The best water meters: reviews. Water meters: installation, advice on choosing

Once again, suddenly a sudden crisis broke out, why everyone started counting their savings (for the umpteenth time). It is not surprising that water meters, whose installation has not been given any importance previously, have become almost an indispensable attribute of every house and apartment. Life itself has transparently hinted that it is better to keep all your expenses under strict control.

In addition, there are some reviews. Counters for water unequivocally show that workers of housing and communal services seriously overestimate general house water consumption indicators . And because the relevance of water meters today do not need to prove to anyone.

Basic information about meters

Since the popularity of this type of devices in recent times is extremely high, it is completely unsurprising that a large number of their models appeared on the market. The most common and massive are their following varieties:

• Standard mechanical water meters, fixing the flow of fluid using a simple (mechanical) display.
• Similar varieties, but in a more "advanced" version. These counters also have mechanical stuffing, but they already have an electronic display that gives more accurate readings.
• Electronic water meters, which not only have a full-function liquid crystal display, but also allow remote reading of indications.
• Intelligent digital models. They can record the testimony, take their values and send them to the e-mail address specified by the owner. The simplest scheme of a water meter of this type is available in the article.

There are also non-volatile and volatile devices. The first do not require a connection to the power supply for their work. Accordingly, volatile models need to be connected to the mains or the battery. Many electronic models work on "batteries". Do not worry: as a rule, used batteries have quite a decent capacity, so their replacement is required no more than once a year. Some buyers say that their counters worked for two or three years.

Here's how the water meters are varied. How to choose the most suitable variety for you? In the following part of the article we will discuss this.

Additional Classification Differences

It should be noted that water meters can differ from each other and by other criteria. For example, there are water meters with an additional indicator on the scoreboard showing the water flow "in real time". There are also models that can accurately measure the flow of fluid for the chosen time period. This is especially important if you are trying to find out when your household is spending the most water for the planning of your family budget.

It should be noted that all normal manufacturers are constantly expanding and improving the product line. So, comparatively recently in the market there were counters for hot water, which are additionally equipped with a thermostat. The technique of this class can fix not only the consumed volume of water, but also its temperature.

However, for our country this possibility is not very relevant. The fact is that a water meter with a temperature sensor will be more interesting to residents of European countries. In those regions between the consumer and the supplier, a special agreement can be concluded, in which even the temperature of the liquid supplied to the house will be specified. As for our country, the temperature schedule will not give you anything.

Flour choice

But what are the testimonials? Counters for water - the devices are really necessary and important, but how not to throw your money away and get the right model for you? It is especially difficult to make a choice for those customers who have not encountered this technology before.

However, advice from more sophisticated consumers can help them. If you carefully read reviews, you can make an unambiguous conclusion about the superiority of "intelligent" models. Here are their main advantages:

• There are no wires, so nothing will get mixed up and will not come off during the installation.
• Accuracy of counting the consumed liquid is highest, literally up to a milliliter. Simply put, utilities can not cheat anymore. Of course, you immediately need to put seals on the water meters, in order to avoid accusations of fraud on your part.
• There are clocks and a calendar: based on their data, you can build a schedule of water consumption depending on the time of day and season.
• The periods of absence of water are fixed, which can also be used against public utilities in difficult cases.
• The highest degree of security and reliability.
• Finally, advanced users with exceptionally "direct" hands report that such equipment can be seamlessly integrated into complex circuits using Arduino, Raspberry Pi and similar platforms, which opens up truly limitless possibilities. For example, you can make it so that the water meter data will automatically be sent to your utility management. In addition, it is possible to automate the payment for water as well, which will make it impossible to touch the meter at all for years.

On illegal activities

Of course, in the latter case, many may not have quite "correct" thoughts about circumventing such a counter. In addition, many users put on the network quite a detailed (and sometimes working) scheme of deception of water meters.

