ST JOHN'S NURSERY 'a smart metering success story...'
Our Smart meter team caught up with Linda Innes, the Nursery Manager of St John’s Nursery Group in Redhill following the installation of a smart meter.
What factors attracted you to getting a smart meter installed in the nursery?
‘I’m always going round turning lights off, so now I’m hoping to be able to show other staff just how much of a difference this is making to our bills.
At home I’m always checking my smart meter, so I know the benefits - and it’s great to be able to do our bit to help reduce our environmental footprint.
Another benefit for us is that it helps with security. Previously we’ve needed to make sure that we know exactly who is coming to read the meter and that they have the correct passes, but as reads can now be sent directly there is no need for this.’
How was the installation?
‘I couldn’t have asked for a nicer team. In the weeks prior to the agreed date they were in regular contact, and they checked in again a couple of days before the installation to make sure everything was ok.
On the day they explained exactly what they were doing, and apart from the computer shutting down it didn’t affect us at all. We had a couple of power outages as the meter was installed, but we were prepared for these and we were well informed.’
Can you think of any barriers to getting a smart meter installed at another site?
‘Access can be difficult – it wouldn’t have been possible while the children are around. An office would be fine, but for a secure site or school installation would have to be out of hours.’
Any concerns about smart metering?
‘None. I’m used to it at home, and it will make my life easier! I don’t have to keep checking the meter and sending reads to our treasurer so they can manage the invoices. It will save them time too, as currently they have to manually check that reads match up with what energy company is saying.’
What will you use the data for?
‘For us, the main use will be to iron out problems around who is paying for the bills as we’ll have an accurate record of what we are using’
… and is there anything we could have done better?
‘I don’t think so! There was no hard sell, the service was really smooth and we couldn’t have asked for it to go any better. It didn’t disrupt us at all. Really good job!’
