Angela Rippon on the simple switch that can help people save money on bills

The broadcaster talks to Lisa Salmon about making the simple energy-saving switch to a smart meter.

Rippon has teamed up on a new smart meter campaign (Smart Energy GB/Simon Jacobs/PA)

Most people might think about slowing down when they’re approaching 80 – at least a little. But Angela Rippon, who’ll be 80 later this year, isn’t most people.

After just completing a gruelling seven-month stint on Strictly Come Dancing – an experience she describes as “challenging, terrifying and joyful” –  and its subsequent live tour, Rippon enjoyed a brief holiday before throwing herself wholeheartedly back into work, with an energy people 50 years her junior might envy.

“I’ve got no time to sit down and do nothing,” she declares.

So it’s somehow appropriate that Rippon – who started her broadcasting career with the BBC in 1966 and went on to present BBC One’s Nine O’Clock News – has now thrown herself into an energy campaign.

The writer and presenter has teamed up on a drive to get more people, and particularly the elderly, to have smart meters installed in their homes, so they can better monitor their energy use – to help save money and reduce climate change in the process.

“It’s a wonderful way of finding out how much energy you use on particular devices in the house,” says Rippon, who’s had a smart meter in her London flat for about five years. “So if you’ve got all the lights on in the house, and you switch a few of them off, the needle on the meter will come down. It’s a visual description of how much energy you’re using, and I think that’s a great way of discovering how you can be more energy-efficient yourself in your home.

“And if you’re energy-efficient, that means you’re going to keep down your bills, and that’s what everybody wants the opportunity to do. They’re all talking about how expensive our utilities are, and we want to be able to save money on them. We’re also doing our bit for the climate by not using as much energy.”

Rippon – who’s presented a range of shows over the years, from the Antiques Roadshow and Top Gear to Rip-Off Britain – says she’s been most surprised at how much energy simply boiling a kettle uses: “The meter needle goes shooting up into the red to tell you you’re using a lot of energy, because it takes a lot of energy to boil a kettle.

“So you can actually work out which appliances in your home are using lots of energy, and that gives you the opportunity of saying – well, for instance, when I boil the kettle, I should really only boil as much water as I need to make a cup of tea or a single cup of coffee or whatever, not a full kettle because I’m wasting energy heating water I’m not going to use.

“Similarly, you can work out how much energy your washing machine or dishwasher if you have them, or a space heater or hairdryer is using. It’s a good educational device, if you like.

“I think it’s a great way of being able to say: I don’t want to spend that much in a day on my energy – what can I cut down on? What can I be a bit more careful about, a bit more disciplined in how I use the energy in the house? You can actually do something to help keep your bills down.”

She explains that all people need to do to get a smart meter is contact their energy supplier to arrange installation at no extra cost. More information can be found online by searching ‘Get a smart meter’.

“It’s as simple as that,” says Rippon, who stresses that smart meters are easy to understand, including people who might be concerned about using devices. “There’s nothing technological about using it really, you just look at it,” she adds.

After being eliminated from Strictly with her dance partner Kai Widdrington in week nine – only three weeks off from the final – Rippon took part in the Strictly live tour, but had to miss the Leeds shows because of a serious asthma attack.

But the indomitable star quickly returned to the tour. “I finished the tour on a Sunday, three days later I went on holiday for nine days, and I came back last Tuesday and I’ve hit the ground running,” she says. “I’m a full-time working broadcast journalist, so on the Wednesday I was scripting, and on Thursday and Friday, I was filming.

“I’ve just come down from Manchester because I did Morning Live this morning. And I’m doing it again next week, plus other stuff, and then we start recording Rip-Off Britain. I’m back to the day job.”

So, she’s not slowing down at all then?

“No, no I’m not!” she happily insists. “I’ve got a full diary all the way up until October at the moment. What would I do instead – just make a nuisance of myself somewhere else, I suppose.

“As long as television and people in broadcasting keep asking me to do my job, to keep working and doing exciting and fun things, I shall do that. My diary and my time is very much full-on, and I enjoy that. I fortunately have a job that I love and a diary absolutely full of work, I’m glad to say, so it’s great.”

Angela Rippon has partnered with Smart Energy GB to show households how a smart meter could help keep better track of their energy bills.