Do smart meters actually make a difference? This is not a new question. But it is one that is worth revisiting as recent research provides interesting insights that may shed some light on how things could be improved. Last week we published news about a report from Keele University which highlighted that smart meters have delivered very limited benefits to consumers and that the proposed longer-term impacts on consumption were overly optimistic. According to the research, A Decade On, How Has the Visibility of Energy Changed? Energy Feedback Perceptions from UK Focus Groups, energy consumption reduction due to smart meters may be no higher than 2%. Originally, research seemed to indicate that the reductions could be as high as 15%. It’s in the why that the real gold lies.

It would appear that there is still a lack of trust in the reliability and depth of information that can be gathered by smart meters. Yet, where smart meters are installed, there is a corresponding lack of understanding of the information provided via the in-home display. Even in environments where the in-home display provides insights in Pounds and Pence, this means very little.

What does it actually mean?

In situations where consumers are concerned because usage is high, there is little to no information as to the appliance that may be responsible for that high usage. Respondents in the survey on which the research is based “describing such devices as ‘not smart’ due to the […]