Managing Your Energy Bills Via a Smartphone: An Overview

Smartphones have become an integral part of our daily lives. From chatting with a friend to watching our favourite video while out and about, these handy little gadgets have certainly made a lasting impression. Now, consumers are able to take advantage of this mobility while simultaneously monitoring their energy bills. There are several advantages to these systems as well as a number of different applications which are now available. Why should you seriously consider downloading such “apps” to effectively control your utility bills?

Full Access When You Need it the Most

One of the issues which has plagued consumers in the past was that it could be very difficult to know how much energy they were consuming. In many cases, such details would only be available at the end of a billing cycle. Those who took a more proactive approach in terms of consumption were likely to find it difficult (if not impossible) to determine such technical terms as kilowatt hours and the cubic metres of natural gas they were using. All of these variables have been done away with thanks to the modern smartphone application. Now, customers can quickly access the most critical information whenever they desire.

Energy Cost Calculators

Every family and business in the United Kingdom is interested in the ways that they can save money on their energy bills. As opposed to calculating difficult equations or relying upon a rough estimate, why not view the levels of energy consumption directly from a smartphone? There are a few applications which can cater to this demand. Energy usage can be broken down into monthly and yearly quotations. The cost will likewise be displayed and there are some software packages which are even able to estimate the amount of carbon emitted by a property each year (sometimes known as the “carbon footprint” of a home). All of these figures will take the guesswork out of discovering ways to reduce costs and while even helping one to choose energy-efficient appliances.

Much More Than Electricity Alone

Most homes in the United Kingdom are concerned with other bills such as those associated with mains water and gas. It only makes sense that certain applications are able to display all of these metrics in a side-by-side fashion. Besides providing this rather raw data, consumers can also be made aware of their spending habits and the ways in which they may be able to reduce the overall energy intake of their home or business.

The First Utility App

One great example of just how far this technology has come can be seen in a mobile phone application created by First Utility. The First Utility app enables its users to perform several actions such as:

• Submit current meter readings.
• View past rates of consumption.
• Monitor present energy usage.
• Access a dedicated website to view more in-depth account details. 

First Utility is a great way to centralise all current bills and better understand how small changes can make a truly massive difference.

These dedicated applications will continue to evolve as the smartphones themselves become more advanced. In fact, the ability to monitor one’s energy usage has only recently been available. We should only expect that readings will become more detailed and management functions will be even more streamlined as the years progress.