Replacing the electric meter in an apartment: tips and step-by-step instructions

Why is replacement required?

Installation of a new electricity meter may be required under the following circumstances:

1. 
   There is an outdated model installed in the room

   . If the old meter has an accuracy class level of 2.0, it needs to be replaced.
2. The energy supply organization plans to switch to a multi-tariff type of payment.
3. The service life of the device has expired . On average, the service life of meters is 10 – 16 years. After the expiration date, the device must be replaced or verified. The cost of verification is almost equal to a new device. Therefore, it is more profitable to replace.
4. The old device is damaged . Damage includes missing, damaged glass or cracks in the case.
5. The installed device produces incorrect data . If the readings have changed sharply compared to the previous ones, it means that the meter has malfunctioned and needs to be replaced.

If the meter is broken, you cannot try to fix it yourself, since the seals of the manufacturer and the controlling organization will be broken. This will result in a fine.

From July 1, 2022, the Government of the Russian Federation plans to make it mandatory to install electronic meters that will be connected to an intelligent system. It makes it possible to read readings remotely: data from the device will be transmitted online to control centers and recorded. Citizens will be automatically issued bills.

The system allows you to monitor and evaluate energy consumption at different times of the day, compare readings, which will help save resources. New generation meters calculate electricity at three tariffs: in the morning the price of energy is the most expensive, in the afternoon – average, and at night – minimal. This system allows its owners to save money.

Additionally, the resource supplying organization will have the opportunity to remotely limit the supply of electricity to citizens who do not pay for the consumed kilowatts.

This practice has already been adopted in many countries around the world. Currently, smart meters are being installed in pilot regions. According to some reports, the complete transition to the new system will last until 2030.

How to correctly take readings from a two-tariff meter

The meter has a display on which the readings of the “day zone” and “night zone” are alternately displayed. To switch between them, just press the enter button. Rewrite the T1 readings, press “Enter”, rewrite the next readings. Compare these numbers with the previous ones. Their difference is the actual consumption. It must be multiplied by the tariff for each zone separately.

Governing laws

Maintenance and replacement of electricity meters is regulated by Russian legislation:

• Art. 543 and art. 210 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation;
• Housing Code;
• Federal Law No. 261 of November 32, 2009;
• Federal Law No. 102 of June 26, 2008;
• decision of the State Standard of the Russian Federation;
• Decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 530 and No. 491.

Who pays

Until recently, responsibility for replacing the meter rested solely with the owner of the premises. On July 1, 2020, Government Decree No. 554 of April 18, 2020 “On amendments to certain acts of the Government of the Russian Federation on improving the organization of electrical energy metering” came into force. After the adoption of this law, the payment procedure depends on the category of premises.

• In public housing . According to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, replacing meters is the responsibility of the owner of a residential premises. When a tenant lives in an apartment under a social tenancy agreement, the owner of the apartment is the municipality. Replacing the meter and paying for the work must be done by the authorities. In reality, management and energy sales companies require payment for the replacement of the responsible employer, citing the fact that the responsible employer is also a subscriber of the energy supply company. But according to Art. 539 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the subscriber in this case must be the management company. Therefore, replacement and payment for work on replacing electric meters in municipal housing must be carried out by the management company.

• At the entrance. According to Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 491, electricity meters located on landings in the entrances of apartment buildings are common property. Accordingly, all work and expenses for replacing electric meters must be carried out by the management company in whose department the residential building is located. At the same time, the law stipulates the possibility of payment for work by the owner of the apartments, if such a provision is specified in the agreement between the owner of the residential premises and the management company.

• In his own apartment, including a privatized one, the owner of the residential premises must ensure the safety and integrity of electricity meters, as well as their maintenance. Replacing outdated, broken or non-compliant electricity meters is the responsibility of the owner. The expenses are fully covered by him.

• In a private house . In this case, the owner pays the cost of replacement; to ensure access for the inspector, meters in private houses are installed only outside the house.

If the management company requires payment of expenses by the responsible tenant of municipal housing, you should contact the housing inspectorate with a complaint about illegal actions.

