Keep seeing adverts for smart meters and folk (allegedly) save loads of money. How exactly do they work? Never asked or been offered one from Scottish Gas.
I've had one for ages and had no problems. They don't actually save you money themselves, you have a monitor which shows you how much each electric item costs when it's actually on so you can be more economical.
I was forced to have one installed because of the tariff I'm on. All the pictures show a decent sized colour screen but the one I got is a minute black and white one with displays that I couldn't understand at all. So, 10 minutes after the installer left it went into a cupboard and hasn't been out since.
The only benefit as far as I can see is that I no longer need to read the meters because the readings are sent automatically to my supplier.
The main problem with smart meters at the moment is that a large number of those fitted cause problems if you want to change your energy supplier. I refuse to have one, but I do wonder how long it will be before they become compulsory. Basically the only way to save money is use less power and you really only need common sense for that.
As the ads say YOU COULD save enough to power X but you can save if you cut down on the amount you use. A touch of kidology really just to sell the meters. I have had 2 meters from suppliers when I changed as the meters were not interchangable, the only thing I like about them is the fact I no longer read them.