April 2005

What's This?-Electric Meter

The electric meter on the side of your home or business is an elegantly simple machine. And it's amazingly accurate.

Its job is to keep track of the amount of electricity you use, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh).   One kilowatt-hour of electricity will light a 100-watt bulb for 10 hours.

Once a month, your meter is read by Tru-Check, our contractor.   That number is punched into a hand-held computer and downloaded to our mainframe when the meter reader returns at the end of the day.

Last month's reading is subtracted from the current reading to calculate the number of kilowatt-hours used during the month.   That's basically how Walton EMC determines your bill.   If you have a commercial account, it's a little more complicated.

So how does a mechanical electric meter work?

Think back to your physical science class. Electricity flowing through a conductor creates a magnetic field.   The more electricity that flows, called current, the stronger the magnetic field.

The meter's aluminum disk sits directly in that magnetic field.   The stronger the field, the faster the disk turns.

The disk is connected to a series of gears that turn a dial.   Meter readers record the number from that dial.

“Many people automatically blame their meter for a high bill,” says Howard Turner, WEMC director of marketing and member services.   “But over 99.9 percent of the time, the meter's not at fault.   If something's wrong with an electrical device or appliance, the high meter reading is just a symptom.”

“As a matter of fact, the meter is a great tool in helping track down inefficient or malfunctioning appliances,” continues Turner.   “It's something our customer-owners can even use themselves.”

Like any other mechanical device, a mechanical electric meter tends to slow down with age, not speed up.   That's due to wear on the gears and other mechanical parts.

Accuracy improves even more with the advent of solid-state meters.   Solid-state meters use electronic components instead of gears.   This eliminates wear and tear associated with mechanical meters.

Since prices of solid-state meters have fallen drastically, expect to see them eventually replace mechanical meters.

But being over 100 years old, mechanical meters are a time-proven technology.

Learn how to read your own electric meter.

More Information: Dave's Old Watthour Meter Webpage

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