In 2019, about 131 million smart meters were shipped globally, and the numbers are expected to reach about 188 million by 2025. Smart metering delivers accurate and quick measurements and eliminates tedious meter reading home visits. They also enhance reliability, improve customer service, and reduce carbon footprints for a greener environment.
Read on to gain more insights about smart metering.
What Is a Smart Meter?
Smart meters are digital tools that provide accurate tracking of utility energy consumption on an attached system. For instance, when you have a smart water meter connected to your facility’s main, the device tracks water flow 24/7, which can help address issues and bill customers more accurately. It can also monitor leaks.
Digital metering systems have smart meter technology that controls the flow of resources used in a specific facility, such as water, electricity, or natural gas. A significant benefit of these systems is that you can control the smart aspects remotely.
What Is Smart Metering?
Smart metering refers to the near real-time measurement of energy consumption using an intelligent metering tool. The process digitizes the energy system, laying the foundation for a cleaner and more efficient supply of power. Smart metering also enables you to know the energy consumption of some appliances in your home, such as a kettle or washing machine.
How Do Smart Meters Work?
Like traditional meters, smart meters work by measuring your electricity, gas, or water usage. However, they are more efficient due to the smart meter technology, which sends accurate readings to the supplier, eliminating reliance on estimated energy bills. A signal, similar to what mobile phones use, delivers meter readings from your facility directly to your supplier.
Network operators check intelligent meters remotely and have the ability to detect potential fraud, electricity outages, or leaks. Additionally, smart meters record the exact amount of electrical power or water usage at different periods of the day and each day of the week.
How Do Smart Meters Communicate?
Smart meters communicate via wireless technology through a wide area and home network. While outside your facility or home, they rely on a wide area network (WAN) to send your meter reading data to your supplier.
The devices communicate through a home area network (HAN) when inside your home to send consumption details to a display within the facility. Smart appliances linked to the smart meters also receive data provided they are within range.
The AMI systems for water, electric, and gas meters communicate via cellular data networks or radio RF signals.
The Benefits of Using Smart Meters
Carbon Footprint Reduction
Smart meters act as the foundation of an intelligent energy system. Even if you don’t put in measures to use less energy in your home, installing a smart meter helps reduce carbon emissions. The devices offer valuable information that helps integrate energy-saving technology into buildings through renewable power. Over time, the prevalence of smart metering will contribute to a significant reduction in carbon footprints.
A United Nations report from 2016 estimated that approximately 30% of global water is lost through leakage. Freshwater is a necessary resource for us all, and smart water metering can assist essential efforts to preserve as much of it as we can through monitoring usage and leaks. Smart water meters are sustainable solutions.
Cost Savings
A smart meter device shows you your energy or water consumption in real-time. If it’s beyond your budget, you can reduce or adapt to particular levels to use less power or water. For instance, you can request your employees to make it a habit of turning off their computers when on lunch break and switching off lights when leaving an unoccupied room.
Water metering data can indicate that your business would benefit economically from more efficient toilets and sinks. You can measure the success of your employee’s behavior changes and water-saving high-efficiency upgrades from the data generated from the smart meters.
Accurate Consumption Readings
Inaccurate readings can be costly in the long run, and businesses may find themselves with huge, unexpected bills. With smart meters, you no longer need to rely on estimates. Intelligent meters give accurate consumption readings every month.
Smart Metering Is the Future
Smart meters are an essential link in energy evolution. For utility companies, the more smart meters, the more data you have, giving you more efficiency. If you want to discover your options for smart metering solutions, you can contact us to help you start a project.