How to pay yourself using a two-tariff meter

Rewrite the day and night readings taken from the display. In the payment receipt, enter the readings for the day in the “Current” column, and enter the daily data of the previous month in the “Previous” column.

With the next line, repeat this procedure with night readings. In the “Consumption” column, enter the difference between the readings T1 and T2. This will be your actual expense. In the “Tariff” column, enter the cost per kilowatt at the selected tariff. Multiply the consumption by the tariff and add up the total for the day and night. This will be the amount due.

A blank receipt form can be downloaded from the official Mosenergosbyt website. You can also receive a receipt for payment in any convenient way: electronically, by mail or in your personal account.

Procedure

The first step towards replacing an electric meter is to submit an application to the management company or energy supply organization. It all depends on who is the energy supplier to a particular room. It’s easy to figure out where to go—just look at your electricity receipt. The coordinates and necessary contacts are given there.

Notification of a planned replacement can be submitted in person, by email or by registered mail via Russian Post.

Expert opinion

Makhinov Vladimir Konstantinovich

Electrical Communications Specialist

There is no statutory form of notification, so it is drawn up in free form. For example, like this:

“Due to the approaching date of the scheduled verification, I notify you of my intention to replace the electricity meter myself at the address: ……. Estimated meter replacement date: 03/28/2021.”

In some cities, it is possible to submit an application online on the website of the energy supply company. In the form that opens, you will need to fill in the necessary information. After submitting your application, a specialist will contact you and set a date for changing the device.

The application must be accepted and reviewed by the relevant organization within 15 days. In practice this happens earlier. After agreement with the owners of the premises, a specialist will be sent to the specified address, who will remove the old device, install a new one and draw up a corresponding report. This document will serve as the basis for the possibility of paying for electricity according to new indications.

If you do not send advance notice of the intention to replace and remove the old device, marketers may regard this as theft.

How to calculate electricity by meter for day and night

The procedure is similar to taking readings from a single-tariff meter:

1. Click the Enter button. Readings marked T1 are displayed on the screen.
2. Write down the readings in a notepad.
3. Press the enter button again, the display shows T2 data.
4. Copy the readings into a notepad.

Find the previous day's readings on your receipt. Subtract the previous ones from the current ones. The resulting figure is your daily consumption. Multiply it by the tariff. Calculate your nightly consumption in the same way. Day and night results are added up and paid.

Electricity tariffs by zone can be viewed on the Mosenergosbyt website or in the table below:

Reference! To find out how to pay the day/night meter readings for your model, please refer to the instructions that came with the device.

How to change it yourself

If you decide to install a new meter yourself, notification to the sales company is carried out in the same way.

After dismantling the old device, you can begin installation, taking into account the following recommendations:

1. 
   The installation height is regulated within 0.8÷1.7 m from ground level; depending on the model of devices, they must be installed in special housings, common electrical panels or boxes.

2. Only electricians who have permission to perform work on lines with voltages up to 1000 V have the right to perform this type of work.
3. You need to purchase and install meters that have state certification. Not all device manufacturers have such a document, since it is difficult to obtain. Before purchasing an electric meter, ask representatives of energy companies for a list of certified manufacturers.
4. To service 380 Volt power networks, you will need to purchase a three-phase device.
5. If you want to install two meters, you will need to obtain permission from the supplier. Typically, this method of paying for electricity is not approved. A similar permit will have to be obtained if there is a desire to install an additional meter in a communal apartment.
6. In dilapidated houses or other similar buildings, meters can only be installed on a solid foundation. It must be provided in advance, otherwise the specialist may refuse to install the device due to the risk of fire or electric shock.

After self-installation, you will need to install a seal on the new device. Please note that only official representatives of energy companies have the right to register and seal meters; they will have to be called in any case. Practice shows that they often react negatively to the fact that their additional income is taken away from them, and can put forward various justifications for refusing registration and sealing. Therefore, it is better to agree on this issue in advance.

