Smart meters can save you energy and cash

Mar 17 2008 by Jackie Bow, South Wales Echo

IF all householders in Merthyr Tydfil switched to smart meters, £1.1m a year could be saved on energy.

That’s according to the Energy Saving Trust, which says the advanced electrical meters would allow people to monitor how much their energy use costs the environment – and their pocket.

Research by EST, set up to help people tackle climate change, reveals that eight out of 10 people in Wales don’t realise what they are paying for their gas and electricity.

Energy bills are seen as the most difficult to understand of all household bills – twice as hard as phone and four times as difficult as bank statements or credit card bills.

Studies have shown that those who use smart meters save between five and 10 per cent on their energy bills.

Based on savings of five per cent, EST estimates that if everyone in Merthyr switched to smart meters, Welsh households would save £1.1m a year and the equivalent of 7,100 tonnes of CO2 emissions – enough to fill the Millennium Stadium twice.