Tips for choosing an electricity meter for your home

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Contents

  • 1 Single-phase or three-phase
  • 2 Maximum current value
  • 3 Mounting method
  • 4 Induction and electronic counters
  • 5 Which is better: electronic or induction?
  • 6 Recommendations for the selection of
    • 6.1 Video for electrowater selection

Power companies in various ways force their customers to replace the old electric meter. The question of how to choose an electricity meter arises with a complete replacement of the power supply system at home or apartment, during capital repairs and in many other cases. The new equipment for measuring the amount of energy consumed has a number of features that need to be considered when choosing. A distinctive feature is the accuracy class: the old models did not take into account the energy consumption of small capacities, the new ones have a more sensitive design and monitor the consumption of electricity by equipment that is on standby.

Single-phase or three-phase

The first selection criterion is the number of phases. Many consider the question of how to choose a single-phase electricity meter due to the fact that in most cases the household purpose network has only one phase. However, there is a possibility that you need to connect a three-phase version.

counter

If the old equipment is replaced, the number of phases can be determined as follows:

  1. The old meter must be marked with 220 V or 230 V. This feature means that there is only one phase in the network.
  2. If the marking is represented by a value of 220/380 V or 230 / 400V, a three-phase version must be selected.

If a meter has not been installed previously, the number of phases can be determined by the labeling on the switchboard, or you need to contact the power supply service for information.

Maximum current value

An important parameter is the maximum current value( Ampere). When considering how to choose an energy meter, you should definitely consider this parameter.

Operating current is an indicator that determines the amount of load at which energy consumption will be accounted for. When choosing for this indicator it is necessary to consider the following nuances:

  1. The indicator is determined by the labeling of the input circuit breaker.
  2. If the circuit-breaker has a value of 40 A, then select an electricity meter with a load rating of up to 60 A.
  3. If the circuit-breaker labeling contains information in the form of a range, for example, 40 to 100 A, then the equipment for counting the consumed power is 100 A.

Similarly, you can answer the question, how to choose an electricity meter in an apartment in terms of the value of the maximum current.

Attachment method

Another important feature of the design can be called how you can hold it fastened. Often the case has a mounting model with three screws, but in some cases there is a DIN-rail. Before choosing it is worth paying attention to what type of mounting fits better. When looking for an answer to the question of which electricity meters are best for an apartment, it is worth paying attention to where it will be installed.

Induction and electronic meters

electric meter of mercury 3 phases

Three-phase meter

If you consider what kind of electricity meter is better to be installed, it should be noted that such equipment is divided into two main categories: induction and electrical.

The features of the induction version include:

  1. The presence of two coils: current and voltage.
  2. The generated magnetic field between the two coils causes the disc to rotate.
  3. The higher the current and voltage, the faster the disk rotates, which means the power consumption will be much higher.

The problem with this version is that it is very difficult to achieve an accuracy class of more than 2 when they are manufactured. However, the life of the structure in question is more than 15 years. That is why when looking for an answer to the question of which single-phase electricity meters are better, you can find advice on buying induction. According to the statistics, over 50 million such variants are used on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Instruments
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Electronic can be called a modern approach to the issue of measuring energy consumption. Their work is based on a direct measurement of the amount of energy consumed and the output of this information in electronic form. Which electricity meters should I put in the apartment? The electronic has the following advantages:

  1. Small overall dimensions.
  2. High accuracy class.
  3. Display information in numerical form.
  4. It is possible to include equipment in automated power supply systems.
  5. There are practically no possibilities to change the reading.

Also many people are thinking of , which two-tariff electricity meter to choose for home? The electronic type is more suitable for solving the problem of calculating the spent electricity, taking into account the time-based tariff separation. The only drawback of this version is the high sensitivity to overloads.

Which is better: electronic or induction?

Each version has a number of advantages and disadvantages. With the question of , which electricity meter to choose for a private home abroad collided earlier than in Russia. That is why it is possible to pay attention to what choice was made abroad.

Initially, when replacing, many began to acquire electronic versions. A few years ago, about 95% of the installed meters of energy consumption were electronic type. However, the low reliability of the design led to the fact that in England, after a while, the percentage of installed induction and electronic counters was 40 to 60.

In conclusion, when considering the , which electricity meter is better to put, electronic or induction, we note that many electronic manufacturers are bettingservice life up to 15 years. Yet none of them worked the stated time due to the fact that so many years ago they were not released. Many induction variants have been working for about 50 years and after such a long period they fit into the given parameters of accuracy.

Recommendations for the selection of

Which electricity meter should I choose? To make a choice it is necessary taking into account also the following nuances:

  1. An increase in the accuracy class leads to a significant rise in the cost of construction. If it is 1 or 0.5, then the cost of the construction is very high because of the complexity of its creation. For the electric meter-class, the house uses a class of accuracy of 2.0.
  2. Counting for multiple tariffs is a good addition, which is only relevant in certain cases. Therefore, it is not always profitable to purchase such an option.
  3. When buying, it is worth paying attention only to the products of well-known manufacturers. To reduce the cost of construction, some manufacturers use a cheap component, which significantly reduces the expiration date. If there is no desire to repair in one or several years after installation, you should choose the products of well-known manufacturers.

In conclusion, when considering the issue of choosing an electricity meter for a house, we will draw a conclusion: for household use, it is enough to purchase a design permitted with accuracy class 2 and better than 1, electronic type with an operating current of 50 A. -60 Ampere from a well-known manufacturer.

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