Smart metering is the near real-time measurement of energy consumption by means of a smart meter (a digital metering device). Smart metering is digitising our energy system and, as a consequence, laying the foundations for our future smart energy grid ' the digital, interconnected national network that will provide us with a more modern, more efficient, and cleaner supply of power.
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Smart meters work by measuring your gas and electricity usage, just like traditional meters. However, because of new intelligent, digital technology, you'll be able to monitor your usage and see exactly how much it is costing you through an in-home digital display.
Smart meters also relieve you of the hassle of manual meter readings as they send an automatic reading to your energy supplier at least once a month. Your bills will no longer be based on estimates, which means you will receive accurate bills and won't under or overpay again. Read our quick guide on how to use your smart meter.
The smart meter rollout is a government programme which aims to install a smart meter in every domestic property (homes and small businesses) by the end of .
With more than 53 million smart meters requiring installation in around 30 million premises, the programme is one of the largest national infrastructure projects of our lifetimes.
As an expert smart metering service provider, we have been entrusted by the country's leading energy suppliers to help implement the rollout and introduce this next generation of meters nationwide.
One smart meter takes around one hour on average to install, but this can vary depending on the status of your current meter i.e. how old it is and how it is set up. We would advise on accounting for around an hour for one smart meter to be installed, and around 1.5 hours if you're having both your electric and gas meter replaced with smart meters.
If in doubt about how the status of your current meter may affect your installation time, please contact your energy supplier.
Smart meters safely and securely store data on how much energy you use. This data is shared with you via your in-home display and ' with your permission ' with your energy supplier, who are sent only the meter readings. Your supplier will then use this data to provide you with accurate energy bills. No personal data about you is collected, stored or shared by your meter.
Energy network operators can also see anonymised consumption data. This is used to get a better understanding of local and national energy usage to deal with electricity demand more efficiently.
Unlike your home computer, tablet or smartphone, smart meters are not connected to the Internet. Instead, they operate over a closed secure private network, which removes the threat of hacking. By any means, unlike your social media account, smart meters do not hold your life history or personal information ' only how much energy you are using.
Remember, the data your smart meter captures about your energy usage is strongly protected by law. You have control over it, including the right to decide:
- How often your smart meter sends data to your energy supplier.
- Whether to share data with other organisations, like price comparison websites.
- If your supplier can use your meter readings for sales and marketing purposes.
Smart meters are installed by energy suppliers at no upfront cost to their customers. Rather than costing you anything, smart meters are in fact a great tool to help you save money by giving you better insight into how much energy you consume, or by opening up access to cheaper tariffs available only to smart meter users
Smart meters will not save you money simply by being installed, unless you switch to a smart meter tariff which may offer a better rate than a standard tariff. Generally, you'll have to be proactive to reduce your energy costs and lower your bills. The best way to do this is to use the digital in-home display that you'll be offered with a smart meter to keep track of how much energy you're using and make changes to your usage based on this.
Find out more about how to use less energy with a smart meter.
Second-generation (SMETS2) smart meters, which began to be installed in , will work with any supplier ' even if you switch provider. First generation smart meters (SMETS1), which were mostly installed before but have now been phased out, are not automatically interoperable between suppliers. However, the Data Communications Company (DCC) ' the company which runs the smart meter network ' is currently migrating all SMETS1 smart meters onto its system over the air. This means that once this migration is completed (expected in ) all first-generation meters will work with any supplier.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of single phase smart meter. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
There are two kinds of smart meter ' SMETS1 and SMETS2 ' which represent the first and second generations of the technology (SMETS stands for 'Smart Metering Equipment Technical Specifications'). While all smart meters are either SMETS1 or SMETS2, there are different types of these meters depending on your supply. For example, a large home or business which uses lots of electricity might have what is known as a 3-phase smart meter.
Some In-Home Displays may get an error from time to time such as only showing information for one fuel or stating that the connection is lost. Issues such as these often resolve themselves wihtin 24 to 48 hours so please allow this time to pass. If you are still having problems please move your IHD closer to your smart meter and turn the IHD off/on using the power button which is usually located on the back of the device. If problems persist, please call 249 or for further help and advice.
We advise to leave your IHD plugged in as the batteries are only intended to be used as a back-up power source so don't have a long life. IHDs are designed to be very low power devices, only costing a few £s per year to run if plugged in all year round.
Smart meters may occasionally lose connection but often connect again after a few hours or days. If it's been a week since your installation and your smart meter has never connected properly, it may need to be recomissioned or have a deeper connection issue. If this is the case, please call 249 or for help and advice.
Your prepayment balance may take a few days to transfer over to your new smart PAYG meter after your installation. Don't worry about topping up during this transfer window as your supply will not be cut off. Once the transfer is complete, you'll need to top up using one of the ways specified by your energy supplier whether that be through an app, online payment portal or regular shop.
One of the great benefits of smart prepayment meters is that you're able to top up in more ways than you could with a traditional meter. The choice of top up options will be provided by your supplier but these are likely to include an online top up portal/app, Paypoint or Payzone and a range of retail shops. For more about the methods you can use to top up, please contact your supplier.
When you pay for a top up online, you'll be provided with a UTRN (unique transaction reference number) which you can input onto the in-home display if the amount doesn't get added remotely for reasons such as signal issues for your smart meter.
You'll keep any remaining credit/debt which will be transferred to your new meter but as this can take a few days, we suggest to use up as much of the remaining credit on your current meter as you can before the appointment.
Smart power meters can be used to show your real time electricity consumption, help with load management and transformer monitoring, and power monitoring.
Smart power meters can save you time and money since changes can be made to reduce energy usage automatically when it is not needed. Touch Screen PLC's, data loggers, Programmable Automation Controllers, and PC's running SCADA software can be used for control, monitoring and displaying the data in a way that is easy to understand and analyze.
So what are the most important things to consider when selecting an energy meter?
Single-phase or Three-phase
When choosing an energy meter, the first thing you need to consider is how many phases are needed for the system. Most suppliers nowadays provide single-phase power meters and three-phase power meters. If the current system you are logging data from is single-phase, then you need a single-phase power meter. If it is a three-phase electric system, then you can only use a three-phase power meter to work with it. Single-phase power meters like PM- and PM- are compact, din-rail mountable, and flexible for various energy monitoring applications. They come in 2 loops and 4 loops accordingly, and support a wide range of input types such as Vrms, Irms, kW, kWh, kVA, kVAh, kVAR, kVARh, and PF. They can be used in both low voltage primary side and medium/high voltage secondary side, enabling users to obtain reliable and accurate real time energy consumption readings from the equipment.
Number of Amps
After determining the phase of the power meter, another thing you need to consider is how many amps you need for the system. Usually, the most common options that intelligent power meters have for amps are 60 amps, 100 amps, and 200 amps. The number of amps supported can vary as the power systems vary. It is not workable if you choose a 60A power meter for a power measuring system that actually needs 100A. For example, the PM- series three-phase smart power meter comes in three different types of amps: the PM--100 supports 60A; the PM--160 supports 100A, while the PM--240 works for 200A. With their high accuracy (1%, PF=1), they can generate very reliable data on the actual power you consume. These compact size and cost-effective power meters are equipped with revolutionary wired clip-on CTs for easy installation. It operates over a wide input voltage range of 10 ~ 300 VAC which is compatible worldwide.
Communication Protocols
Smart Power Meters communicate over different mediums and protocols, so it is also very important to determine which communication protocol your power meter needs to work with. Modbus is one of the most common protocols in industrial applications. Developed by MODICON in , Modbus has become a standardized, openly published and easy-to-use protocol to connect industrial devices. Smart power meters that support Modbus protocols are easier to integrate with your current Modbus systems. For example, PM- supports Modbus RTU while PM--MTCP communicates over Modbus TCP. Besides Modbus, other communication protocols are also available for power monitoring applications. CAN bus, or a Controller Area Network is a protocol that allows devices to be connected in applications without a hosting PC. Today CAN bus is used in automotive, cycling, industrial and entertainment industries for data communication. Smart power meters like PM--240-CAN is designed to support CAN bus and can seamlessly integrate with existing CAN bus systems. Another protocol is CANopen, which is a communication protocol used in embedded systems in automation. Power meters that support CANopen include single-phase smart power meters like PM--160-CPS and three-phase power meters like PM--100-CPS. In conclusion, choosing a smart power meter with the right communication protocol is very important in getting the system up and running.
What Else?
Now that we have considered phases, amps, and communication protocols, what else do we need for a successful energy monitoring system? One biggest advantage of smart power meters is that it can be connected with SCADA and HMI software and automate the whole system. With the SCADA software, it can show the status of your equipment, send or text message alarms, log data, implement control and generate reports. Touch Screen Controllers like TPD-433 can also be used for home automation projects where you can view your real time power consumption data and control your electronic devices on a touchpad.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website prepaid energy meter.
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