Page last updated on 16th March 2026
Monitoring energy usage: will a smart meter save me money at home?
In response to the rising cost of living and energy in Great Britain, many households are looking for ways to cut down on energy bills and become more energy efficient. One option is to switch to a smart meter.
But do smarter meters save money? And are they an effective way of monitoring energy usage in the household?
What's on this page?
Smart meters are the next generation of gas and electricity meters, automatically measuring your household’s energy usage and sending this data to your supplier. Learn more about how smart meters can help you save money on energy.
How to monitor energy usage with a smart meter: how do they work?
Wondering how to monitor electricity usage in your home or monitor your gas consumption? A smart meter measures your household’s electricity or gas usage. It transmits accurate readings to your energy supplier at least once a month through a secure smart data network. Smart meters also send this data to the portable smart meter in-home display (IHD). The IHD show near real-time energy usage data, helping you with monitoring energy usage.
If you want to learn how to monitor gas and electricity usage in the home, an in-home display simplifies this process, allowing you to see how much energy you are using and what it is costing you in pounds and pence.
How does a smart meter save money?
There are many benefits of smart meters, but will a smart meter save me money? While it doesn’t save money on its own, switching to a smart meter could help you make more efficient choices about your energy usage, which in turn could help to cut down your energy bills.Â
With the help of a smart meter, you could reduce your household bills and overall energy consumption in a few ways:Â
No more estimated billsÂ
How do smart meters save money? Smart meters automatically send meter readings to your energy supplier. This allows your energy supplier to know how much energy you are consuming, eliminating estimated bills and ensuring you are only charged for the energy you actually use.Â
More conscious energy usage
Thanks to the in-home display, smart meters allow you to see exactly how much energy you are using on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Smart meters save money by encouraging mindful energy usage and budgeting. This increased awareness gives you more control of your energy usage, which could ultimately lower your energy bills and reduce your carbon footprint.
Does having a smart meter save money? Not directly, but the data it provides can help you make sustainable choices that lower your energy bills.
Additionally, this data from the in-home display can help identify patterns in energy usage, such as high consumption from everyday appliances like electric heaters and dishwashers.
Benefit from time-of-use tariffs
If you're wondering “how can a smart meter save money?” then you may want to investigate smart time-of-use tariffs. Some suppliers offer time-of-use tariffs, where electricity prices are different at different hours of the day, or on different days. Smart meters allow you to use these tariffs by automatically sending regular readings to your energy supplier, allowing them to know when you have used energy around the house.
For instance, depending on the tariff you’re on, using high-energy appliances like the washing machine during off-peak hours, rather than during peak times, could lower your energy bills. It’s important to remember that appliances should not be used unsupervised though – choose off-peak times when someone is at home to keep an eye on things is the best option.
For more information about time-of-use tariffs and how you can benefit from them, check out our guide here.
Does a smart meter save money and help the environment?
So, do smart meters save money? They can do, if you use the data they provide to change your energy habits. By making smarter choices and cutting down on energy waste, you can save money and energy.
But what about the environment?
More and more of us are taking control of our energy usage with smart meters. In this way, we can work towards lowering carbon emissions and reducing our national reliance on fossil fuels. Learn more about how smart meters can help the environment by improving energy infrastructure in Great Britain.
Get a smart meter today so you can better manage your energy use and find ways to save energy in your home.
You may also be interested in...