We do not recommend doing this, as for a fairly small amount of money saved on the water you will have to pay a very long time. Simply put, immediately install seals on the water meters, register them immediately after installation. All this will avoid many problems in the future. It is not necessary to give employees of housing and communal services some reasons for suspicion.

In addition, almost all modern mechanical meters (not to mention electronic versions) have excellent shielding, which protects them from the magnetic field. In short, to use them to stop ordinary magnets will not work. Only early models had this vulnerability.

What should you pay attention to when buying?

Specialists-plumbers advise to pay special attention to the following parameters:

• Manufacturer and country of production.
• Installable warranty period.
• The period of mandatory intervals between inspections.
• The cost, of course.
• Availability of customer service.

On the first point of this list it is worthwhile to dwell much more. Believe me, until now many buyers naively believe that the producing country and the manufacturing company are one and the same. Alas, this is not so. If you are familiar with the constant replacement of meters with water, then you already probably know about this feature of the modern economy.

Simply put, if you see the marking of the manufacturer, whose "country of residence" - Germany, Italy, Russia, this does not mean that the water meter lying on the counter is made there. In most cases, it is produced by the hardworking hands of the Chinese. In principle, there is nothing wrong with that. But they often use not very high-quality materials, and the control over regional manufactories by the central office is not too strict. All this leads to the corresponding results.

As for the service centers ... Believe me, it is much better if there is at least one in your city. You understand that when you buy a defective water meter for thousands of seven, it will be a shame to wait for the end of his trip in half of the country. In addition, service workers often give quite adequate and correct recommendations even for products of other manufacturers, so it will not hurt to consult before buying.

Why is this happening?

In any case, this is what many customer reviews say. Counters for water, which are produced in the Middle Kingdom (low and medium price category), often do not justify the hopes. So, many dissatisfied consumers notice that even the simplest mechanical meters often begin to "loosen up", often giving out a significant over-expenditure of water.

This is due to the low quality used in the production of metal. The gears of the mechanism are banally truncated, after which the device begins to produce incorrect data. Some companies whose scope of activity - installation of water meters in St. Petersburg, just encountered this problem. Mass complaints from consumers came down. When they began to check, they quickly found out that the "Italian" counters, which came from one of the parties, were actually produced in China. With all the consequences, as they say.

The most reliable manufacturers

Of course, you may have a natural question about which water meters are better to choose. What do the reviews say? Counters for water today are produced by a considerable number of companies. Among them there are domestic as well as purely foreign producers.

Siemens

This company does not need to be presented to anyone. The Germans are present on the market of civil and military products for more than a hundred years (more precisely, more than a hundred years), and therefore there is no doubt that they are "professional". It is possible that they produce the best water meters.

Reviews about their hydrometers are more likely positive. So, consumers note the excellent quality of used materials, developed network of service centers and multifunctionality of meters purchased by them. Of course, the technology of this class is much more expensive than domestic analogues, but its long operational life and reliability are worth it. Judging by the reviews, she works at least five to six years; The replacement of water meters in the case of such a purchase will not take you long.

Another positive feature is a wide network of service centers and excellent technical support. Even if you get a defective counter, you can always replace it without much difficulty. As a rule, "nine circles of bureaucratic hell" will not be needed for this.

Approximately the same can be said about the production technique of Zenner and Minomess. In our country, these manufacturers are not so well known, but they do not need to worry about the quality of their products. As in the previous case, their only drawback is a fairly high cost.

Domestic companies

Traditionally, there was an opinion that domestic products are not very outstanding quality. Unfortunately, in some cases, such an opinion really has every reason behind it. So, among domestic products there are practically no models of water meters that could account for the consumption of both cold and hot water at the same time. However, in our parts of the housing sector they are not particularly welcomed, so buying such models is almost useless.

In addition, our manufacturers often use not very high-quality materials, which also does not contribute to the improvement of consumer sentiment. However, all these negative aspects (which often skip in negative comments of users) are partially compensated by the relatively low cost of such devices.

