6 Types of Electric Meter

There are so many types of meters that may look the same but have different impacts on your electricity bill.

Knowing that the types of meter can have an impact in your monthly budgeting, it’ll be best to know some of the electric meter boxes to compare which works and suits your household better.

In addition, to get the best meter for your home, there are things that you need to consider. Your meter will depend on your living conditions and whether you want a shorter bill at the end of the month. 

Some of the features to take into account is how much energy you use regularly, how your home uses a storage heater; and whether you’re able to limit the use of electricity to off-peak hours. With that, here are the 6 types of electrical meter that can help you save money and, at the same time, the meter is suitable in your home too.

Standard meters

Standard meters are the most common of the meter types. This type of meter is usually the device that people are tempted to tamper with since they are known already how it works.

Standard meters measure your energy consumption that is based on how many times the dial rotates on your meter. Most Australian homeowners use a standard meter for their electricity. Using a simple mechanical display, these show their energy use in kilowatt-hours (kWh). 

Meter reading is simple – just note the black numbers, read from left to right. There might also be red numbers but just ignore them. They only represent figures after the decimal point, and your supplier doesn’t need to know about them.

Digital meters

Digital meters are simple digital displays. It shows the readings of your meter through a small screen or an LCD screen. If you want to check your meter reading, you only need to press a button and record only the first five figures. You can just forget the final figure if it starts at 0.1.

Dial meters

Dial meters have 6 dials and are complicated to read. These meters work similarly to standard meters, but instead of numbers, they are presented as a series of clock-like dials. 

In reading the meter, you have to look closely to where the hand is pointing on each dial face. You need to take note of the numbers each dial points to (again, forget any red numbers). If the needles are pointing between two figures on some of the dials, record the number the needle has just passed.

Smart meters

Smart meters are the latest type of energy meters. As what the name implies, it’s smart devices that provide detailed information on how and when you are using your electricity and give you better control over your energy consumption. These meters assist you to keep track of your spending and prevent nasty surprises at the end of the month when the bills come. 

Smart meters also communicate your energy supplier to update them reliable reports on your electricity consumption. The smart meter does it all, and you’ll only be paying for the energy you’re using. Moreover, you can also have easy access to your meter reading information through online or an app. 

Economy 7/10 Meters

Economy 7 and Economy 10 meter uses a special tariff that allows you to have a lower rate for the electricity you use overnight. Economy 7 meters keep track of your daytime energy use separately from your nighttime use, giving you 7 hours of cheaper nightly electricity. While in Economy 10 meters, you only have 3 cheaper hours in the afternoon, and for someone who works overnight to save electricity and money, this meter may help. 

Prepayment meters

Prepayment meters are mostly digital. These meters view your remaining credit instead of your meter reading. But if you want your reading information, you just only press a button, and it will display the figures you need.

Prepayment meters are helpful to someone who struggles to pay energy bills to help budget for how much energy they can afford to use. If you want to use a prepayment meter, you will be using a token or key to attach money to your meter most of the time. 

Furthermore, note that if you run out of credit, your electricity could just shut down automatically. But most modern meters are equipped with an ’emergency credit’ feature which gives you extra time to pay in advance again. 

Conclusion

Many believe that the type of meters affects your electricity bill at the end of the month. Taking that fact into account, knowing the types of meters can help regulate your energy consumption. From there, you can also choose the right electric meter that suits your household and living situations.

Sydney Eastern Suburb Electrician is here to guide you choose the most suitable electric meter box for your home. From providing your electric meter, its installation, repair and reading the accurate data of your energy use, our level 2 electricians are here to help. Call us at (02) 8378 2827 to get a free quote today.