How to correctly take readings from an electricity meter?

What methods of transmitting evidence are there?

You can submit your testimony in any way convenient for you:

• through the Personal Account of a private client on the website of PJSC Mosenergosbyt;
• by phone Contact: +7 (499) 550-9-550 via voice control service;
• on the Moscow government services portal.
• through terminals for receiving readings installed in the branches of PJSC Mosenergosbyt and Multifunctional centers for providing state and municipal services;
• when paying through Qiwi and Sberbank terminals (subject to payment being made between the 15th and 26th).

Where are water meters installed?

All pipes of hot and cold water supply systems entering the apartment have metering units installed. It happens that readings from meters in the bathroom and kitchen are recorded separately. This is if the water supply was connected according to a complex scheme. In such a situation, water meters must be installed on all connections to cold and hot water supplies. Counters must be freely available.

It is allowed to install water meters in plastic boxes, installed side by side, located together with the shut-off valve and the leakage protection system unit. When opening the box panel, cells and seals should be visible.

Attention! If you notice that the seal on the water meter is broken, immediately contact your utility service.

The counters work on a simple principle:

The flow of water drives the counting mechanism.

• The rotary indicator rotates when the taps are open.
• The meter rotates faster if the water flow increases.

Payment is made at the price per 1 m3 of water, so the amount of water you used is transferred in cubic meters.

Instrument panels, depending on what model the meter is, may be different.

How to use the Voice Control service?

When you contact the Contact Center by phone +7 (499) 550-9-550, you can independently, without waiting for an operator’s response, transfer meter readings or obtain the necessary information. To do this, in the voice menu after the question “Tell me what interests you?” you need to say your question.

You can read the instructions for operating the voice service on the website of PJSC Mosenergosbyt.

Attention!

The personal account number and meter readings must be given strictly in one digit. You can enter data using the telephone keys. To undergo automatic identification, we recommend linking your phone number to your Personal Account in the Client’s Personal Account.

Functioning of meters and their differences

The following options for electricity meters are available:

• mechanical;
• electronic;
• electromechanical (appeared to replace mechanical ones).

The appearance of the electric meter is not of fundamental importance, because readings can be taken from any device

Mechanical meters are being gradually replaced with modern devices. The reason for this is a noticeable error during operation. The mechanism operates under the influence of a force field created by an inductive coil. So, first, a current passes through a coil, creating a magnetic field that sets a metal disk with a gear in motion. This gear is already moving the rollers depicting numbers

These are the ones that users pay attention to when they need to read device data.

Mechanical counters are gradually losing popularity

Electronic meters for measuring electricity have a different operating principle. Sensors are installed here that transmit voltage and current to the converter. Next, a pulse is generated, which the controller recognizes and then displays the readings on the display. These numbers are permanently stored in the device's memory. Even when the light is turned off, zeroing does not occur, because the device goes into offline mode.

How are electricity bills calculated?

The amount payable is calculated in one of the following ways:

• Based on the meter readings you provided; Provided that the meter readings were transmitted in the period from the 15th to the 26th inclusive
• Based on meter readings taken by employees of Mosenergosbyt PJSC; Control readings are taken by an employee of Mosenergosbyt PJSC 2 times a year.
• If there are no readings in the billing period, the amount payable is calculated based on the average monthly consumption volume;
• In the absence of information on the average monthly consumption volume, the calculation is made based on the consumption standard.

Advantages of installing water meters

First, let's figure out whether it makes sense to install metering devices - some residents still pay utility bills at general rates.

If you have installed meters and doubt that you did it right, just compare your bills with the receipts of your neighbors who are still delaying the installation. The amounts indicated in the payment column are the best argument in your favor. They are approximately 1.5-2 times lower than those declared by residents who have not yet installed water meters.

Have you also thought about purchasing and installing metering devices? We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the procedure and rules for installing meters.

According to statistics, today more than 90% of Russians already have cold/hot water meters installed. The main reason for their use is to save water, and, accordingly, money to pay for utilities.

In the same receipts you can find the amount of resource consumed and be surprised how much water we waste.

It is estimated that every month the average resident of a comfortable city apartment performs the following actions:

• Flushes the toilet 118 times;
• uses the sink 107 times;
• takes 25 showers;
• washes in the bathroom 4 times;
• Wash dishes 95 times.

As a result, it spends approximately 2-4 m³ of cold water and 1-3 m³ of hot water. Considering that families often have 2 or more people, the amounts are impressive. And this - if you take readings from the meters, without them you have to pay even more money.

If you look at all the nuances of payment with and without devices, you can come to the conclusion that installing water meters brings only advantages:

• you can control the cubic meters spent;
• easy to save your family budget;
• you do not need to make payments if you are absent for a long time, or prove your absence;
• there is no need to pay the debts of irresponsible neighbors and pay interest for the increasing coefficient.

