By upgrading your meter, you’ll be taking a big step to making your home smarter and our future greener!