Let smart technology help you save money and energy

5.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 22nd Oct 2009

Ever forgotten to switch of the lights when leaving the room? Always remember to turn off your computer, television or music machine instead of leaving it on standby? What about turning down the heating in rooms you don't use?

Today's (Thursday, 22 Oct) Energy Saving Week theme is dedicated to making savings by switching off and turning down electrical equipment.

Saving energy does save money. But thinking about it all the time can be a bit of a strain. Thankfully, there is a lot of "smart technology" out there to help us save energy by automatically dimming or switching off lights according to specified requirements and turning off unused electrical equipment.

Automatic systems to control heating, cooling and ventilation processes are already widely used in commercial and public buildings. And lighting control systems are quickly becoming a must have technology, too.

Ordinary households can benefit from so called "smart meters" which let consumers know how much electricity they are using at any point during the day. Fed back to the electricity company, this information can be used to offer special rates during off-peak hours. In May, the UK Government announced plans to equip every home with a smart meter by 2020.

North East Euro-MP Fiona Hall who pushed for the introduction of smart meters at the European level back in 2006, said:

"Smart meters are crucial for energy efficiency, as they allow consumers to get clear information about the energy they are using as well as providing utilities with better data. They help both consumers and companies to save money and reduce carbon emissions. It was about time that the UK Government followed the rest of Europe and is now rolling out smart meters across the country"