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Your electric meter is the device responsible for measuring your electricity consumption. It is connected to the house's electricity network and records how much electricity you use.
How do you know what type of meter you have?
Currently, in Spain the meters are digital. This type of device has been replacing old-fashioned meters, called analogue meters. They began to be installed in 2010, and it took less than a decade to install them for all consumers.
Digital meters differ from analogue meters by their technology, because the data appear on a digital screen and the internal components are electronic. In this regard, they are more reliable devices (they are difficult to manipulate) and they enable remote management, making the procedure for reading consumption easier and avoiding the need to issue estimated invoices. Another advantage of digital meters is that they enable different tariffs to be applied in accordance with time bands, which is essential for tariffs with time discrimination, such as the Sale Price for the Small Consumer (PVPC in Spanish).
How does a digital electricity meter work?
As we have seen, digital meters are able to know very reliably the electricity consumption of your home, every day and every hour. This information is remotely managed and sent to the electricity distribution company.
Your distributor is responsible for transferring your consumption data to your retailer, who proceeds to calculate your bill, taking into account your tariff and contract.
How can you control your electricity expenditure through a digital meter?
The virtues of the digital meters mentioned above include the ability to make readings by hours. Every time you consume electricity in your home, for example, when you turn on a device, consumption is activated with a power and a duration in time. That consumption immediately appears on your meter. By displaying consumption in real time, consumers can adjust their consumption to make it more efficient and thus reduce their bill.
Retailers make apps or client areas available to their customers where they can read their consumption in real time.
What parts make up a digital meter?
A digital meter consists of the following main elements:
- A screen: This is one of its main advantages, because it displays a reading which gives information in real time about electricity consumption and contracted power.
- Consumption indicator: This is a light that confirms the reception of consumption data.
- Lock button: This jumps when the power is exceeded, it is called a Power Control Switch (ICP in Spanish).
- Serial or identification number: It corresponds to your electricity contract, to associate your consumption with your contract.
What do the lights on my digital meter indicate?
There are different models of meters, so you need to look in the instruction manual to see how they work. However, there are some indications that are common to all devices:
- Red light on: This indicates the mode of the meter. This feature is set by your company to determine, for example, your tariff. In some models, if this light is off it means there is no consumption.
- Flashing red light: This means there is consumption. The faster it flashes, the more the consumption.
- Red light off: This can mean one of two things. First, that you have exceeded the contracted power, so the Power Control Switch has been activated to pause supply for safety reasons. Secondly, that consumption corresponding to this supply has been cut off.
A smart electricity meter also enables users to manage all the procedures corresponding to the electricity tariff, enabling them to change the contracted power or the tariff directly without a technician needing to make modifications to the meter.
Finally, some models of electric meters allow a manual reset if the appliance has suffered any damage.
Where is the digital meter installed?
There are a number of possible locations for your digital meter: From the meter room, if your community of neighbours has one, to the lobby, the basement or the garage.
Should you buy or rent the digital meter?
A device of these characteristics, together with installation, costs between 100 and 200 euros. That is why many retailers and distributors offer financing to meet the cost. You can also rent the equipment, which means it remains the property of the supply company.
Advantages of a digital meter
Here is a breakdown of some of the main advantages of digital meters:
- Digital electric meters speed up the identification of faults, significantly reducing the time it takes to resolve them.
- They make it easier to adjust the power: You do not need a technician to travel to your home, since the modifications can be made immediately through remote management, without waiting.
- They prioritise real readings, so there is no need for estimated readings.
- They cannot be manipulated, so they are extremely reliable.
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You don't need to adapt to Endesa's tariffs because they adapt to you. If you go to our catalogue you can compare the different tariffs for yourself. Or if you prefer, you can answer a few questions and we will take care of comparing all the different electricity and gas tariffs and then make a customised recommendation.
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