And one more plus related to nature conservation in general and saving water resources in particular. Knowing your monthly expenses for water supply, you can learn to be more careful with water and gradually reduce your consumption - within reasonable limits, of course.

What is ODN and how is it calculated?

ODN - general house needs. Each apartment building receives a certain amount of utility resources, the bulk of which is consumed by residents. Some of the resources go to maintaining the house and maintaining common property. Not only utilities inside the apartment are paid, but also utilities used for general house needs.

The amount of one tax charge for electricity may include costs for:

• Lighting of common areas (staircases, vestibules and entrance areas);
• Energy consumed by intercoms;
• Energy consumed by elevators;
• Energy consumed by other electrical equipment; Used for general house needs (for example, surveillance cameras, pumps pumping water to the upper floors, automatic heat control system, etc.).

Each apartment building has an individual set of electrical equipment. Calculation of the consumed electricity at the ODN is carried out in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354 dated May 6, 2011, P.44:

• Based on the readings of collective metering devices; The expense for one-room registration is determined as the difference between the expense of a certain collective metering device and the total consumption of residential and non-residential premises, then divided by the total area of ​​such premises, and then multiplied by the individual area of ​​each of them.
• In the absence of a common house meter, the calculation is made according to the standard. If the electricity consumption for ODN is determined based on the ODN standard, then the value obtained by multiplying the standard by ODN and the area of ​​the premises included in the common property in an apartment building is divided by the total area of ​​the premises, and then multiplied by the individual area of ​​each of them .

How to take readings

Depending on the model of the electricity meter, different methods for obtaining information are used.

Old meters

Mechanical induction devices have been popular for quite some time. At the moment, they are gradually giving way to electronic IPUs, which provide better control of electricity consumption. Although the demand for classic meters is gradually decreasing, they are still found in private houses and apartments.

The device is single-tariff (single-phase), so there is no need to perform complex calculations to take readings. It is recommended to select a conditional day of each month for writing off data from the electric meter, preceding or included in the period for submitting information.

The procedure is quite simple:

1. A standard mechanical apparatus has a dial with 5–7 digits, and as it works, the numbers change from 0 to 9. After one department has completed a full revolution, the next one begins. The dial is divided into two halves: the left one shows how many kW/h have been consumed since connection, the second (red) is separated by a comma and indicates tenths (hundredths) of a kilowatt.
2. It is necessary to write off the main part of the characters 000024.8 (seven-digit order). The basis is 000024 kW/hour.
3. Depending on the requirements of the management company or resource supplying organization, the information received must be submitted without changes or the difference between the current and previous values ​​must be independently calculated. So, if over the past month the readings were 000003, then: 000024–000003=21 kW/h.

In both old and new mechanical electricity meters, the numbers that are not taken into account in the calculations are clearly highlighted at the end of the number row

The process may be difficult due to the counter resetting to zero after reaching the maximum value. In such a situation, you must first write down the old data. For example, for May (conditionally) it was 999969 (without a decimal point), the new information is 000003 (1 is substituted at the beginning, the result is 1,000003).

1 000003–999969=34 kW/h (current readings).

It is necessary to understand that any illegal attempts to change information about electricity consumption will lead to serious trouble.

On a note! There are mechanisms in which there is no division into main and auxiliary numbers. In such a situation, you need to read and enter all available numbers into the receipt.

New counters

Modern single- and three-phase metering devices differ significantly from mechanical ones. The main difference is that IPUs are equipped with an electronic dial and can be multi-tariff, which provides significant savings in energy consumption. To correctly determine the readings, you need to understand the available devices.

The following varieties are distinguished:

• single tariff, the readings of which are not divided into zones;
• two-tariff – T1/T2;
• three-tariff – T1/T2/T3.

Data is collected from such devices as follows:

1. You need to press a button on the mechanism body. It can be called differently, depending on the IPU model, most often - “PRSM”, “Input” or “Frame”.
2. After pressing, the required values ​​sequentially appear, which have the corresponding signatures - T1, T2 or T3.
3. The main current indicators of 5–6 digits to the decimal point are written off one by one, depending on the type of counter.
4. On an electronic display, the characters are separated by a noticeable comma, and in some IPUs the hundredths and tenths are significantly smaller.
5. The information is transmitted directly to the management company or supplying organization or calculated independently.