Installation of single-phase

Most modern meters are produced in a universal installation option, that is, they are mounted on special mounting rails in boxes without the use of hardware. The boxes have DIN rails - modular elements on which protection, metering and distribution equipment is mounted. They can be mounted or built-in. There must be a zero bus for connecting all neutral wires of electrical wiring and equipment.

In the store, unpack the device and, in the presence of the seller, inspect the case for mechanical damage. Please note that there is a manufacturer's license, a state trustee seal and a Quality Control Department seal. If something is missing or damaged, you should not purchase such a meter, since you will never be able to officially register and seal it.

The seller must put a mark in the passport about the time of purchase and guarantees.

At the same time, purchase electrical automatic protection fittings; for this you need to know by what criteria it is selected.

Installation procedure:

1. Box mounting. There are many different types of them, differing in the degree of sealing, reliability of anti-vandal protection, linear dimensions, body material, list of internal fillings. Choose the best option for yourself. Securely fix the housing to the surface. On the back wall of the boxes there are technological holes for fastening; depending on the material of the wall, use self-tapping screws, dowels or hanging hooks. The back cover can be accessed after removing the internal protective cover.
2. Install a two-pole circuit breaker inside the box - the main protection of the meter from overload and ultra-high short circuit currents.
3. The PUE rules require the mandatory presence of an RCD. If you need to change the nominal parameters of the automation, use a special adjusting screw with a scale of indicators. The screw is driven by an ordinary screwdriver. To secure the machine to the rail, there is a special latch on its rear wall.

4. Secure the meter to the bus using the latch. The latches and bars have standard sizes, which increases their versatility.
5. Install single-pole circuit breakers. Ideally, it is recommended to install them on each floor of the cottage, bathhouse, utility rooms, garage, and workshop. Sometimes hotel machines are connected to every powerful electrical appliance. This ensures maximum safety indoors.
6. Before connecting the meter to the wiring, you need to remove the protective cover of the meter; there is a connection diagram on the back side. When you remove the meter cover, you will see four clamps: two for input and output phases and two for input and output zero.
7. Prepare jumpers. It is better to trim them with a margin - it is never too late to reduce the length, but it is impossible to increase it. The length of the cleaned ends of the jumpers on the meter and machine sides should be different and it depends on the size of the clamps. Jumpers must not be inserted with force.

8. Connect the power wires to the main circuit breaker, turn off the circuit breaker. Check with a tester that the machine operates correctly. Remember that the neutral wire should only be blue; for the phase wire, you can use wires of any color.
9. Connect the phase output on the machine with a jumper to the phase input on the meter. Make sure that the wire insulation does not get under the clamps. First, tighten the upper bolt of the clamp, check the reliability of the fastening by pulling the wire: it should not wobble or pull out. Tighten the bottom bolt and repeat tightening both bolts several times. The connection must be as reliable as possible; after installing and sealing the cover, access to the contacts to correct errors will be impossible; you will have to call an electrician.

10. Connect the zero jumper. Install a zero jumper from the machine to the meter. The insulation of jumpers should never touch; this applies to all wires, both phase and neutral.
11. Connect the phase coming from the meter to the first single-pole circuit breaker. Make jumpers between the installed machines. Then connect the zero output from the meter with a wire to the zero bus of the box.

Finally, you can close the lid and call an employee to check, seal and register. After this, permission is issued to connect electrical consumers to the power supply. Next, the wiring is connected with a phase wire to each single-pole circuit breaker, and a zero wire to the zero busbar, and wiring is done throughout the buildings and premises.

How to connect three-phase

The connection algorithm is practically no different from the described circuit for single-phase meters. There are differences only between types of functioning.

The devices are designed for a current flow of no more than 100 A, the maximum power of all consumers is no more than 60 kW. Such meters are most often used for private buildings with a large number of different consumers. The connection is made through current transformers at the outlet of the meter. Their parameters are selected taking into account the maximum power consumption.

Each phase has its own step-down current transformer; most often they are connected as a star; delta is rarely used. There are three terminals for each phase: for the supply wire of the current circuit, for the voltage wire and for the load wire of the current circuit.

