Quantum gas meter

Cambridge Consultants has developed an inexpensive gas meter called Q-Smart for Siemens Energy Services who run the UK’s Quantum gas pre-payment scheme.

The rental costs of smartcard-based gas meters used to manage the pre-payment process represent over half of the total ‘cost to serve’ the consumer, and any economies that can be made have a big impact on the bottom line.

‘A lot of the original pre-payment meters are due for replacement in the next few years, and we commissioned this new meter design to allow the Quantum scheme to run more efficiently and cost-effectively,’ said Matt Hamblin of Siemens Energy Services.

‘We have eliminated parts, re-worked functions so that they can be performed by lower-cost components or software, and generally optimised the meter for high volume manufacture,’ said Cambridge Consultants’ Martin Cooper, who led the product development. 

Q-Smart reduces meter construction costs by around a third. Much of the cost reduction stems from the design of the meter’s electronic control circuitry, which is simpler than that used in existing Quantum meters. The circuitry has fewer components and requires only one major IC - a standard 16-bit microcontroller that mounts on one low-cost single-sided PCB, replacing two used in other meters.