Sunday, 3 March 2019

Smart


A few months ago I got  smart meter, supplied by my energy company.  Just in case you're not familiar with them I'll explain that the energy company can now read my meters remotely and I shall never again be asked to supply a reading.  The fun bit is that they also supplied me with a monitor which sits in the kitchen and nudges my conscience.


A few weeks ago I was at a dinner and there were four households represented at the table.  All four of us had smart meters and monitors but the other three just kept their monitor in a drawer and didn't bother to use it!  I wanted one so that I could save money but the smart meter will not save you anything - it just gives information so you can do the saving if you want to.

And I do want to.  I read my meter daily and each day rack my brains to think of the things I did the previous day which used energy.  Gradually I am becoming better at reducing my consumption.  I will need a least a year of figures before I know how much I have saved but I am sure that the habit of turning the thermostat down, that using my insulated cafetiere rather than boiling the kettle several times, and all the other little economies I make will make a difference.

One of the things that has helped is this little "dry fryer" which I was given for Christmas.  Actually it's really a mini oven and it uses far less power than even my top oven but I can cook small meals, eg a chop and a jacket potato or a shepherd's pie rather quicker than in the top oven.

7 comments:

  1. We love our smart meter, like you we keep an eye on it daily. We have a simular oven to yours, had it for over a year, much cheaper to use than the big or small oven on our cooker.

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  2. The oven is great and I would never have thought of buying one for myself so I am very grateful to the donor

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  3. I have been looking at those fryers -- here we call them air fryers an wonder how they work -- my niece loves hers.

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    1. Yes, they're also called air fryers here. Until I had mine I didn't know how versatile they could be.

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  4. I had smart meter in my last house, I'm waiting for one to be fitted next month here.

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  5. I'm being much more diligent about only boiling the water I need, rather than automatically filling up the kettle. And using microwave or slow cooker rather than the big oven.

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