In electric meters with an electronic display, after pressing the control key, the data is displayed on the screen: the number of kilowatt-hours consumed and the tariff number (indicated in the upper left corner)

Explanation of symbols for various electronic devices:

• Single tariff. Reflect the total resource consumption without division.
• Two-tariff. T1 – day zone (from 7 am to 11 pm), T2 – night period (from 23.00 to 7.00).
• Three-tariff. T1 – peak zone, which has two time periods: from 7.00 to 10.00 and 17.00 to 21.00; T2 – night (from 23.00 to 7.00); T3 – half-peak zone (from 10.00 to 17.00 and from 21.00 to 23.00). Time periods may vary by region.

The multi-tariff IPU must be correctly connected and pre-configured so that it records readings exactly for the allotted period. In some situations, this may require agreement with the utility provider.

Before purchasing and connecting multi-tariff meters, you should consult your energy supply company about the possibility of using them in your region

Why does the electricity consumption for the single-circuit heating unit change monthly and how can we achieve a reduction in the amount for the single-unit heating unit?

The amount of electricity consumption for one unit is calculated and depends on several factors and may change every month.

The cost of ODN depends on factors such as:

• Intensity of operation of electrical equipment installed on the ODN;
• Regularity of transmission by residents of the house of individual readings of metering devices to PJSC Mosenergosbyt (if the readings are not transmitted, then the calculation is formed based on the calculated average monthly volume of consumption, and when transmitting or taking readings in the subsequent billing period, the volume of consumption will be recalculated based on actual data);
• Absence of unaccounted and/or non-contractual consumption;
• Technical condition of intra-house wiring (electrical wiring in old houses may be worn out and this increases technological losses of electricity in intra-house networks);
• Equipping residential premises with working metering devices.

Induction models

An induction device differs from an electronic device in that it has a rotating wheel; it is located under the frame and numbers. Their number depends on the specific model. These numbers represent electricity meter readings.

How to get information about energy consumption

After the electricians have installed the electricity meter, they issue a certificate. It shows the original numbers. Before paying the monthly fee, record the number indicated to the decimal point that the device has counted for the past month. Zeros at the very beginning do not need to be carried over.

For further calculations, you will need receipts for the previous month. For this purpose, you can create a special journal and record all changes in it.

Calculations

To calculate the indicators and pay for the light, the previous value is subtracted from the last value. The result is the number of kilowatts that were consumed over the past month. You can find out the amount of payment as follows: to do this, multiply the received kilowatts by the tariff. Over time, the counters are “reset” and zeros appear instead of the first digits. How to calculate readings from the electric meter in such cases? The number of kilowatts is rewritten along with zeros, but a “1” is indicated before them.

Number of digits

As a rule, the display of induction electricity meters indicates from 5 to 7 digits. Most often, the last one or two are separated by a comma. They can be of a different size or color and show the 10th and 100th fraction of a kilowatt. They are not recorded when readings from electricity meters are transmitted.

Recommendations for recording readings

There is no uniform form of receipts. Errors are possible when recording meter readings. To be on the safe side, apartment owners record the transmitted data monthly in a notebook. They are compared with the numbers indicated on the receipts. Calculating how many cubes have been used is easy if records are kept.

Common mistakes:

1. Confusion. The readings taken from the hot water meter are entered in the cold water column and vice versa. If water meters are changed at the same time, the flow of cold water is greater. A smaller number indicates hot. When the accounts are maintained, there are no problems.
2. They transmit data in cubic meters per month, but you need to indicate the numbers on the device, a five-digit number. If eight numbers are written on the receipt, it’s okay; the accounting department will be guided by the previous indications.
3. IPU verification deadlines are not met. Calibration periods have been set at 4 years for cold water supply and 6 years for hot water supply. Data from expired water meters will not be taken into account. The cost of water is calculated based on the tariff for each family member. This figure is significantly higher than actual consumption. Consumption standards per person per month:

• cold water – 6.935 m3;
• DHW – 4.745 m3.

This is the average amount of water consumed by a family of 3 working people with proper plumbing.

Water meter with remote reading

In order to be able to remotely take water meter readings, you need to buy impulse meters. Their operating principle is similar to conventional tachometers, but with one important improvement.

Impulse devices have a special device that transmits information via wires and makes it possible to remotely control flow. The received data can be fed into the unified accounting system of your city or simply displayed on the device display at the entrance.

There are companies that develop special devices that operate on the principle of a Wi-Fi system. They can be installed on a regular meter and receive readings from your device on your computer.

This method is very convenient for landlords who want to control everything themselves, but has not yet become widespread due to its high cost.

What to do if you reported the electricity meter readings incorrectly

How to change the electricity meter readings if you make a mistake? There are several ways to solve this problem. For example, clients of Mosenergosbyt JSC can do this by calling a special telephone number. Similar services exist from electricity suppliers in other regions of the country.

