Npower SmartPower Electricity Monitor Review
Information and review on the new smartpower energy monitoring system to help reduce electricity costs for homes in the UK.
Rather like energy smart from British Gas the smart power energy monitor does exactly the same thing if you switch your electricity to npower for all new customers taking out one of Npower’s products.
What does the smartpower meter do ?
Any energy monitor is designed to easily fit into your home and monitor your electricity consumption at a glance. This does not replace your existing meter in any way but is an additional tool to help you watch over how much electricity you are using at any one given time.
An energy monitor is not the same as a smart meter. Smart meters replace your own meter and send reading via mobile phone networks to the energy companies themselves so you never have to read a meter again. (The government has committed to having one installed in every home in the UK over the next few years so some of the energy companies have started by providing these for free to many of their customers.)
The npower smart power meter is a small monitor that will read your meter for you all of the time so you can see your consumption figures. It’s easily installed in your home and you can mount it on the wall or have it standing somewhere where you can see and read the data.
You will receive various pieces of equipment to power the energy monitor. The monitor will generally be powered by mains electricity so find a suitable place to be close to the power supply. There will be a transmitter to send data from your electricity meter directly back to the energy monitor. The transmitter will be battery powered. Setting all of this up together is very easy and instructions will be provided.
Why have an energy monitor in the first place ?
It has been estimated that people who monitor their electricity consumption can save up to 12% on their energy usage just by knowing how much they are using at anyone time. Although this may sound simplistic most things that are monitored and analysed can be made more efficient and the energy monitor is giving you the tools and software to be able to undertake this. It doesn’t do anything more than show you your current and trended usage over a period of time but that may be enough to know and to start making changes in your home to reduce energy usage.
How do I get my smart power energy monitor ?
For brand new customers not currently with npower you will receive a smartpower energy monitor when you sign up to any tariff online. It doesn’t appear to be available to current customers although you can access the other smartpower benefits by registering an account and manage it all online. By doing this you will not get a paper bill any longer and be able to submit your own meter readings online so there will be no more estimated bills to receive.