Fantastic5
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Why would I have 2 meters on my house if it only has one breaker box inside and it is a single family home? it is a 200 amp service. They both seem to be working. Is there some reason for this?
Why do I have 2 electric meters?
- Thread starter Fantastic5
- Start date
dadsEH
Well-known member
The bottom one is for the hydroponic lab in the basement. Cool man!
We're they always there? Notice one is digital while the other is analog...have you called the electric company about it? This is truly a WTF moment, I do love that adaptor that both meters are plugged into before going into the box.
Are they questioning the accuracy of your original unit? If that is the case they may have added an additional one as a buddy check
When you figure out what is going on keep us posted
Are they questioning the accuracy of your original unit? If that is the case they may have added an additional one as a buddy check
When you figure out what is going on keep us posted
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
I gotta say in all my years doing electrical, I've never seen an adapter like that before.
I'm not sure how they would be checking the accuracy of one meter vs. the other because those are feed through sockets. Maybe there are some CTs in the cabinet that feed the digital meter.
I'm not sure how they would be checking the accuracy of one meter vs. the other because those are feed through sockets. Maybe there are some CTs in the cabinet that feed the digital meter.
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First time to see a setup like that! Maybe POCO is doing a test of digital meters vs. analog before phasing in digitals.
How long has that been there?
Read both meters and record values. Read a week later and see if the difference between both meters is the same KWh's.
Check your bills and see what values are being used to determine your usage.
How long has that been there?
Read both meters and record values. Read a week later and see if the difference between both meters is the same KWh's.
Check your bills and see what values are being used to determine your usage.
sberry
Banned
One was for electric water heater or electric heat I believe, at one time there was an incentive of some sorts, I don't recall the details and they definitely don't do it any more. I have seen this.
bill in in
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I'd bet there are two different rates on your bill. One of the left overs from the days that they wanted people to use electricity for baseload (heating more than likely)
n8n
Well-known member
I think it does have to do with high demand devices like A/C and electric water heaters. If I recall correctly the utility co. would give you a break on your rate if they had the ability to shed load by turning off your WH for a period of an hour or so whenever they neared capacity rather than have rolling blackouts. My parents had that setup on their house and the house was built in the early 80s IIRC (they didn't build it, it was bought from a previous owner.) So the second "meter" probably has the ability to be remote controlled from the power company to shut off whatever is connected to it.
Do you have a separate disconnect for your water heater? That would be a dead giveaway that this is what you're looking at.
I don't recall ever noticing that we'd run out of hot water. Well, except for one Christmas morning when the T/P valve failed, I went downstairs early to do some laundry (I was home from college) before everyone else got up, and got a warm foot bath
Good times, good times.
Do you have a separate disconnect for your water heater? That would be a dead giveaway that this is what you're looking at.
I don't recall ever noticing that we'd run out of hot water. Well, except for one Christmas morning when the T/P valve failed, I went downstairs early to do some laundry (I was home from college) before everyone else got up, and got a warm foot bath
Good times, good times.JasonMcElroy
Well-known member
I have that setup on my house in Philadelphia. In our case, the second one is a "night meter", offering a different rate for power consumed after dark. It is no longer in use, but the previous owner probably didn't want to incur the expense of having the socket box replaced. The neighbors told me when I moved in seven years ago that they hadn't offered that plan in at least a decade.
Jason
Jason
nehog
Well-known member
They may be using this to verify the accuracy of the smart meter. Install the two, with the customer's old meter on the bottom. Run both and verify (with the owner) both read the same, eventually removing the adapter and second meter and leaving just the smart meter.
volleyball
Well-known member
I think you use so much power that 1 meter could not capture it all. Maybe turn off a few of the basements grow lights.
Have you thought to ask your power company?
Have you thought to ask your power company?
79firebird
Well-known member
Its to test if you have a bad meter or not. I had one installed for 3 months when my bill was 200X what it use to be after i had a smart meter put in. They put a old analog one in below would read both and ya was a bad meter. Cheaper that way then sending it back to the makers to test them. Talking to the guy that put it in 1 out of every 1000 meters they have had to replace.
Stuart in MN
Well-known member
Our house when I was growing up had two meters, one was for the electric water heater. The one for the water heater used a timer so it only ran during non-peak periods for a lower rate (this was in the 1950s, by the way, so off peak electrical setups aren't anything new.) However, our meters were in two separate meter sockets side by side, I've never seen them installed like the photo.
east_tn_emc
Well-known member
Notice the digital meter indicated "POC"...is it possible they are looking into the idea of changing to digital meters and they are using some as a PROOF OF CONCEPT?
Charles (in GA)
Well-known member
Since they are both plugged into an adapter that is plugged into a standard meter socket........... I'll buy this explanation.
While it is true that the POCOs used to offer special rates for electric water heaters and such on separate meters, the installation would be two separate meter cans due to the wiring involved.
Charles
dadsEH
Well-known member
Guys, guys!
Its the OP's first post, come on. It's not April 1 is it?
You've been had.
Its the OP's first post, come on. It's not April 1 is it?
You've been had.
Tyberius
Well-known member
You should have a meter number on your bill. What is it?
JasonMcElroy
Well-known member
Yep. Ours has two separate, dedicated cans. Should have looked at OP's pic before opening my mouth.
Jason
G_P
Well-known member
nehog
Well-known member
We have two meters on our house: the hot water rate is (slightly) less than the regular rate. We get only one bill for both meters however. (The bills split out the meters so we know how much we use for hot water.)
Dugan
Well-known member
Lemme guess, you never got that 200x credit back..
