How to read the meter correctly

Electric meters by the rules should be in each apartment. Usually the figures from these devices are transferred to the management company by the tenants themselves. In this regard, many are interested in the question of how to take readings from an electric meter and not make a mistake. We'll talk about this later in the article.

Varieties of modern counters

First it is worth considering what kind of meters are used in modern apartments. So, most often in residential buildings you can see:

• Single-phase ordinary meters (accuracy class 2.0);
• Electric single-phase devices (1.0);
• Multi-tariff meters with several windows.

In elite apartments, sometimes you can see three-phase instruments. Determine what kind of equipment is installed in the room is not difficult. If only two or three wires fit the meter, then it is single-phase. If more - three-phase.

Locations of counters

Before we start to figure out how to take readings from the electricity meter, let's see where it can be mounted. This meter is usually located either in the stairwell, or directly in the apartment itself. In the first case, the management company is engaged in its servicing, including the taking of testimony. Of course, the tenant has every right to check the number of kilovatts that have run up and on his own.

If the meter is installed in the apartment, the owner must provide the management company himself in a certain period of time. Also, the owner of housing is obliged to provide REE representatives with access to their apartment for checking equipment and taking readings. In the event that the owners are not at home, usually the public utilities or the power plant leave a note at the door with a request to call the indicated number and inform the figures from the device.

How to take readings from an electric meter yourself

In the apartments, three-, four- and five-digit counters can be installed. In order not to be mistaken, you should look at the color of the last drum. If it is different from the others, then this part is not calculated, and the figure indicated on it, at the moment, should be simply discarded. The same can be said in the event that there is a comma before the drum. Zero, located in front of all numbers, must be indicated necessarily.

It will also be useful to learn how to take readings from an electric meter in the event that it is multi-tariff. In this case, you will have to perform some calculations. All the windows of such devices are, as a rule, numbered. The tenant should write out on a piece of paper all the digits to one after the comma. That is, if the device shows 230,756, you need to record 230.7. And so with all the windows. Then proceed to fill out the receipt. For example, codes for three-rate accounting are: peak (T1) - 13, p / peak (T3) - 15, night (T2) - 2. The receipt will need to include all the windows for the previous month and for the current one. Actual electricity consumption is calculated by subtracting the former from the latter. In the following columns, the cost of a kilowatt for each of the three tariffs is added. Calculate how much you have to pay for the energy you spend, it's easy. You just need to multiply the actual cost by the cost of the tariff.

What not to do in any case

So, how to take readings from an electricity meter, we found out. Now let's talk about what not to do. Some domestic crafts rewind the meter readings in order to pay less for electricity. Basically, this way of "saving" is used by those tenants who have the meters installed right in the apartment. Of course, you should not do this. Workers of RES are constantly conducting raids, measuring the load on the line. After that, suspicious apartments are checked for theft of electricity. In the event that the violation is revealed, the owners will have to pay a much larger amount than they managed to save.

Thus, it is absolutely clear who should take the meter readings: either the owners of the apartment themselves, or representatives of the management company. For the same to know the figure, you just have to look at the window of the device.