Over the past several years, utility companies have been gradually rolling out smart electricity meters across the country. Smart energy meters are a significant technological upgrade from old analog electricity meters and offer many benefits to utility companies and their customers alike.
Want to learn how to read your electrical meter? No matter what kind of meter you have, we can show you how.
What Is a Smart Meter for Electricity and Is It Safe?
A smart meter records your household’s power consumption (usually electricity, sometimes gas and water) and uses two-way radio signals similar to cell phones and Wi-Fi to transmit that information to the utility company. This flow of data (the smart meter gives and receives signals only 1 percent of the time) provides the utility and the customer with updated usage information and more accurate billing.
There are pros and cons regarding smart electricity meters, with varying perspectives around health and security. Nonetheless, it’s estimated that approximately 80 percent of American homes will have a smart meter installed by the end of 2020. The worries and doubts about smart meters have mostly faded away as people reap the benefits of nearly real-time energy consumption data.
Four Smart Energy Meter Benefits
Smart energy meters streamline electrical consumption monitoring and lead to more accurate billing. Here’s how:
- With smart meters, daily household energy use data is available to both the home's occupant and the utility company. For consumers, this level of information can be used – by the consumer or by Mr. Electric® – to identify strategies to reduce power use, control electric bills, and reduce their carbon footprint.
- Because it’s not possible for meter readers to visit every analog meter every month, every other month’s bill is estimated for consumers with analog meters. This can result in unexpectedly high actual bills to make up for low estimated bills. With smart meters, monthly bills are based on actual daily power usage data, so you never pay too much or too little.
- With no more in-person meter reading visits, costs are reduced for the utility company and those savings can be passed on to customers.
- With a constant flow of usage data coming from customers’ homes, utilities can offer faster power outage detection and resolution.
Take Control of Utility Costs with Mr. Electric
If your utility company hasn’t installed your smart energy meter yet, Mr. Electric can install a power consumption meter on your electrical panel, which will provide you with real-time energy usage information to help you reduce your energy bills.
We can use that information, or information from your smart meter, to consult with you about strategies to reduce your utility costs and lower your carbon footprint. Just schedule an appointment online or call us today.
