With the governments £11 billion smart meter rollout currently underway are we actually up to date with what they are and why they are so beneficial that the government has made such a commitment to offer installation in every home and business in the UK. The rollout of smart meters commenced at the begging of this year 2016, although with 30 million properties to get through across England, Scotland and Wales there is an impressive completion deadline by 2020. The driving force behind the rollout has been largely pushed by the EU as a mode of encouraging energy efficiency and challenging climate change on a consumer level. Since smart meters supply in-depth data on how much energy a property is consuming and how much it is costing, it is hoped that households will become more aware concerning their energy usage and creating greater management of inessential exertion. Yet what is a smart meter? Smart meters will effectively replace conventional electricity and gas meters providing the same facility in recording energy consumption, allowing you to be billed accordingly by your energy supplier. On top of this basic function smart meters strive in operating several ancillary functions with the purpose to allow households to become more aware of their energy expenditure with the object to creating savings where viable. How do smart meters work? Smart meters equip households with increased in depth data over a traditional energy meter. Importantly this includes a live mode which permits you to study real time energy data which will provide you with more of an understanding of when energy is consumed at particular times in the day. In addition smart meters are have the ability to liaise with your energy supplier without any input from you. Consequently this puts an end to estimated meter reading which are notorious for being inconsistent i.e. too high or low. signifying an end to incorrect billing and time absorbing tasks to resolve the inaccuracy. Whats more is through suppliers accumulating more data surrounding how and when you utilise your energy supply, there is the potential for developing increasingly aggressive tariffs founded on individual energy accounts. Benefits of having a smart meter? Of course smart readers are a cost effective method for energy companies to monitor and log meter readings. You will no longer be required to manually update your energy supplier with your latest meter avoiding estimated energy bills since energy suppliers will have access to extracting precise automated reads from your meter of what you have factually used. Since the current old fashioned system rely’s upon a large proportion of guesstimate readings and spontaneous visits from employees to read our mete. This will revolutionise a highly inaccurate segment together with wasted time in correcting energy bills which have often been over or under paid. By 2020 nearly 30 million properties will be fitted with a smart meter, in turn this will provide energy suppliers with a flurry of new data outlining how and when we consume our energy supply. This should furnish data charts with a greater knowledge of peak demands and how energy companies can conduct energy demands more efficiently. Whats exciting is this newly discovered data should pave the way for customers being provided with more versatile energy tariffs tailored towards their energy consumption in turn creating considerable savings compared to standard energy tariffs. Switching energy suppliers will become a more simpler process. In the UK we are becoming more increasingly conscious of our energy suppliers with various comparison sites scanning the market for the most competitive energy tariffs. Between January and March 2016 over 1.1 million customers switched electricity suppliers many of which were to independent suppliers offering more aggressive electricity rates. Occasionally switching suppliers can take up to 28 days since there is a laborious task in hand. However with the latest smart meters which log data in real time, suppliers pledge to formulate switching at a much faster and easier rate than before which in turn should create a more competitive marketplace. What if I already posses an energy monitor? Are they the same device? In short, no. An energy monitor is a basic gadget which is caters for a DIY installation working with your existing electricity meter to provide you with an indicator or your electricity consumption. This is as far as they go and they won’t be able to liaise with your energy supplier dictating your energy bill. Smart meters will bridge this gap and regularly update your energy supplier with your latest reading cancelling out any unforeseen energy bills. Every property in the UK is entitled to having a smart meter installed, however they aren’t compulsory. Whilst we have gone through the benefits there are a handful of individuals whom may be apprehensive surrounding privacy since smart meters do transmit statistics via mobile data signals. If you decide that you’d rather steer away from a smart meter your energy supplier should be able to provide you with an alternative digital meter without the features of a smart meter. It’s worth noting that smart meters are free of charge since this is being partially funded by the government. In essence the cost of your meter will undoubtably be integrated into your energy bill. The UK has one of the most competitive energy markets across the world however it isn’t the first to rollout smart meters. Countries currently taking advantage from smart meters include Italy, New Zealand, Netherlands, United States and Australia to name a few. This fantastic benefit from this is that we are able to acquire knowledge of significant lessons that other counties have experienced.