Smart Meter Savings Calculator
Estimate your annual gas and electricity saving from a smart meter installation. Based on BEIS research showing 2–3% average reduction in usage from real-time monitoring.
Last updated: April 2026
Do smart meters actually save money?
Smart meters replace your existing gas and electricity meters and send readings automatically to your supplier - eliminating estimated bills. They also typically come with an In-Home Display (IHD) that shows your real-time energy consumption and cost. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) estimates that smart meter installation reduces average household energy consumption by 2–3% for both gas and electricity, primarily through the behavioural effect of seeing real-time usage and cost on the IHD.
On an average UK household energy bill, a 2–3% reduction is worth approximately £30–£60 per year. More significant savings are achievable for households that actively use the IHD data to change behaviour - switching off standby appliances, adjusting heating schedules, reducing shower time, and shifting usage to off-peak times (relevant for Time of Use tariffs).
Smart meters and time-of-use tariffs
A second-generation smart meter (SMETS2) enables access to time-of-use electricity tariffs like Octopus Go, Agile Octopus, and OVO Drive Anytime. These tariffs offer significantly cheaper overnight electricity (as low as 7p/kWh) in exchange for paying higher rates at peak times (typically 4pm–7pm). For households with EVs (charged overnight), home batteries, heat pumps, or dishwashers/washing machines that can be set to run overnight, time-of-use tariffs can deliver savings of hundreds of pounds per year - far exceeding the basic behavioural savings from monitoring alone.
First generation (SMETS1) versus second generation (SMETS2)
First-generation smart meters (SMETS1) installed before 2018 sometimes lost their smart functionality when customers switched supplier. SMETS2 meters communicate via a national network (the DCC) and retain their functionality regardless of supplier. If you have a SMETS1 meter that lost functionality after switching, you can request an upgrade to SMETS2 from your current supplier - this is free of charge.