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When can I get a smart meter?
Upgrading homes to smart meters won't happen overnight. There are more than 26 million homes for the energy suppliers to get to, with the goal of every home in England, Scotland and Wales having a smart meter by the end of 2025. The time it takes for you to get your smart meter will generally depend on two factors:
1. Who your energy supplier is
Every gas and electricity supplier will each have their own timetable to get this huge job done.
2. Your home
Because of how the technology is developing, where you live, the type of home you have, and the type of meter you have may affect when you can get a smart meter. Each energy supplier is structuring their rollout of smart meters in their own way. You will need to speak to your supplier about when you can expect to get yours, but you will be offered one by the end of 2025.
What will your smart meter show you?
Smart meters come with an in-home display screen that shows you exactly how much energy you're using in near-real time (it updates at least every 10 seconds for electricity and every half hour for gas) and can show you what it's costing you in pounds and pence (or if you prefer it, kwh or CO2 emissions). Smart meters will show you how much energy you've used within the last day, week, and month.
For smart meters operating in prepay mode, it will also show:
- how much credit you have left
- how much you have on your emergency credit balance
- your debt balance, if you have one
- a visual or audio alert if your credit’s getting low
Will a smart meter show me how much energy my appliances are using?
On your smart meter’s in-home display screen, you’ll be able to see exactly how much energy you're using in near-real time, in pounds and pence.
This figure will accurately show how much energy is being used by everything you’ve got running in your home – including things that are always on, like your fridge.
You can use this information to help you work out which appliances are wasting energy or cost the most to run by noting what causes your energy usage to spike. Your in-home display won’t show you how much energy an individual device is using, but some energy suppliers offer services and apps that can do this for you. Contact your energy supplier to find out what they offer.