In some cases, meter consumption is just estimated. Here's the reason.

Ideally, the meter sends exactly one package to the MDMS every hour, and that package arrives at a precise time, like right on the hour at 00:00. In this perfect scenario, the meter consumption would match the meter reading exactly.

Let's take a look at this meter. It sends one package every hour to the MDMS.

At 18:00:03 on 05/09/2024, the reading is 47.580 kWh.

At 19:00:02 on 05/09/2024, the reading is 47.620 kWh.

If you calculate the consumption yourself, the usage between 18:00 and 19:00 on 05/09/2024 is 0.04 kWh. This is the same value the MDMS would calculate.

But what if things don’t work out as expected?

What if, instead of one package per hour, the meter sends multiple packages, but not exactly on the hour?

Let’s look at a different meter. Between 01:00:00 and 02:00:00, it sends around 13 packages, but they don’t arrive on the hour. Instead, we see times like 01:20:36 or 02:52:52. In this case, the meter reading won’t exactly match the meter consumption. Even if you calculate it yourself or rely on the MDMS, we can only use the closest values available.

For example:

At 02:52:52 on 05/09/2024, the reading is 9819 m³.

At 01:20:36 on 05/09/2024, the reading is 9810 m³.

So, the system or even manual calculations would have to estimate the consumption based on the nearest available data.

Continuing with why meter consumption is sometimes estimated, let’s talk about another reason why estimation is needed in the 8TEN – our advanced MDMS.

The 8TEN platform includes a VEE (Validation, Estimation, and Editing) function, which allows us to estimate meter consumption, even if the meter doesn’t send enough data each hour.

For example, let's look at this meter. Between 03/09/2024 and 04/09/2024, it only sends two packages:

One at 00:00:00 on 03/09/2024, and

One at 00:00:00 on 04/09/2024.

So how do we calculate the meter consumption for each hour when we don’t have enough data?

This is where the 8TEN platform steps in. With the VEE function, 8TEN can automatically estimate the missing data. It does this by taking the difference between the last data point and the first data point and then dividing it by the number of hours where data is missing.

This ensures you always have an accurate estimate of energy consumption, even when the meter doesn’t provide hourly data.

For better understanding of these concepts, please watch below explanation: