Saving Money With Smart Meters

Whether you like it or not, smart meters are coming to your home in Ontario. You will be billed different power prices each hour. The old days of a single price for all the power you consumed in a month are gone.

Unless you sign a contract with an electricity retailer (see Avoiding Smart Meter Pricing) you will be charged a higher price for electricity during high demand periods and a lower price during low demand periods. Although this system is more complex than before, the upside is that it opens the door to reducing your electricity bill and being economically rewarded for having a more environmentally friendly home.

You can save money with your smart meter by following one of two strategies. The first is to move as much of your electricity usage from high demand / high price periods to low demand / low price periods as possible. The second is to improve the energy efficiency of your home, thereby reducing your overall electricity demand and hence the amount of electricity you use during high during high demand/ high price hours. Utilizing some the following tips will help you apply these strategies and save you money with your smart meter:

1. CHANGE HOW YOU USE YOUR AIR CONDITIONER:
   Your air conditioner accounts for over half of your electricity bill in the summer. Reduce its overall electricity demand by setting your thermostat to 25C / 77F, turning it off when not at home, closing the shades on the sunny side of the house and by using ceiling or portable fans (which use much less electricity) as much as possible. If your system is automated run it more and cool down your house during off-peak and mid-peak periods while idling it during on-peak periods.
   
   
2. DON’T RUN YOUR POOL PUMP ALL THE TIME:
   Many swimming pool pumps can do a sufficient job running as little as 6 to 8 hours in the day. Turn your pump off for the other 16 to 18 hours, or even better, run the pool pump only during off-peak hours.
   
   
3. OPERATE APPLIANCES DURING OFF-PEAK HOURS AND WITH FULL LOADS:
   Wait until off-peak periods such as late evenings (after 11pm) and / or weekends to run heavy duty electric appliances such as clothes dryers, dishwashers and electric ovens. Take advantage of new appliances with timers that automatically allow them to run at off-peak hours. Operate these devices more efficiently by using full loads.
   
   
4. COOK EFFICIENTLY WITH YOUR ELECTRIC OVEN AND RANGE:
   If you have an electric oven / range you can cook more efficiently by matching pots / pans with heating element size, minimizing or eliminating pre-heating for the oven, and when possible use your crock pot, toaster oven or microwave instead (all of which use a lot less electricity). You can also maximize the effectiveness of your oven by cooking more than 1 dish in it at a time.
   
   
5. REPLACE OLD APPLIANCES:
   Generally, new appliances are much more energy efficient than old appliances so replace them when possible. For example, a refrigerator over 10 years old can use 2 times the electricity of a new refrigerator. For the best results look for new appliances with the ENERGY STAR designation.
   
   
6. REPLACE OLD LIGHT BULBS WITH CFL’S:
   Replace your most frequently used incandescent (old style) bulbs with CFL’s (Compact Florescent Bulbs). CFL’s use 75% less power for the same level of light and last 10 times as long. This longevity more than makes up for their higher cost.
   
   
7. PROGRAM YOUR ELECTRIC WATER HEATER TO HEAT MORE AT NIGHT:
   Install a programmable thermostat on your electric water heater so you can set it to do more heating during off-peak periods such as in the middle of the night or on the weekends.
   
   
8. TURN OFF YOUR ELECTRONIC DEVICES:
   It is energy efficient to turn off your computer monitor if you aren’t going to use it in the next 20 minutes and your computer if you aren’t going to use in the next 2 hours. In a similar vein, turn off your electronic devices that won’t be in use for many days on end such as your DVD players and VCR’s . Even when they are not in operation they remain in standby mode, drawing power and costing you money for little or no benefit.