OP
Fantastic5
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I asked the electric company about them and they said they did not put it in and didn't understand about it either. So I showed the picture to a local electrician and he said he had never seen anything like it either, but would ask around and get me an answer. He also thought about the water tank, but it is gas and there is no a/c in the house either. I will let you know when I find out something.
nu2me
Member
Smart meter for time-of-day pricing, more info at:
https://www.itron.com/na/PublishedContent/OpenWay Centron Meter.pdf
Looks like was installed by D.L. Co, which may not be the current PoCo.
https://www.itron.com/na/PublishedContent/OpenWay Centron Meter.pdf
Looks like was installed by D.L. Co, which may not be the current PoCo.
79firebird
Well-known member
Dugan They gave me a credit for half of it. Better then nothing
The poco that I work for put them in for skeptics when they first started putting smart meters in. They did that to show customers that the smart meter would have the same readings as a legacy meter. I think they put 50 of them in when they first started.
MTW
Well-known member
To add to that, from
Smart Meters and Smart Meter Systems:
A Metering Industry Perspective
An EEI-AEIC-UTC White Paper pg 21
https://www2.dteenergy.com/wps/wcm/connect/574684ae-d95d-496e-9787-5d35437cd159/smartMeterWhitePaper.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=574684ae-d95d-496e-9787-5d35437cd159
Texas was one of the first areas that had accuracy concerns raised by customer groups. The utilities in this jurisdiction conducted additional tests at the request of the Public Utility Commission of Texas to satisfy customer complaints. This study was conducted by an independent third party not affiliated with any local utility or the regulatory agency. They addressed the meter accuracy and the results of the Smart Meter installation processes. The meter testing consisted of using new Smart Meters and returning Smart Meters installed in the field for testing in a third party testing facility. In addition, some smart meters were tested in parallel field tests with the old premise meter and the installation process was studied for accuracy. Both types of meter tests confirmed the accuracy of the new Smart Meter devices.
The study concluded:
99.96 % were within +/- 2% and 99.91% were within +/-0.5%.
Smart Meters were more stable with tighter accuracy control, and consistently performed better than their mechanical counterparts.
There was no statistically significant difference in electricity usage that can be attributed to the installation and use of advanced meters.
The increase in customer complaints correlated with a difference in weather, not with the deployment of Smart Meters.
So this is a test, if it was me, I would record my own data to monitor the test.Ω
All meters that are used to bill consumers must be of revenue grade accuracy. ANSI c12.20 is the standard that meters must meet. The are multiple classes (or accuracies) available. Class .5 is +/-0.5% accuracy. This is common to most meters. Goggle ge I-210+c. Smart meters are closer to 0.2% but may still be spec'd at 0.5%. Any company selling meters has to meet this spec. Poco's just buy the meters from ge or Westinghouse. So this entire test is bs and just good for p.r., but it gets the consumer groups off their back.
truckman5000
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Yah this was very common here. My house has one, because in 1979 the electrical company started an incentive.
It was if you used electricity at night it was cheaper. So people would have there water heater and heat on a timer. On the separate meter. The separate meter was at a discounted rate.
bsaint
Well-known member
My licensed cousin in Massachusetts says a lot of older houses in New England have them for a high demand meter. Usually they run a 2nd panel connected to a high power device.
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
Assuming both meters are feed through type meters, how would they BOTH measure the load? Does the load pass through BOTH meters? And if that were the case, wouldnt the measurement be inaccurate due to the impedance of the meters?
nehog
Well-known member
There are several meters between your house and the generating facility. It works, trust me. And no impedance would have no effect on it--and meters have virtually no impedance anyway.
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
And the meters youre speaking of are CT type meters NOT feed thru type!!
Steroblan
Well-known member
Some POCO's allow a separate meter for a domestic well. I assume so they can monitor my water usage. I had it installed but also added the pool and both shops to the new meter subpanel so I have essentially doubled my baseline allowance.
green.bubbly
Well-known member
Can somebody explain to me how the water heater breakers would cut power to the lower heater elements?
While I think this setup has something to do with a peak demand deal from the POCO (water heating, electric heat, etc) our gun club has a similar setup with some sort of high usage meter. One of the meters has a needle / dial on it, sort of like a home barometer. The manual needle is set to "X" on the dial scale, and locked in place with a seal. We were allowed "X" KW usage on a normal basis. If our usage exceeded "X" we would be charged a higher rate. At least that's how I remember it working; I don't believe it's been used in a number of years, at least we haven't exceeded the usage threshold.
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
Can somebody explain to me how the water heater breakers would cut power to the lower heater elements?
I dont see how it would. Im guessing that the wire going to the lower element is actually just going to a timer running the lower element seeing as the label on the meter says "time switch terminal".
you just pull the meter, der... LOL!!!
Justanoldguy
Well-known member
In new zealand, every house has 2 meters.
Be really strange here if they only had one.
Justanoldguy
Well-known member
I think it does have to do with high demand devices like A/C and electric water heaters. If I recall correctly the utility co. would give you a break on your rate if they had the ability to shed load by turning off your WH for a period of an hour or so whenever they neared capacity rather than have rolling blackouts. My parents had that setup on their house and the house was built in the early 80s IIRC (they didn't build it, it was bought from a previous owner.) So the second "meter" probably has the ability to be remote controlled from the power company to shut off whatever is connected to it.
Do you have a separate disconnect for your water heater? That would be a dead giveaway that this is what you're looking at.
I don't recall ever noticing that we'd run out of hot water. Well, except for one Christmas morning when the T/P valve failed, I went downstairs early to do some laundry (I was home from college) before everyone else got up, and got a warm foot bath
Yep, that is what happens here.
One is hot water and a cheaper rate as they can turn it off for short periods.
The norm here in NZ.