Smart energy meters may appear complex devices at first glance, but in reality, a smart energy meter is nothing more than a smart plug, which you install in your electrical cabinet. It replaces your oldschool gas and electricity meters, eliminating the need for visits from human meter readers. It then measures your gas and electricity consumption and can safely and accurately send data to your energy provider(s) each month so they can adjust your energy bill to match your actual consumption. As an easy upgrade, you can equip your domestic appliances with wireless switch controllers, which will also send data on energy consumption of individual appliances to the smart energy meter. This will provide you with a virtual map of where and when you spend most energy and likely help you change your habits for the better. To make reading easier, you can monitor your collected and combined data on your smart phone or tablet – creating a remote home control system. The best thing about this is that it doesn’t force you to track or act on anything. If you are happy with your consumption levels, fine. If you would like to lower your energy bill, smart energy meters and home control offer a good insight into where you should tackle the task first. You can consult the home control system when you have time and feel like it, and forget about it for the rest of the time.