Connection order:

1. Connect the load wire . Loosen both screws of the single-phase power wire terminal, strip off the insulation, and insert the wire into the terminal. Tighten the top bolt, then the bottom, check the security and repeat the clamp again. The stripped section of the wire must be smooth; do not cut it while stripping the insulation. Do not allow insulation to get into the terminal. Similarly, connect the remaining terminals in phases.
2. Apply power to the meter . If everything is done correctly, the indicator on the front panel will light up. When a load is connected, the mechanism begins to rotate and its readings change. The readings are multiplied by the transformation ratio of the connected current transformers; the coefficients must be indicated in a special window on the connection block cover.
3. Replace the block cover and secure it with screws . Now you can call a representative for inspection, sealing, registration and issuance of permission to use.

Estimated cost

In Russia, electricians provide a service to residents of private houses to move the electric meter to the required location for 1000-5000 rubles . Moving the device from indoors to outdoors costs about 3000-5000 rubles, and within housing - 2000-2500 rubles . The prices of different companies are shown in the table.

Private electricians are ready to move the metering device at a more attractive price - for 1000-4000 rubles , depending on the volume and complexity of the work.

Installation safety rules

When replacing an indoor electricity meter, the following rules must be observed:

• Do not leave exposed wires, which could cause a short circuit and electric shock to a person.
• Twisting of wires is not permitted. All of them must be connected in the distribution board through terminal boxes. The wires must be carefully laid and connected with dielectric bundles into a bundle.
• You need to turn on the meter when the circuit breaker after the meter is turned off, that is, without load.
• The metal structure where the device is installed must be grounded.
• After turning on the machine, the “Network” indicator should light up. The “Reverse” icons, etc. should not be lit, otherwise the connection is incorrect.
• When the outgoing machine is turned off, the LED recording the electricity consumption should not blink.

Expert opinion

Makhinov Vladimir Konstantinovich

Electrical Communications Specialist

The nature of the indication depends on the design of the electric meter and its type. Before starting work, carefully read the operating instructions.

Common questions and special cases

The management company replaced the meter in our absence. We have a three-tariff system, put into operation 3 years ago. The management company carried out a massive replacement and installed a two-tariff system. Are these actions legal?

No, not legal. Write a complaint to the energy supply organization outlining your requirements, notifying the energy workers that if this issue is not resolved within 10 days, you reserve the right to file a complaint with the prosecutor's office, Rospotrebnadzor and the Housing Inspectorate, followed by legal action.

I have a house and a building on my property. Is it possible to install an additional line and connect a separate electric meter?

No. If the site is single and is owned by one owner, you can connect only once. If you want two lines and different meters, you need to divide the plot into two with different cadastral numbers.

How do you pay for electricity if the meter is stolen?

Theft of the device will entail a change in the payment scheme for consumed electricity. Payment will be made in accordance with clause 59 of RF PP 354, that is, based on average consumption. This procedure will be determined for the period from the date the theft of the electric meter was recorded until the date of filing the application for installation (sealing) of a new meter.

Is the homeowner required to be present when the electric meter is replaced?

If the device is in the public domain, the presence of the owner when replacing it is not necessary. In any case, the meter will be considered put into operation after drawing up the report, and its readings will be taken into account in calculations.

Do I need to store the old meter after replacement?

No. All data is indicated in the act, so the old device will no longer be needed.

Replacing an indoor electricity meter may be planned or unplanned. But in any case, it is strictly regulated and registered with the energy company. Violation of order is punishable by a substantial fine.

Is it possible to correct errors in the act?

It happens that the engineer filling out the report form makes factual errors: for example, he writes the wrong meter number, date or address. Then you can correct the shortcomings by applying the standard procedure:

1. The fragment with an error is crossed out with one line.
2. The correct option is written above or next to it in the margin.
3. They also write: “Believe the corrected.”
4. The corrections made are endorsed with a signature and date.

Corrections must be made with a representative of the customer company.