In August, 213,000 electricity smart meter installations were reported, reflecting a 9% increase from August 2022.
This figure surpassed the previous high for the year in March, which stood at 212,000 installations.
The growing trend of smart meter adoption is attributed to rising energy costs, as households use these devices to manage consumption and monitor bills.
To date, 1.576 million electricity smart meter installations have been completed in 2023, with East England, East Midlands and Southern England leading in installations.
“Mania” seems a little over-the-top, as if people were genuinely enthusiastic about it.
However, mine has started working again as mysteriously as it stopped, so I am quite enthusiastic to go and mess with it.
Aha! I unplugged the monitor as it wasn’t taking to the meter. Been waiting a year for a new one. Going to fire it up up and see if it’s talking again.
I retried mine and now it’s not working again. I’ll have another go and the request a replacement.
Three years ago I got a smart meter, switched to an agile tarrif and set up some home automations with Home Assistant. Now I’m paying an average of ~4p/kWh for my heating and air con, and I’ve had a couple of months where my energy costs have been negative. It needs to happen in more places, in more homes, like a 21st century version of Economy 7 but I don’t think for a second it’s on the agenda for the current government to lead on that.
I have been pondering an agile tariff as it’s just me and I am out a lot, probably cooking well after the peak. I’ll definitely look into this.
Seriously, go for it. In my old place, which was really well insulated, there were months where my energy costs were literally zero.