How do Electric Meters Work

The electric meter installed in your home is the device that allows the utility department to charge you monthly on the amount of energy you have consumed. The electric meter measures the current flow through the service entrance and into your personal electrical service panel. As you would already know, electric meters can be mechanical or analogue and digital or smart meters. In the first case, a utility service person would visit your home to read the meter on a monthly basis. With the newer smart meters, the information is directly sent over radio or internet signals.
The consumption of electricity is measured in kilowatt hours. This means we are measuring the watts consumed over a period of time. The power consumption meter does this work i.e. it records the electricity that is consumed in kilowatt-hours.

Analogue Electric Meters

The analogue meter is a mechanical device that is encased within a glass housing and consists of a metal disc that rotates when the building or house draws currents. If you observe the metal disc, you will note that during peak electrical consumption, the disc moves faster than the low consumption hours.
Two conductor coils inside the mechanical analogue meters create magnetic fields. Both get affected by the electricity and voltage that moves through the conductor. When this happens, the magnetic field moves the aluminium disc at a controlled rate. This disc is in turn connected to five dials which move alternatively while recording the electricity consumed in kilowatt-hours.
This reading cannot be read remotely and therefore, needs to be done on the spot. Before smart meters took over, you would remember, a person from the utility department paying a monthly visit to your house to note down this reading. But you can also learn to read the dials and understand how much electricity you have used in a given month. This will allow you to verify if you have been charged correctly.
In order to record the electricity usage, you need a baseline and an endline. The difference between the two points will let you know the electricity consumption during the course of a month.

Digital Smart Meters

The top electric equipment companies in India offer different types of digital electric meters. One style contains a mechanism similar to that of the analogue meters. But it also consists of an analogue to digital converter (ADC) that reports the measurement as a digital signal. Another version has AC sensors that record the measurements with greater accuracy. Digital meters have electronic displays that make them easier to read and understand. Using a radio frequency signal emitted by the electrical meter, the utility department has a direct, real-time reading of the electricity consumed. This is the way, you end up receiving a monthly bill from the department without a personnel ever making a visit to your home. Electricity meter suppliers in India call for smart meters owing to their better accuracy and greater efficiency. More industrial units and homes have digital meters in India today. 


HPL Electric and Power Limited is a leading player in the electrical equipment industry in India. Choose from a wide range of its LED products that have been certified to conform to Indian and International standards such as ISI, CE, and KEMA.

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