An energy meter or kilowatt-hour meter is a integrating device that is used to measure the amount of electrical energy consumed by a residence, business or an electrically powered device over a particular time interval. They are used in order to provide accurate billing of the electrical energy consumed by the customers.
Electrical utilities use energy meters installed at customer's houses or building for billing and monitoring purposes. They are typically calibrated in billing units and the commonly used unit is kilo-watt hour (kwh).
Types of Energy Meter
There are two types of energy meter on the basis of indication which has listed below.
- Analog Energy Meter
- Digital Energy Meter
It is important to note that neither the digital nor the analog energy meters reset at the beginning of the month. The power company subtracts the stating figure from the end to figure out the amount of electrical energy consumed.
Analog Energy Meter
Analog energy meters use various coils and gears as its operation can be simplified to that of an electric motor. The electric current flowing through the coils produce changing magnetic field in which a metal disc responds to that magnetic field. The disc spins proportional to the amount of electricity consumed by the consumer with the help of a permanent magnet. Its motion rotates gears which finally show the reading on a clock-like dial.
Digital Energy Meter
Digital energy meters simply state the number of kwh of electrical energy that have been consumed. Digital energy meters are often able to communicate directly with the power company, reducing the need for people to walk around neighborhoods looking at everyone's energy meters.