ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Irish Electricity Meter - Electronic

Here are a few shots of a modern dual-tariff meter from ESB Networks in Ireland.

Close up of meter:


Warning label and seal:

Service fuse :


Meter Cabinet:

Hehe,
I note in the first pic, it states on the front of the meter:
"Solid state Electronic"
As if they still use valves in electronics these days.

LOL - yeah those early valve and pneumatic logic meters were a bit tricky

That's a fairly typical arrangement for Ireland / UK. The old style meters seem to be being phased out and replaced by electronic ones. The style varies in different areas, some have LCD display like the one shown, some have mechanical digits which are operated by a solenoid.

Solid State/Electronic vs. Electromechanical?

Still extremely common in the US; my parents' house built & connected to the grid in 2003 has an electromechanical meter. It seems that three-phase services were the earliest/first to use electronic meters.

The majority of meters in use in domestic premises here are still electromechanical. ESB has only started to go digital in recent years. Dual tariff meters (day and night rate) seemed to be the first to switch over.

Larger commercial 3-phase supplies have much more complicated metering and tariff arrangements, so there has been digital metering, sometimes with automatic reporting, for quite some time now.

The models and makes of digital meters being used in residential seems to vary, but they have a standard reading port which a meter reader can access via a hand-held device.

The other major manufacturer seems to be Siemens.

The service fuses in Ireland vary depending on the age of the installation too. Some installations have a diazed (bottle-shape) fuse in a clear plastic enclosure which is sealed with the usual warning labels and seals.

The most modern installations have a rotary switch directly after the meter, this allows the electrical contractor to self-certify and energise. They then apply coded seal to the isolator switch.

In all installations here, the customer's panel must also contain a 'main switch' to isolate the entire system and a 'main fuse', (usually a neozed switch-fuse thesedays, which looks rather like an MCB module.). Certain approved MCBs are now allowed for this purpose too.

The idea is that if the panel is overloaded, the customer's main fuse will blow faster than the service fuse, thus avoiding the need for service calls to the power company.

The service fuse would only blow in very unusual circumstances i.e. where someone has tampered with the customer's main fuse.

Smart Metering's being rolled out to a selection of homes here at the moment using meters made by Sagem (France).



They either backhaul the data over the powerlines, or in some areas where this isn't possible they have a GSM data module and SIM card inside and send / receive data through the mobile phone system.

Customers are receiving their normal power bills, with their usual tariffs and a 'Shadow Bill' which is based on their smart-meter readings.

In Austria I have seen one(!) electronic meter so far, all others are the good old Ferraris meters. I think anything above 63A three phase is CT metering around here.

Which reminds me of how different service sizes in different countries are. The upper end in Europe seems to be Germany with 3x63A even in apartments in some areas (and certainly no less than 3x35A anywhere), followed by Austria with usually 3x35A for single family homes and 3x25A for apartments (all new construction, old work is usually 3x25 for single family and 1x25 or even 1x20 for apartments). The UK and Ireland are the countries witht he largest single phase services. At the bottom end of the scale you have France (up to 30 amps single phase and even down to 15A 3 phase) and Italy (1x12 or 1x15A for a big single family house!).

In Ireland you'd typically have :

Small houses (older) / Apartments - 63A Single Phase
Most houses / Some apartments - 80A Single Phase
Some houses / Apartments with unusually high loads e.g. heating / multiple electric instantaneous showers - 100A.

3 phase is used, but it's exceptionally unusual in a residential scenario - although you may find in homes with workshops etc. You won't find any 3-phase circuits used for residential/domestic appliances though. Where as 3-phase seems common enough for cooking appliances in France etc.

Most US residential installations are 200A :P

is that @120V though?

Also, in the US most of that load is taken up by air conditioning in most homes that I've seen. In Ireland air conditioning's just totally unnecessary because of the climate.

Also, electric heating is pretty rare. It's just far more cost effective to use other fuels.

Most homes are heated with hydronic systems (water-filled radiators) usually heated by a furnace burning gas (natural or LPG), pressure-jet oil systems, or increasingly automatic wood-pellet furnaces, in many homes you'd also have options like solid-fuel 'back boilers in fireplaces.

So, many homes would actually have a combination of heat sources for the radiators.