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I am buying some cheap german 1-phase analog electricity meters and plan to use them in Central America. the german meters are rated for 230V and feature the old turning disc mechanism. In central america mains voltage is 120V but you can actually get 240V by plugging your sockets to both live phases. However, I am not sure if this would actually work or blow up un my face and since I have no idea how an elecric meter actually operates (plus the fact that playing around with 120V is more than enough fun for me) I figured Id ask first.

I guess it would make sense if my readings were off by a factor of close to 2 if I connect it to one 120V live phase and neutrum since 230 is almost double 120 but please enlighten me

quealegriamasalegre
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  • You won’t break it but the accuracy is certainly not rated at that low voltage. Test and report back! – winny Mar 24 '22 at 22:28
  • thanks @winny, will do. after looking up how they actally work i think i could in theory use it with the 2 live fases provided I used it exclusively to feed a 240V circuit. However, thats not what i want. I think it should still provide a crude way of measuring kwh consuption but I feel less conficent it will actually be something as straightforward as the factor 2 – quealegriamasalegre Mar 24 '22 at 22:59
  • When you are within tolerance, it compensates for the voltage so no factor needed. At 120 V however, you will be outside of specified rating. Accuracy could still be excellent and I’m curious what you will find out. – winny Mar 24 '22 at 23:20

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