The IR IEC Probe for Utility Meter Measurement and Reading

The IR probe or infrared probe, a type of IEC probe, enjoys wide use in Europe and on other continents. Developed countries have private and government-owned gas and electric utilities providing service to business and residential consumers. Standard practice is to bill customers based upon their actual consumption of electricity or gas. Accurate billing requires accurate metering at the customer premises. Indeed, gas metering has been in place since the 1800s, and the earliest units used mechanical displays manually read by meter readers. Today’s units are more sophisticated electronic devices, and suppliers configure them to couple with computers and mobile terminals. Technicians have found that an optical interface or probe for these meters is preferable.

It is not necessary to connect an electronic interface connector to modern electronic utility meters, because an IEC probe provides efficient isolation. This type of probe, compliant with European Union IEC standards, has no direct electrical connection to the meter under scan. The meter technician may connect his handheld device or computer over infrared light via an IR probe . The probe transfers data to and receives data from the meter through a USB port or other interface. Because these probes do contain an infrared light source, they require a power source as well and get that power directly from USB port. It is important to understand that IEC-designated probes are a subcategory of infrared units. Commercial suppliers also offer infrared meter reading probes that follow ANSI rather than IEC standards.