UW customers across Great Britain can upgrade to a smart meter for free.
With a smart meter, you get accurate insights about your energy usage so you can take steps to save money. And you won’t have to worry about taking manual readings ever again.
It’s the latest type of energy meter. Just like traditional energy readers, a smart meter measures how much gas or electricity you’re using.
Instead of you having to take a reading yourself and send it to us, smart meters automatically read and submit your energy consumption so your bills are always accurate.
Smart meters also come with a free smart in-home display so you can see exactly how much gas and electricity you’re using in near-real-time and how much it costs. This gives you a better understanding of how you use energy so you can take steps to reduce your bill.
Here are a few of the great benefits you'll enjoy with your free upgrade:
Keep track of your energy consumption using the free smart in-home display.
The free in-home display makes it easy to understand your usage to take steps to save energy.
Use your in-home display to alert you when you’re using more energy than you want to.
Smart meters automatically send regular readings, leaving you extra time for the more important things in life.
Since we receive your readings automatically, you won’t get estimated bills, helping you avoid paying too much or building up a debt.
Take a look at our side-by-side comparison of traditional and smart meters to see the difference they can make in your home.
Estimated bills
Manual readings needed
Limited visual display on meter
No energy usage information
No control over settings
An obstacle to environmental targets
Holding Britain back
Accurate bills
Reading are automatic
Free in-home smart meter display
See real-time usage in pounds and pence
Customisable spending alerts and budgets
Helps reduce carbon emissions
Driving Britain forward
The legal bit
* Ofgem’s analysis of smart savings calculated in June 2023 showed average savings of 3.4% for electricity and 3% for gas when a customer switched to smart meters. Based on the Estimated Annual Consumption (EAC) for electricity and Annual Quantity (AQ) for gas for all UW energy customers as of 17/01/2025, at least 25% of customers would achieve electricity savings of 145.48kWh and gas savings of 447.78kWh. The monetary savings figure for this energy reduction is calculated against the unit rate for our Value tariff for customers paying by Direct Debt as of 01/01/2025.
If you’re an existing UW customer, swapping your traditional meter for a smart meter is easy.
Book your free upgrade online in just a few clicks. Simply choose a date for the installation of your smart meter that works best for you.
One of our expert engineers will visit you on the day of your installation. The process to install your smart meter usually takes around two hours.
You’ll now be able to see your energy usage in pounds and pence on your free smart in-home display.
Smart meters use the latest technology to measure how much electricity and gas has been used in a property over a specific period.
You can then see your energy usage and its cost on a separate in-home display, which wirelessly syncs to your smart meter.
Smart meters use a network similar to mobile phones, so you won’t need to connect them to your broadband or Wi-Fi – they automatically find the best available network to submit your meter readings. This means they won’t affect your internet connection.
As your smart meter readings are automatically taken each month, you may find that your bills are more accurate, as we don’t need to use estimates.
Choose to pay in advance with a smart prepayment meter. It’s now easier than ever.
Top up from home (or anywhere) in minutes. Easily see your remaining balance, and how much energy you’ve used on a free in-home smart meter display. And set budgets and alerts, so you never run out of credit.
Smart meters let you see how much energy you’re using while you’re using it, so you can make moves to reduce your usage. They also help the energy industry forecast national usage and generate energy far more efficiently. They’re a key part of the Nation’s push towards a cleaner and more efficient-energy system and its net zero target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Plus, smart meters pave the way for innovation, helping UW provide you with exciting new features, services and savings.
Over 74% of our customers would recommend smart meters*. But don’t just take it from us:
And with the display it’s interesting to be able to see which things use how much energy.”
Mr. Christopher Ford, Southall
I now know to turn a thing or two off I’m using too much. It’s a lot easier not having to check and send meter readings too!”
Miss. Joanne Willock, Sheffield
The legal bit
* In March 2022, we invited customers for whom we’d installed a smart meter between 1 October 2020 and 30 April 2021 to complete a survey. Of the people who responded to each question: 3,345 (74%) would recommend a smart meter (i.e. voted 6 and above out of 10).
