Energy monitors can be very easily confused with smart meters however they are completely different devices. We’ll start by clearing up any confusion: an energy monitor will help you to understand how much electricity you use, whilst a smart meter sends information about how much energy you use directly to your energy provider.
Energy monitors are relatively simple gadgets that are designed to give you an estimate of how much electricity you are using at any given time. Energy monitors are sometimes also described as electricity monitors or electricity usage meters. Relatively cheap to buy and widely available, an energy monitor is likely to cost around £40 (some energy providers supply them for free) and are very simple to install.
The majority of energy monitors will allow you to see what your real-time energy usage is in units of energy used and the cost or carbon emissions. In addition, some monitors offer extra features such alarms designed to let you know when you reached a pre-set daily target for electricity usage.
Energy monitors can help you keep track of how much electricity you are using and to pinpoint which appliances use the most energy. Once armed with this information you should, ideally be able to reduce your electricity usage and cut your energy bills accordingly.
