Working principle

The principle of operation of the two-tariff meter is that at different times of the day the cost of 1 kilowatt of electricity will differ. At night, a kilowatt hour costs less than during the day.

What is this? First of all, electrical substations that generate electricity are interested in this. As a rule, in the morning (7-10 am) and in the evening (7-11 am), the load on the substation increases rapidly due to increased electricity consumption by companies and ordinary consumers. As a result, the substation has to work unevenly, which entails rapid wear of equipment and uneven consumption of fuel (gas, oil or coal). In order to somehow reduce peak hours, dual-tariff electricity meters were introduced.

Advantages and disadvantages of dual meters

These devices work as follows: in the daytime (from 07.00 to 23.00) the cost of electricity is slightly higher than when using conventional devices, but at night (from 23.00 to 07.00) the second tariff is used – a reduced rate, when one kilowatt of electricity costs Several times less.

Thus, this event encourages consumers to use some powerful electrical appliances at night, so that both people save their money and the substation saves their material costs.

the benefits

The main advantages of a dual-induction electricity meter are:

• Save own money (meter payback is about one year).
• Help operate the power plant (electricity producers will often reduce equipment and save fuel when generating electricity).
• Reducing harmful emissions into the atmosphere. As we have already said, due to the uneven consumption of electricity, the station consumes fuel intermittently, so harmful emissions will intensively pollute the environment in the afternoon and afternoon.

As a rule, the last two points are not very important for ordinary consumers, so we can highlight the main advantage of two-tariff electricity meters – cost saving.

Advantages and disadvantages of dual meters

Disadvantages

Despite its advantages, the meter for two tariffs has its drawbacks, namely:

• Far from all regions, the day and night cost of kilowatt-hours of electricity is beneficial to consumers. In some cities, the following trend is observed: during the day, 1 kWh costs almost 2 times more expensive than using single-price metering, at the same time, the price of night consumption is only 15-20% lower.
• After installing the toll meter, it is necessary to use household appliances correctly, otherwise there will be no talk of any savings.

Here I would like to talk more about the second paragraph. The fact is that it is beneficial to use the meter for only two tariffs according to the following principle:

In every house and apartment there are powerful electrical appliances that do not need to be used during the day: washing machine and dishwasher, air conditioning, heater, etc. If you wash things and wash the dishes after 23.00 (turn on the device before bedtime), then in this mode of operation you can significantly save money. Otherwise (during daily switching), the cost of paying electricity will only increase.

That, in fact, was all I wanted to say about whether to buy this meter. As you can see, the electricity meter for two tariffs has its pros and cons, so if you have not yet decided whether to buy or not, read more reviews about the operation of your chosen dual-tariff meter model. Consumer reviews will help you compare the pros and cons of dual-tariff electricity meters.