Find the Best Smart Meter for Your Smart Home in 2022

A smart meter collects data about your electricity usage in real time, moreover, it reports back in a smart way. This device can become a key part of your smart home, helping you cut back on monthly expenses by monitoring appliance behavior and user habits. In this article, we’ll discuss the smart meters that are available on the market today and talk with Homey.

Differences Between Smart Meters & Power-Metering Smart Plugs

First things first, you should know that power-metering devices for the smart home come in two main variants: household energy meters and energy-monitoring smart plugs. 

Household energy meters can be installed in addition to your regular power meter. You can either mount them yourself or have your utility company do it, depending on local regulations. Once installed, the household energy meter will measure the total electricity usage of your entire home and transmit the data wirelessly.

Meanwhile, power-monitoring smart plugs are small devices that can be plugged into any outlet in your home. They only measure the electricity usage of the device that's plugged in. 

Both types of smart meters can be used to track energy use, but household energy meters will give you a more comprehensive picture, while power-metering plugs offer a detailed overview of one specific device, such as a washing machine, heater, or another major appliance. 

The data from both types can be further analyzed in Homey Energy and Homey Insights. On top of that, you can create home automation based on this data – for example, set up notifications when the consumption changes or turn appliances on or off based on your own power-off schedules.

There are many different smart meters on the market, but not all of them offer the same features or benefits. When choosing a smart meter for your home, it's important to consider what's most important to you. Some factors you may want to consider include:

• Type of the meter
• Accuracy 
• Ease of use
• Price

Moreover, there are regional variations. When buying a smart meter, we highly advise that you check the compatibility on the manufacturer’s website.

The Best Household Smart Meters on the Market in 2022

We've reviewed some of the best smart meters on the market, so take a look at our top picks below. Keep reading to learn more about each featured device.

Brand	Model	Price	Protocol	Regional Support	Homey Pro Support	Homey Beta Support
Frient	Electricity Meter Interface	€70	Zigbee	Europe	Yes	Yes
Aeotec	Home Energy Meter	€99	Z-Wave	World	Yes	Yes
Tibber	Pulse	€100	Wi-Fi	Scandinavia	Yes	Yes
Eneco	Toon	€275	Wi-Fi	Netherlands & Belgium	Yes	Yes
HomeWizard	Energy	€30	Wi-Fi	Netherlands & Belgium	Yes	No

Frient is an innovative Danish company that designs and manufactures high-quality smart home accessories. Their products are usually available across Europe, and the Electricity Meter Interface is no exception. 

The Interface connects by exchangeable probes, supporting pulse and IR communication. Therefore, the smart meter is usable in many countries with varying standards. You can handle the installation yourself, as the Frient Electricity Meter Interface attaches to regular meters magnetically or via a simple velcro fastener. 

With this device, you’ll no longer have to stress about your power consumption. If you aim to save money and lower the environmental impact of your home, the Electricity Meter Interface will let you know how much you’re using in real time, and it will keep you updated on significant changes.

When integrated with Homey, this device enables consumers to identify when their consumption peaks, and then shift it into off-peak periods. This helps the local electricity grid by not straining its resources – especially during those busy evening hours when everyone comes home and does the laundry, makes dinner, or turns up the heating.

The only downside we could find is that the cable connecting the collector and the transmitter of this device is too thin. Aside from this little flaw, the build feels solid enough.

Get to see how much electricity your home is using with the Aeotec Home Energy Meter. This handy device is a smart meter that can record up to 200 amps of your home’s electricity use in real time with 99% accuracy. 

It’ll share the data with your Homey Pro or Homey Bridge via the Z-Wave protocol, providing great range and security. With the Home Energy Monitor, you'll bette tackle the ever-increasing power consumption by identifying which electronics in your home are costing you the most. 

Whether it’s your lighting, your heating system, or anything else, you’ll be able to take clear steps to reduce how much those electronics are costing you. In addition, you can set up notifications with Homey Flows to learn about peaks in consumption and get your daily statistics. That's all possible with the Aeotec App for Homey.

The Home Energy Meter can be installed with universal clamps, offering compatibility with many types of power meters worldwide. The installation process is a bit complicated, since you not only have to clip the clamps around the incoming electricity cables that connect to the main circuit breaker. On top of that, you need to handle some wiring to the main circuit breaker, so it's advised that you hire a professional to get it done for you.

The device is not the cheapest, but it’s worth the investment. There's only minor con – the device is quite sizeable, but fortunately, it mostly stays out of sight. Moreover, if your home’s circuit box is metallic, you have to install the meter outside of the circuit box to avoid negatively impacting the quality of the radio signal and range.

The Tibber Pulse is a household energy monitor that offers real-time energy monitoring, as well as the ability to track multiple appliances or devices at once.

With this meter, you’ll better understand your home's consumption and get insight into what can be done to reduce it. Not only does it provide you with accurate readings on how much energy your appliances use, but it also lets you decide if those inefficient devices should stay or go.

Pulse is great on its own, but with the Tibber App for Homey, it gets even better. When integrated into Homey, the Pulse will let you view your energy usage data from anywhere and trigger home automation with Homey Flows to save as much energy as possible.

While the previous generation was available in two different versions, now there's one that works with the HAN type of connection available across Scandinavia. Tibber Pulse does not require a subscription when connecting it to Homey. You can subscribe to the Tibber Energy service, but this is not necessary for the Pulse to operate.

The Eneco Toon is first and foremost a smart thermostat, however, it also sports power metering capabilities. The accuracy of this device's measurements always comes in handy, even if the Toon comes with a hefty price tag.

Not only will you have access to your heating data on the Toon App for Homey, you’ll also be able to monitor energy consumption live in Homey Energy. With Homey Flows, alerts can be set up for when too much power has been used throughout the day. That means your smart home can instantly notify you not to waste money.

Thanks to its dashboard, this thermostat offers a great way to keep track of your home. It can tell you what temperature is currently set in each room, as well as provide insight into how much energy is being consumed.

The only drawback here is that the device requires a subscription fee. As for compatibility, this device is suitable for users based in the Netherlands and Belgium.

The HomeWizard Energy is a plug-in energy monitor. With this device, you can oversee your energy use with high accuracy. The meter comes equipped for various uses, including measuring the energy output of solar panels or the consumption of electric car chargers.

The HomeWizard App for Homey provides every user with complete insights into how much electricity they're using at any given moment. Not only do you get access to features like custom notifications whenever there's unusual activity, but also gain deeper insights into how much electricity various appliances use.

Since HomeWizard is a Dutch company, their monitors are suitable for anyone who lives in the Netherlands or Belgium and has a newer type of regular mains power monitor. 

Conclusion

As you can see, smart meters are a great way to track your energy use, and they can help you save money on your utility bills. If you're looking for a smart meter for your home, any of the options on this list would be a great choice, but the actual manufacturer choice heavily depends on your region.

In any case, you can’t go wrong with Aeotec's world-wide support. If you live in the Netherlands or Belgium, you can also choose between Eneco Toon and HomeWizard Energy. If you're based in Scandinavia, you should take a look at Tibber Pulse.

Make sure you consider all the factors listed above when choosing a smart meter for your home. We hope our article helps you find the best option for your needs. 

And don’t forget – you get the most out of a smart meter when you integrate it into a full-featured smart home platform like Homey. Whether your choose a Z-Wave, Zigbee, or Wi-Fi device to monitor your power consumption, it will work perfectly with Homey Pro or Homey Bridge.

Go ahead and give them a try!