Simon, Clacton-on-Sea

Simon requested his smart meter from his energy supplier because he had just bought a new house and wanted to see how much energy it was using. He loves smart prepay because he can easily top up online. Simon lives alone in a 3-bed-bungalow in Essex.

I heard about smart meters from a friend and when I moved in to my new house I requested one from my energy supplier. I had a prepayment meter before so I decided to try smart prepay, and I have found it really handy. The smart meter has helped me save money and it is so much easier being able to top up online instead of trying to find a shop to top up my key.

The shops close quite early in my area so it used to be a bit of a pain driving round to find somewhere to buy credit if the electricity went out in the evenings or at another inconvenient time.

Since having the smart meter installed I have found it really useful using the in-home display and I have managed to make some changes that have saved a lot of energy.

When I moved into the house it had six 50 watt halogen bulbs in the kitchen ceiling and you wouldn’t believe what they cost when they were switched on! You could be using two PCs and a wide screen telly and it still wouldn’t use as much energy as those bulbs. Since seeing how much they cost to run on my in-home display I have replaced them with similar LED bulbs and have found that 3.5 watt bulbs are just as bright, and they cost about a tenth of the price as I’m now using 21 watts instead of 300 watts! That’s why I am so glad I got the smart meter.

Apart from the bulbs I realised how much leaving things plugged in was costing and now when I got to bed I turn everything off at the wall – even things like the microwave. The only thing I leave on is the fridge freezer. I’ve managed to cut my electricity bills by about a third.