So, if the domestic water meters of the production of "Pulsar", "Multisystems" or "Beregun" are about one thousand and a half thousand rubles, then the cost of their imported analogs may well exceed five or six thousand, and after the known events in the economy, even more. In addition, many are captivated by the exceptional simplicity of installation and the undemanding nature of many models to the quality of domestic water, which in most cases is characterized by significantly higher rigidity.

Price categories

By the way, what is the cost of water meters from different manufacturers? Here is the general price list in the table.

As you can see, the cost of counters for water is extremely different. The spread of prices is extremely high, so that even one manufacturer can find models of both budget and premium classes.

About public services

In our country only those devices that are made in full compliance with GOST R 50601 and GOST R 50193 are allowed to be installed. This is a mandatory condition, no exceptions are made! Installation, some adjustment procedures and sealing - all these tasks are already facing your public utilities. You only need to read the cold water meter and the hot water meter.

In the ideal case, we would advise you to consult with specialists from the local DES or Vodokanal about the permissibility of installing one type of equipment or another. Believe me, every year the list of water meters allowed for installation is reduced. In principle, experts who are installing water meters in St. Petersburg, say about the comparative selectivity of this rule. Most often mechanical models are allowed to be installed without any restrictions, complexities are only with "smart" meters.

On the basic rules for mounting water meters

First let's talk about the technical side of the issue. First of all, we will tell you about the "golden rule" of plumbers. It is a question of mandatory inspection of all water taps and connections in the house or apartment before installing them. In principle, it is desirable to repeat this procedure as regularly as possible (at least once a month).

And it's not just the common rules, but also the usual prudence: if there is a constant flow of a pipe on which the meter is hanged, then all this can literally and figuratively pour out to you in a tidy sum. Important! Without fail it is necessary to worry not only about installing the water meter itself, but also about installing a high-quality filter. We did not talk about this in detail, but it's not hard to guess: if a grain of sand or something happens to the mechanism, then nothing good will happen with the meter.

Organizational matters

First, you notify your management of the housing and communal services about the desire to install a counter. At the agreed time, a specialist arrives and conducts the installation. After that, you conclude a contract, sign all the documents concerning the installation of equipment and its subsequent maintenance. Immediately recorded and documented the data of water meters, so that in the future you do not have any complaints.

In addition, in the case of intelligent meters, it is necessary to document the possibility of remote data collection and its subsequent audit on your part. Simply put, you should be able at any time to read all the data that your HOA has received.

So we examined the main questions that put water meters in front of consumers . How to choose this equipment? If you carefully read the above material, then surely remember both about the abundance of their varieties, and about the presence of multifunctional models. Do not forget about a wide range of prices. What do we mean by this?

It's simple. As a rule, people need an average price counter. Try to choose domestic or foreign models. Best of all - separately for cold and hot water supply. Pay attention to the country of origin, that is, the real place of production of equipment.

Non-educational moments

Do you really need water meters? Install in the apartment can be easy, that's only for the installation and the equipment itself has to pay out of his pocket. Is it necessary or preferable to pay by common standards?

First, let's deal with some points. Unfortunately, many of our fellow citizens adore brushing their teeth without turning off the tap, washing a couple of socks in a car with a large load, etc. All this is not only stupid, but also leads to a huge over-expenditure of water. But it is a valuable resource, which on the planet every year is becoming less. Most often, the installation of hot water meters is economically less justified, but the installation of water meters for cold water is quite another matter.

Cold water is rarely protected. Check for yourself: immediately after installing the meters your expenses for it will be significantly reduced, but for this you need to approach the matter wisely. No, you do not need to wash your hands on a schedule or go to the toilet only at work (and it happens, yes). Just replace the current mixers with something more normal, repair all leaking connections. Finally, it is better to divide the laundry into several equal parts, achieving the load of the washing machine by about 2/3. So you not only sharply reduce the consumption of cold water, but also reduce the wear of your own clothes.