In short and in plain language
The old electricity meter is being replaced by a digital meter. Often a smart meter is added.
A smart meter is an electricity meter that sends its readings by itself. A digital meter only shows how much you use.
The article explains when the smart meter becomes a must and what it costs. It shows how to connect a heat pump or a car charger the right way.
With a smart meter you can see your use more clearly. We explain your meter calmly in your home.
For decades the electricity meter in the basement was an afterthought: read it once a year, send off the slip, done. That is now changing fundamentally. The classic black spinning-disc meter is being replaced by a digital one, and in many homes an intelligent metering system is added on top - the so-called smart meter. For many people this raises questions: Do I have to? What will it cost me? And does it actually do anything for me? The short answer: in more and more households the smart meter is becoming mandatory, and anyone running a heat pump, a wallbox or a photovoltaic system can hardly avoid it any longer. The rollout is already under way: by the end of 2025, 23.3 percent (Federal Network Agency) of the legally mandatory installation cases had a smart meter fitted - the target for 2025 had been 20 percent (Federal Network Agency), so it was exceeded. By the end of 2030, more than 90 percent (Federal Government) of the relevant metering points are to be upgraded. This guide explains calmly and without jargon what the intelligent electricity meter is, when it becomes mandatory, what it costs and how you connect controllable devices such as a heat pump or a wallbox to it properly. And if you would like support with the setup, we help with smart home advice right at your home.
Key takeaways
- The digital meter and the smart meter are not the same thing: the digital meter only displays consumption, while the smart meter additionally transmits the readings through a secure gateway.
- A smart meter becomes mandatory among other things with an annual consumption above 6,000 kilowatt-hours, with photovoltaic systems from 7 kilowatts and with controllable devices such as a heat pump or wallbox from 4.2 kilowatts.
- The annual costs are capped by law: up to 20 euros for a simple digital meter, usually up to 30 euros for households with a smart meter and up to 50 euros with photovoltaics or a wallbox.
- Anyone connecting a heat pump or wallbox as a controllable device receives, in return, a grid-fee discount under section 14a of usually 120 to 200 euros a year depending on the grid area.
- The smart meter is the basis for dynamic electricity tariffs, greater consumption transparency and the sensible combination of photovoltaics, storage and controllable devices.
What Is an Intelligent Electricity Meter?
There is more behind the term smart meter than the name suggests. Strictly speaking, an intelligent metering system consists of two parts: the modern metering device and the smart meter gateway. The modern metering device is the digital successor to the old spinning-disc meter. It shows current consumption and stores how much electricity flowed at which time of day - on its own, though, it cannot send any data. Only the gateway turns it into a real smart meter: it connects the meter securely to the network, transmits the readings to the metering operator in encrypted form and can integrate controllable devices. The transmission follows a dedicated security profile of the Federal Office for Information Security, so that the sensitive consumption data stays protected. For you as a household this means: the annual reading is no longer needed, you see your consumption far more precisely, and your home becomes technically ready for dynamic tariffs and the control of large appliances. It is important to know the difference between the plain digital meter and the full smart meter - because in everyday life the two are often lumped together.
A digital meter is not the same as a smart meter
When the Smart Meter Becomes Mandatory
Whether and when you get a smart meter depends above all on your electricity consumption and your technology. The legislator has set clear thresholds in the metering point operation act. The intelligent metering system becomes mandatory for households with an annual consumption above 6,000 kilowatt-hours (Metering Point Operation Act) - this mainly affects larger households, electrically heated flats and houses with many devices. Installation is also mandatory for operators of photovoltaic systems from an installed capacity of 7 kilowatts (Metering Point Operation Act) as well as for households with controllable devices under section 14a of the Energy Industry Act from 4.2 kilowatts (Section 14a EnWG). These typically include heat pumps, wallboxes for electric cars and larger battery storage systems. Anyone who meets none of these conditions can in many cases request installation voluntarily. The metering operator decides when it starts the changeover in your street - there is usually no fixed appointment slot, but you are informed in advance. Anyone planning to switch to a smart heating system with a heat pump anyway should factor the smart meter in from the start.
Over 6,000 kWh a year
Households with high electricity use, for example with electric heating, are required to receive an intelligent metering system.
Photovoltaics from 7 kW
Anyone running a solar system from 7 kilowatts needs a smart meter so that feed-in and self-consumption are recorded cleanly.
Heat pump and wallbox
Controllable devices from 4.2 kilowatts under section 14a must be controllable for the grid via the metering system.
Battery storage
Larger home storage systems also count as a controllable installation and trigger the requirement for an intelligent metering system.
Voluntary installation
Even below 6,000 kilowatt-hours you can actively request a smart meter if you would like to use dynamic tariffs.
Timeline to 2030
The legal rollout runs in stages; the target of over 90 percent has been brought forward from 2032 to the end of 2030.
The Rollout Is Gaining Pace
For a long time Germany was considered a laggard on the smart meter rollout, but the pace is picking up noticeably. As of the end of 2025, 23.3 percent (Federal Network Agency) of the legally mandatory installation cases were fitted with an intelligent metering system - more than the 20 percent (Federal Network Agency) prescribed for 2025. In absolute numbers, the count of installed systems grew from around 941,000 (Federal Network Agency) in the third quarter of 2025 to about 1.1 million (Federal Network Agency) by the end of the year. At the same time the Federal Network Agency is putting pressure on the laggards: in March 2026 it opened 77 (Federal Network Agency) supervisory proceedings against metering operators that had not yet seriously started the rollout. At the political level the targets were tightened further: on 2 July 2026 the coalition decided that more than 90 percent (Federal Government) of the relevant metering points should be equipped as early as the end of 2030 - instead of by 2032 as originally planned - with an interim target of 50 percent (Federal Government) by 2028. For households this mainly means one thing: the smart meter is no longer a distant prospect but will reach a large share of streets in the coming years. Anyone who understands early what is coming can approach the changeover without stress and with the right tariffs.
| Feature | Modern metering device | Smart meter (iMSys) |
|---|---|---|
| Data transmission | none, display only | encrypted via gateway |
| Annual reading | sometimes still needed | no longer required |
| Dynamic tariffs | cannot be used | a basic requirement |
| Controllable devices | cannot be connected | heat pump and wallbox controllable |
| Typical target group | ordinary households | high use, PV, section 14a |
What Does a Smart Meter Cost?
One of the most common worries is about cost - and here the good news gives the all-clear: the annual prices are capped by law, so nobody is caught out. For a simple modern metering device, that is the plain digital meter, at most 20 euros (Federal Network Agency) a year may be charged. If a full smart meter is installed in an ordinary household, voluntarily or as a requirement, the cap is usually 30 euros (ADAC) a year. Anyone running a photovoltaic system or a controllable device such as a heat pump or wallbox pays up to 50 euros (ADAC) a year. These amounts cover operation, maintenance and secure data transmission; the installation itself is not billed to you separately. It is important to know: these costs are offset by real savings opportunities. Through a grid-fee discount under section 14a and through dynamic electricity tariffs, a smart meter can pay off financially for many households. How to save electricity and money with smart heating we show in detail in a separate guide.
How the smart meter can pay off
Connecting Heat Pump and Wallbox Properly
The most exciting part for many households is connecting the smart meter to controllable devices. The background is section 14a of the Energy Industry Act: heat pumps, wallboxes and larger battery storage systems from 4.2 kilowatts must be connected in such a way that the grid operator can briefly throttle them in rare exceptional cases in order to protect the local electricity grid from overload. That may sound like a restriction at first, but in practice it is rarely noticeable - and you are financially compensated for it. In return you receive a reduction of the grid fees, which depending on the grid area is usually between 120 and 200 euros (Federal Network Agency) a year. For this to work, the smart meter, the control unit and the respective device have to interact cleanly. It is exactly at this interface that everyday setups often stumble, because the heat pump, wallbox and meter come from different companies. How charging at home works in practice we explain in detail in the guide on the wallbox for the electric car. The following steps walk through the connection:
- Check whether your device - heat pump, wallbox or storage - falls under controllability according to section 14a.
- Register the controllable installation with the grid operator and choose the right module for the grid-fee reduction.
- Connect the control unit and the smart meter gateway so that throttling is technically possible in an exceptional case.
- Set the heat pump and wallbox so that they use flexible, cheap hours for heating and charging.
- Test and document the connection once, so that in a dispute it is traceable that everything was set up correctly.
What the Smart Meter Brings in Everyday Life
A smart meter is not an end in itself but opens the door to a more conscious and often cheaper way of dealing with electricity. The most obvious advantage is transparency: instead of getting a bill once a year, you see far more precisely when and for what electricity is consumed. That makes power guzzlers visible and helps to reduce consumption in a targeted way. The second big point is dynamic tariffs: anyone who automatically shifts a wallbox, storage or heat pump into hours with a low exchange price can noticeably lower their costs. It becomes particularly worthwhile in combination with your own solar system, because self-consumption and feed-in can be controlled precisely. Anyone thinking about a small generation of their own will find a good start in the guide on connecting and registering a balcony solar system. The smart meter is thus the technical basis for sensibly aligning generation, storage and consumption in the household - a building block that will gain in importance in the coming years. The following points sum up the everyday benefits:
- A precise overview of your own electricity use instead of a single annual reading.
- Access to dynamic tariffs that make cheap hours on the electricity market usable.
- A grid-fee discount for controllable devices such as a heat pump and wallbox.
- Better coordination of photovoltaics, storage and consumption in your own household.
- No more manual reading and no more estimated instalments.
The real gain
Data Protection and Security
Anyone who hears that their electricity use is recorded and transmitted to the quarter hour rightly thinks about data protection. That is exactly why the smart meter in Germany is technically strictly secured. Transmission runs solely through the smart meter gateway, which has to meet a dedicated security profile of the Federal Office for Information Security. The data is sent encrypted, and only authorised parties such as your metering operator or your energy supplier receive the readings needed for billing - and only at the resolution required for the respective purpose. For a normal tariff the annual value is enough; finer quarter-hourly values are only used with an explicitly chosen dynamic tariff. So you keep control over how detailed the processing of your data is. Anyone who wants to connect their home more securely and with less data overall will find further practical tips in the guide on data protection in the smart home. And anyone thinking about water and burglary protection at the same time should also plan for a water leak detector against water damage.
A smart meter is not a surveillance device but a tool: set up properly, it makes your own electricity use understandable and helps to reduce it - at your home, without the data falling into the wrong hands.
How We Set Up Smart Meter and Smart Devices at Your Home
The installation of the meter itself is handled by your metering operator - everything that comes after is the point where many households are left alone. This is exactly where we come in: we explain to you in plain terms which version is installed at your place, what the readings mean and how you keep an eye on consumption via the right app. If you have a heat pump, wallbox or solar system, we check whether the connection under section 14a is set up cleanly and you actually receive the grid-fee discount. On request we also accompany the switch to a dynamic tariff and set up the automatic control of your flexible devices. We do all of this calmly and patiently - also for older people, for whom an emergency watch with fall detection brings additional safety and for whom we offer the right setting with our tech help for seniors. Transparent terms and the home-visit flat rate can be found on the page about our prices.
Explain it clearly
We show you which meter is installed, what the readings mean and what the smart meter means for your household.
Connect devices
We check the connection of heat pump and wallbox under section 14a, so that you receive the grid-fee discount.
Set up the app
We set up the right app so that you can always see your electricity use clearly on your phone.
Check the tariff
On request we accompany the switch to a dynamic tariff and configure the control of flexible devices.
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