Combined meters
What it is:
A combined meter is used in scenarios where energy consumption tariffs vary, depending on factors like time of day or day of the week. For example: differentiating between peak and off-peak periods. It involves installing multiple submeters alongside a central (main) meter to track usage under different conditions.
Setting up combined meters in Planon
To support net meter registration across a group of submeters, Planon ProCenter offers the combined meter concept. In this setup, all linked submeters are part of a single combined meter configuration.
Typically, each submeter measures consumption for a specific tariff period. For example, one submeter may record usage during peak hours when rates are higher, while another measures off-peak consumption when rates are lower. The submeters track the same type of resource (e.g., electricity), but at different times or under different tariff conditions.
The main meter in this configuration does not directly measure consumption. Instead, it functions as an aggregator, adding up the readings from all connected submeters. The total, as recorded on the main meter, is then used for billing or other consumption-related calculations.
 | Users can only add meter readings to combined meters under specific conditions: • If the asset in the work assignment is linked to the main meter of a combined meter without reading data, they cannot add readings in Planon WebClient, nor in the PMFS solution (Work Assignments module). In case the asset is linked to this type of main meter, the Add meter reading action becomes read-only on the app. • If an asset in the work assignment is linked to a submeter that is part of a combined meter whose main meter has linked reading data, they can add readings to that submeter, in both WebClient and in PMFS solution (Work Assignments module). See Adding meter readings for more information on adding meter readings via the Planon app. |
Additional use cases
In addition to time-based differentiation, a combined meter setup can also be used in systems where one submeter records consumption and another records production or resource return (e.g., solar power fed back into the grid).
In summary, the combined meter setup enables:
• Differentiation between peak and off-peak usage
• Separation of consumption and production/return measurements. To configure this, use the Combined meter? setting to indicate whether a given meter functions as part of a combined meter system.
See also: Counter fields / Gauge fields.