Smart Meter Work
What is a smart meter and what is it for?
A smart meter is an essential part of knowing the status of the electricity grid, which allows for improving the performance and quality of service for customers. It also enables costumers to see how their consumption habits affect their electricity bills and, in this way, to manage consumption by choosing the most suitable tariff for their needs and reducing the amount through energy efficiency measures.
Likewise, smart meters are key to increasing the uptake of distributed electricity generation, which, in addition to allowing customers to generate their own energy, is key to the strategy to reduce the carbon footprint and combat global warming.
How do Smart Electric Meters Work?
A smart power meter takes automatic readings of your residential, commercial, or industrial electricity usage and relays the information wirelessly to your energy supplier. Moreover, some meters also help you analyze your energy usage trends during both peak and off-peak hours, which can help you predict your future usage, and thereby allow you to reduce your electricity bills accordingly – no action is required on your end.
Plus, a single-phase electric meter also comes with an in-home display, which allows users to view their energy usage and how much it’ll cost.
Types of Smart Electric Meters
A smart meter is available in two configurations – a three-phase and single-phase electric meter.
There’s only one major difference between the two types – their energy requirement. Customers that use high amounts of power, such as industrial and commercial enterprises, usually use a three-phase connection. As you may have guessed, to measure the consumption, you require a 3-phase smart meter.
In comparison, electricity requirement in homes is generally on the lower side than commercial and industrial usage. So, utility operators usually set up a single phase energy meter connection for homes. So, homeowners require a single-phase smart electricity meter to calculate their usage.
Other than these two common meter types, there also are like distribution transformer operated and CT-PT meters, depending on your needs