Meters & readings

Meters are the foundation of the Energy module. Each meter measures one utility at one point of your site, and every reading you record is automatically turned into a cost and a carbon figure.

Creating a meter

When you add a meter, you describe what it measures and where it sits. These choices drive how readings are interpreted and aggregated on the dashboard.

• Utility type: electricity, water, gas, steam, compressed air, fuel or oil.
• Unit: the measurement unit such as kWh or m³.
• Direction: consumption (energy you draw) or generation (energy you produce, e.g. solar).
• Reading type: cumulative (an ever-increasing index) or interval (the amount used in a period).
• Zone or location: assign the meter to a zone so consumption rolls up by area.

Recording readings

You can record readings one at a time or in bulk. As soon as a reading is saved, cost and carbon are computed automatically from the active tariff and emission factor, and stored on that reading — no manual calculation needed.

Cumulative meter safeguard

For cumulative meters, a new reading should normally be higher than the previous one. If you enter a value that is lower — which usually means a meter reset or rollover — FreeMaint asks you to confirm explicitly before saving, so accidental typos do not corrupt your history.

The dashboard

The dashboard aggregates your data so you can spot trends and overspend at a glance.

• Consumption, cost (in your company currency) and carbon (kgCO₂e) per utility.
• The same breakdown per zone, so you can compare areas of the site.
• A monthly trend to see whether usage is rising or falling.
• Target variance, showing actual against the budgets you have set.