Many organizations offer to correct the error, if it was possible to determine its presence before the deadline for submitting current data, directly on their websites. To do this, as a rule, you need to leave an application with adjustments - a special template form is provided for this. If the deadline was missed, you will have to write a statement, to which you need to attach:

• photo of the meter on which its readings are clearly visible;
• a copy of the premises owner's passport.

These actions on the part of the consumer are often enough for the supplier to make adjustments, but in some cases an unscheduled check of the metering device by a representative of the organization may be required.

You can correct the readings by adjusting the data in the next reporting period, but you need to know that new readings should always be greater than the previous ones.

Despite the fact that most electricity consumers know well how to correctly calculate the number of kilowatts consumed, situations with corrections, although not very often, do occur. This is not a particular problem, the main thing is to detect the error in time and correct it correctly with the help of specialists from the supplier organization.

Common mistakes

When taking readings, filling out receipts and transferring data, property owners often make the following mistakes:

• indicate the readings of a cold water meter instead of a hot one and vice versa;
• transmit the value with fractional parts of the number;
• violate deadlines for taking testimony;
• are overdue for periodic verification of metering devices - if the meter is not verified on time, its readings are invalid.

To exclude claims from controllers, data must be recorded correctly, without errors or inaccuracies. Verification of water meters must be carried out in a timely manner at the expense of the consumer in an organization that has the appropriate license. The verification frequency for devices is:

• cold water – once every 6 years;
• hot - every 4 years.

The date of the next periodic verification can be found in the device passport or from the management company (resource supplier). If, based on the results of the verification, it is determined that the meter is not subject to further use, the owner must purchase and install a new device.

Plumbing inspection

Long before reading water meters in the new month, it is recommended to thoroughly check your existing plumbing for water leaks. Timely detection of leaks will help avoid unnecessary costs.

The easiest way to check is to watch the meter. If the water meter wheel is in place, then all equipment is working properly. If water is not used anywhere, and the water meter continues to work, then this may indicate a faulty plumbing.

You have checked all the equipment and found no faults, but the meter readings are still in doubt? In this case, there is a simple way to check the operation of the counter. For the experiment, you only need a 20-liter saucepan. Before starting the test, remember the meter readings, then fill the pan five times. This way you will use exactly 100 liters of water. Now all that remains is to take readings from the meter. If the difference is more or less than 100, then you should contact the appropriate authority to troubleshoot the device.

Thus, so that there is always cold and hot water in the house, and the bills do not shock you, you must remember to transfer the consumption readings to the appropriate authorities every month. You should also regularly check all plumbing fixtures and the water meter for serviceability. As a reminder, it is recommended to keep a calendar to mark the day the readings are taken each month.

How the meter works

To understand how to correctly take readings from water meters, you need to pay special attention to the principles of their installation and operation. Let's look at them further:

1. Readings for hot water are taken from the hot water meter, which is usually located on top of the water pipe. This is due to the position of the pipes, since the hot water pipes are located on top. Accordingly, you will need to look at the readings on the cold water meter at the lower meter.
2. The numbers must be written off from a special display located in the central part of the control center. It shows a lot of numbers: the three on the far right indicate the minimum indicators and change very quickly. Next come the ones we need, denoting cubic meters.

To make it easier to understand, sometimes the meters are colored blue and red - so as not to make a mistake when you take the data.

Calculation example

Let us explain how to take readings from counting equipment and instruments. The new counters show eight zeros. In a month the readings will become, for example, 00279786.

1. We look at the first five digits - 00011, then the next three - 776.
2. This means you have poured out 11 cubic meters of water and 776 liters in a month.
3. Only cubes are transferred to the Gorvodokanal, and liters need to be rounded - in this example we round up, since the readings exceed 500 liters.
4. This means that when transmitting information we indicate 12 cubes.

Let’s say that in a month the device will already show 00025108. This means that we have already used 25 cubic meters and 108 liters. In this case, we will round down. You get 25 cubic meters. Let us subtract the readings of last month from them - 12, we get 13 cubic meters.

Such calculations must be made monthly, carefully taking readings and checking the results several times. Periodic inspections by regulatory authorities are intended to compare actual readings with those indicated by you in payment documents. Therefore, the likelihood of errors should be minimized.

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Alternative counters

Time does not stand still. The tachymetric water meters that we reviewed are being replaced by impulse devices. They allow you to remotely reflect your water consumption. For example, on a special display installed at the entrance, or directly in the general office system of the controlling company. With such meters, the homeowner no longer needs to independently collect readings.

There are already current water meters that independently send readings to your computer and smartphone via Wi-Fi. But they are still distinguished by a noticeable high cost.

Now you know how to correctly record and indicate meter readings on a receipt. Perhaps in the near future technology will free us from these actions.