Three Phase Electricity Meters

In South Africa our buildings are usually circuited in either three- or single phase electricity.

Three phase electricity is connected at 400 or 415 volts, by three active wires or phases and one neutral. This is mostly used in industrial and large commercial settings where powerful appliances are powered, although in South Africa there are many residential households that were circuited in three phase in yesteryears. Your electrician will be able to tell you which meter you require.

How this works is that you could have different appliances running off different phases, and not know it. For example switching on the kettle, the meter would run at rate A. Switching on the stove, the rate would be B. Switching on both kettle and stove would make the meter run down at rate A + B.
In large industrial settings this is referred to as load balancing – to even out the amount of current.

So it does not really matter if one phase uses more power than another. The three phase electricity meter simply measures each phase’s usage and adds it all up. For billing purposes the readings are summed and you are invoiced for energy used.

These are our Reliable Prepaid 3 Phase Meter Options: