AC Power

Science Summaries

Are you using the new General Electric CL200 (PGE 77M446) model watthour power meter? Are you confused by the data displayed on the face of the digital power meter?

Below, I present photos of each of the 6 active GE kVs meter modes, as displayed on the meter face.
1. Mode 888
2. Mode 99
3. Mode 01
4. Mode 02
    Mode 03
5. Mode 04
6. Mode 05

Mode 888

Mode 888 is "Lamp Test" mode. All LCD segments are selected, to ensure that no element has "gone bad". For instance, if a middle horizontal segment is burned out, an intended 8 will be displayed as a zero.

Mode 99

Mode 99 displays your current kiloWatt consumption rate. The meter says that at this moment, the system is consuming 1.4 kW of electricity.

This mode is great, because it allows you to measure the actual current drawn by each circuit. For instance, turn off all circuit breakers except one, allow the meter to cycle through once, and then read the current draw by that one circuit.

Don't freak out when you measure your hot tub! Or clothes dryer.

Mode 01

Mode 01 displays the current date, in mm-dd-yy format. The meter says that at this moment, the date is April 24, 2006.

Mode 02

Mode 02 displays the current time, in 24-hour mode. The meter says that at this moment, the time is 12:31 PM. In 29 minutes, the display will read 13 00.

Mode 3 does is not used on this particular meter, presumably because it is somewhat redundant, and has little meaning, since 2 different rates are combined..

Mode 03

Mode 03 (when used) displays the Total kWh consumed during the current month.

Mode 04

Mode 04 displays the "On-peak" kWh consumed during the current month. The meter says that at this moment, the system has consumed 3,096 kiloWatt on-peak hours.


On-peak hours are daylight hours. These hours are billed at a higher rate, such as 11¢ per kWh.

Mode 05

Mode 05 displays the "Off-peak" kWh consumed during the current month. The meter says that at this moment, the system has consumed 556 kiloWatt off-peak hours.

Off-peak hours are nightime hours. These hours are billed at a lower rate, such as 8¢ per kWh.

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Although the author has tried to be as accurate as possible, errors are possible.

I could not find meter reading instructions like the above. So, I made this watthour meter-reading chart, to help myself understand the digital data output. I hope that it helps you.