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How to read your smart meter

That little screen the engineer left on your worktop? Most people glance at it once and never again. Shame — it’s the closest thing you’ve got to an X-ray of where your money goes.

• The in-home display. That little screen shows today’s spend and your live power draw. The best thing you can do with it: flick the kettle, the oven, the immersion heater on and off and watch the number leap — suddenly you can see what’s expensive.
• The meter itself. It shows your running total in kWh (and often today’s use). Electricity is already in kWh; gas often reads in cubic metres (m³) and gets converted to kWh on your bill — so the meter number and the bill number won’t match, and that’s fine.
• Getting the half-hourly data — the good bit. Your supplier’s app (most now show half-hourly usage) lets you see usage hour by hour — when you use power, not just how much. That’s where the real story is.
• What it gives away. Your always-on load, your evening peak, whether a time-of-use tariff would actually suit you, and whether your direct debit matches reality.

Connect your meter to Joulely and we turn that half-hourly data into plain, personal insight — what your home uses, when, what it costs, and what to change. Free and impartial.