Stromzähler

In a single- or dual-occupancy house, the electricity meter is usually found in the hallway or the cellar near where the main fuse box can also be found. In rented accommodation, the meter is often found in the hallway or the cellar. If in doubt, contact your rental company.

There are four basic types of electricity meter: mechanical, electronic, dual-tariffand smart electricity meters. The mechanical meters, also known as Ferraris meters, are recognisable by their mechanical counting mechanism which is driven by induction technology. Older models are usually this type. However, their robustness means they often have a long service life. Electronic meters do not contain any mechanically moving parts. Instead, the meter reading is displayed in a digital field. Electronic meters are usually already fitted with remote meter-reading technology. You can have both mechanical and electrical dual-tariff meters. The dual-tariff meter is recognisable by its two different mechanical counting mechanisms, or two digital meter-reading windows. The main advantage of this type of meter is that the electricity consumption can be assigned to two tariffs (HT/NT). In the future, the smart meter will become increasingly important. It is a further development of the electronic meter with remote meter-reading technology. It also saves individual electricity consumption figures, including variations over time and peak consumption data, and sends this to us.

The meter number can be found above or below the set of figures. We need your meter number to calculate the electricity consumption of a specific electricity meter and thus assign it to a consumer. 

Every Meter can be identified by a individual Meter Number. This number tells exactly, where the Meter is situated. Most of the German Meters still work mechanically – and they have been used for decades since their invention. Now, the aging mechanical Meters are to be gradually replaced by Modern or Smart Meters.

HT and NT are abbreviations for high-rate tariff and low-rate tariff (or night-time tariff). If you have a dual-tariff electricity meter, you will be supplied with electricity at the standard electricity tariff (HT) during the day, and at the lower electricity tariff (NT) during the night. This tariff segregation is particularly useful if you have storage heaters. This allows you to recharge the storage heater over night using the cheaper electricity in order to heat your house during the day. But why is electricity cheaper at night? Electricity is firstly generated by the producer who is able to do this the most cheaply. This is why renewable energy systems are first choice to produce electricity because they don’t require any fuel. Then come the coal-fired power stations and these are followed by the gas-fired power stations (since gas is currently more expensive than coal). This means that the greater the amount of energy required, the higher the price of energy climbs. Since considerably more electricity is need during the day for cooking, working, etc., electricity used during the day is more expensive. 

If you don’t have an intelligent electricity meter (smart meter) that makes it possible to issue a bill that is accurate month on month, reading your meter on a regular basis can save you from some nasty surprises. It allows you to check whether your monthly advance payments correspond to youractual consumption. If your consumption is greater, you can contact us to adjust your tariff. This will save you from having to pay high supplementary payments. Perhaps your electricity consumption is less than the monthly advance payments. In this case, too, you can contact us to reduce your monthly advance payments.  It will also help you identify any power-hungry devices. For example, if you experience particularly high electricity consumption one month, you may be able to identify the cause. Perhaps you used the drier a lot more that month. You will almost certainly need to use it again in the future, but it gives you the opportunity to adjust your consumption, or to buy a more efficient device. 

If you have a meter that doesn’t have remote meter-reading technology, you can take the meter reading yourself and submit the data to us for your annual statement. However, if you do have a meter with remote meter-reading technology, you won’t need to read the meter at all, as the information is submitted automatically. In rare cases, a REWAG employee will come and read your meter at least once a year. Of course, you can check your meter reading at any time yourself for monitoring purposes.

The meter always remains at the location, no matter whether you move or change supplier. This is because the meter belongs to the local basic utility provider, no matter whether they supply you with your electricity or not. In this case, the local electricity supplier is only the electricity distribution network operator. However, you don’t need to make any additional payments to the basic utility provider. You will only pay the current meter fee / basic fee to the new electricity supplier, who will manage everything else with the old provider or electricity distribution network operator. However, the old local basic utility provider will remain responsible for the function and maintenance of the electricity network. This is comparable with Deutsche Telekom which is responsible for the telephone network, even if you have a different telephone provider.

The electricity meter guarantees that you only pay for the electricity you actually consume. It also acts as an incentive for saving electricity by careful consumption or the use of efficient devices. If everyone optimised their energy consumption, it would be possible to achieve the climate protection targets. 

The various functions can differ considerably from one another. However, if you install a smart meter, you can use the consumption analysis and flexible electricity consumption options to reduce your energy costs. The measured electricity consumption is usually transmitted to REWAG. This gives you the opportunity of using different tariffs or ensuring you have an accurate monthly bill. This means you only pay for what you actually consume each month and there is no need for an annual statement. An additional advantage is that you can have access to your consumption data. You can then use an application to display the consumption of individual devices. It is also possible to set devices to turn on at specific times, or to switch off selected devices if there is excess demand at a time of reduced energy supply, i.e. when electricity prices are high. There is no actual commonly agreed definition of the term ‘smart meter’. This means that when you purchase this type of meter, you always need to check the functions and pricing.