York Library Lends Smart Meters

Innovative new collection sees York Libraries helping customers through the recession.

Success story image

The Smart Meter collection has saved customers hundreds of pounds, encouraged people to cut down on their energy consumption and brought new people into the library.

Around Christmas 2008, York Libraries purchased a
collection of recession-beating “Smart Meters”, to help
customers calculate how much energy their appliances
were using. The response from the public was
overwhelming, with people coming into the library to join
up especially to use the Smart Meters.

One of these customers was Miss T, who borrowed a free
Smart Meter from Poppleton Library. She had a fridge
running in an outbuilding which she kept as a spare, and
was interested to know how much this was costing her.
She tested the item using the Smart Meter and found that
this appliance was using around £70 of electricity each
year through being constantly switched on but rarely used.

Miss T has decided to unplug the appliance and only use
the fridge on rare occasions when it is really necessary.
Hundreds of customers have now borrowed the Smart
Meters, and if Miss T’s experience is anything to go by,
this means hundreds of pounds saved, and a reduction to
York’s carbon footprint!

More information about York Libraries can be found here: www.york.gov.uk/libraries

Quick Quote

Miss T, Poppleton Library

I was very impressed with the information about my fridge, especially as the Smart Meter was free to borrow and easy to use. Thanks!