49% Suffer from Smart Meter Anxiety

Smart meters have become commonplace in homes across the UK – but what impact are they having on our behaviour?

We decided to take a deep dive into the nation’s relationship with the nifty little gizmos that are designed to monitor and help us adjust our home’s energy use.

In theory of course, smart meters are a fantastic idea. By keeping an eye on how much energy we are using in our homes, we can make informed decisions about how we choose to use appliances throughout our houses.

But are smart meters good news for everyone? Or do they have the potential to cause more stress and worry to some people who may already be struggling with the cost of their energy bills.

We decided to survey more than 1,000 people about their experience with smart meters and we believe the results make interesting reading.

Sure enough many people are loving their smart meters and many agree that they are helping them to save energy and reduce their bills.

Almost four in ten of the people we spoke to (38%) said the devices were helping them to reduce their bills either slightly or significantly.

But a significant number of people, 26%, reported that the devices were having a negative impact on their lives.

We were surprised to discover that 20% of the people we talked to said their smart meter had caused their bills to increase.

And it seems the devices are triggering stress and anxiety for almost half of the people who use them with 49% telling us they suffered from ‘smart meter anxiety’, including 9% who rated the stress as severe and a further 10% who said it was significant.

Almost three in ten people, 28%, said they had lost sleep at night worrying about paying their energy bills.

Perhaps the most concerning statistic of all was discovering that 6% of respondents had visited their GP or another health professional with stress due to their energy bills.

Overall it’s a complex picture. Smart meters are useful devices which many people are finding effective at tracking their energy use and helping reduce bills.

But for a significant number of people the devices are acting as a constant reminder of their energy consumption and of the high bills destined to land on their doorstep.

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