We recommend reading our manuals and guides to get the most out of your smart meter. Click on your smart meter type below to get to grips with the basics:
Smart meters automatically submit your readings to us, so you won’t need to send them manually.
However, you can still check your usage at the meter or with the in-home display. The way to read yours may vary depending on its manufacturer. You can find all the information you need to read your smart meter here.
You can find solutions to common questions here.
On the day of installation, one of our expert engineers will come to your home to fit your new smart meter. When they arrive, they’ll do a visual inspection of your old meter and take a final meter reading – but we recommend that you make a note of this, too, for your own records.
The installation will take around two to three hours, and your gas and electricity will need to be turned off for a short period of time. Our engineer will fit separate meters for gas and electricity, if applicable, and once installed, they’ll test your energy supply to make sure that everything is in working order.
The final step is getting you set up with your in-home smart meter display. Our engineer will help you connect the display device to your smart meter and show you how to use it.
You can read more about what happens on the day, and how to prepare, here.
See how your smart meter data works, and how to change how often your smart meter sends us readings. Find out more with our guide to smart meter readings.
Discover simple ways to use less energy at home and save money on energy bills.
You may have heard a few bad news stories about smart meters. To help you decide for yourself, here are the facts:
You can switch energy suppliers with a smart meter – Smart meters don’t stop you switching your energy supplier in the future. In the past, you might have lost smart features, but this is no longer a problem with the second-generation (SMETS2) meters we install.
You can get a smart meter if you rent – If you pay your energy bills directly, you don't need your landlord’s permission to upgrade your meter. We suggest you let them know, though.
Your data will always be safe – Smart meters can’t ‘spy’, listen, or store any personal information other than data about the energy you use. We follow strict guidelines that apply to all energy suppliers.
Smart meters are not a risk to your health – Smart meters exceed every UK and EU safety standard. In fact, the radio waves sent from smart meters are much lower than from your mobile phone.
Smart meters won’t affect your Wi-Fi – They send us your meter readings using a dedicated, secure wireless network – not the internet. So it won’t have any effect on your personal Wi-Fi.
You can see more information here.
If you have an in-home smart meter display at your current property (the device that shows you how much energy you’re using), please leave it behind, along with any guides you were given.
You can find more information on what to do when you’re moving home.
If you’re unsure whether you have a smart meter installed at home, there are a few ways you can check. Smart meters tend to be the same shape and size as traditional meters. However, smart meters usually have a slightly larger LCD or digital display. They may also have a small keypad or directional buttons to cycle through different feature selections.
Smart meters often also come with an in-home display; this isn’t the actual smart meter itself, but a separate device that you can monitor your past and current usage with.
The national smart roll-out is a government target to install smart energy meters in every home in England, Scotland, and Wales.
Energy suppliers are responsible for supplying and fitting smart meters to over 26 million homes in the country, and they must follow strict rules and regulations in the Code of Practice (CoMCoP). These include ensuring their customers know how to use their smart meters and how to properly control their data. Energy regulator Ofgem is also responsible for ensuring that consumers are protected.
You can find out more about the national smart roll-out here.
Here at UW, we're signed up to a code of practice that protects you and makes sure we give you all the information you need when you upgrade to smart meters. Find out more about CoMCoP standards here.
Smart meters measure data about the energy you’ve used, and apart from your meter supply number, they don’t store any other personal data about you — it’s only details about the energy you use that’s held on the meters.
Once collected, we use your energy readings to give you more accurate bills.
We take data security very seriously and there are strict security rules around protecting smart meter data that apply to all energy suppliers. Plus, smart energy readers have been designed with the help of top cybersecurity experts to ensure security best practice.
At UW, keeping our customers and engineers safe during smart meter installations is our highest priority.
Our expert engineers are fully qualified to install your smart meter and follow best-practice guidelines to ensure the switch is smooth, seamless, and safe.
We want to make sure that we’re giving support to our customers who need it. If you, or anyone in your household, has any special requirements or circumstances that we should be aware of ahead of our engineer’s visit, let us know when you book your installation.
The government has announced that the energy price cap will increase on 1 April 2025. You don’t need to do anything - we’ll be in touch with all our customers on a standard variable tariff in the coming weeks with details of how this will impact you.
