How to Create and Manage Manual Meters

Overview

The Manual Meters feature in KODE OS is designed to bridge the gap between automated smart meters and unconnected utility meters that traditionally rely on spreadsheets or paper logs. This feature allows building teams to create structured digital twins for various meter types (electric, water, gas, steam, and energy) and log readings directly into the platform via web or mobile. By capturing data in a centralized system, manual readings are automatically normalized through conversion factors and transformed into actionable intelligence, enabling them to be used for real-time dashboards, historical trending, and API-based tenant billing workflows just like connected device data. Manual meters are used for tracking energy, water, and gas consumption for devices that cannot be connected to the platform for automatic data pulls. By adding these meters to the platform, we can eliminate separate spreadsheets, centralize data, and utilize the readings for analytics and trending.

Manual Meters (Web)

This section provides comprehensive instructions for navigating the Manual Meters module and managing offline utility data within the KODE OS web platform. By following these workflows, you can eliminate fragmented spreadsheets and centralize manual readings into a single, auditable source of truth.

The following steps guide you through registering new hardware, utilizing advanced search and filter tools to manage your inventory, and performing batch data entry to ensure your consumption trends remain accurate and ready for analysis.

1. Navigate to Devices.

2. Open Manual Meters from the Devices navigation.

3. Use:

• Search for meters (search bar)
  Filters (button in the header)

4. To create a meter, click Add Meter.

5. To add readings in batch, select one or more meters and use Add Reading (bottom right).

Create Manual Meters (Web)

Manual meters are created through a table based dialog, allowing multiple meters to be added at the same time for a faster and more efficient setup process.

Meter metadata is displayed as columns within the table. Additional metadata fields can be added at any time by selecting the Add Metadata option..

Create one or multiple meters

1. On the Manual Meters page, click Add Meter.

2. In the Add Meters dialog:

• Each row represents one meter.

• Click Add Row to add more rows.

3. Fill in the required columns:

• Meter Name

• Connector

• Meter Type

• Unit of Measurement

• Conversion Factor(defaults to 1.0)

4. Optional: add more columns using Add Metadata.

5. Click Add Meters to save.

Add optional metadata columns (Add Metadata)

1. In the Add Meters dialog, click Add Metadata.

2. Select the fields you want to appear as columns. Examples include:

• Location

• Located In

• Serial Number

• Identifier

• Description

• Vendor

• Manufacturer

• Model

3. Fill in values for the added columns as needed.

4. Click Add Meters to save.

Notes:

• “Located In” is used to capture the meter’s space placement (when available).

• “Location” can be used as an additional contextual field, depending on how your organization uses it.

Manual Meters (Mobile)

Create Manual Meters (Mobile)

1. Open the Manual Meters module.

2. Tap the “+” button at the top to create a manual meter.

3. Fill in the required meter fields and save.

Add readings in batch (Web)

Batch entry allows adding one reading per selected meter in a single save.

1. On the Manual Meters page, select the meters you want to add readings for.

2. Click Add Reading (bottom right).

3. In the Add Readings dialog, add values for each selected meter:

• Date & Time

• Value

4. Review Value Preview for each row to confirm the final stored value (native value × conversion factor).

5. Optional:

• Add attachments (use the Attachments column; “No attachment + Add”)

• Add notes (Notes column)

6. Click Add Readings to save.

Warning: value is less than the previous one

If the entered value is lower than the prior value for that meter, the UI shows a warning (for example: “Value is less than the previous one: 200 kWh, please verify.”). Verify the meter reading before saving.

Add a reading for a single meter (Web)

1. Navigate to Devices or Manual Meters.

2. Open a manual meter device (click the meter name).

3. Open Device Details.

4. In the Reading Logs section, click Add Reading Log.

5. Enter:

• Value (native)

• Date & time

6. Optional:

• Attachments

• Notes

7. Save.

Add a reading for a single meter (Mobile)

1. Open the manual meter device.

2. Tap Add Reading.

3. Enter:

• Date & time

• Value (native)

4. Optional:

• Add notes

• Add an attachment

• Capture a photo as proof (if needed)

5. Confirm the value preview and save.

View reading logs (table + trends)

View reading logs as a table (Device Details)

1. Open the manual meter device.

2. Go to Device Details.

3. In Reading Logs:

• Review rows (Reading Date, Value, Attachments)

• Expand a row to view more details such as:

• Native Reading

• Conversion Factor

• User (who added the reading)

• Notes

• Attachment preview (when present)

4. To correct a mistake, use the delete action on the most recent reading (last added reading only).

Note: There are some limitations in how meter or consumption data can be added. For example, if consumption data is entered for 15/05, it is currently not possible to add or backfill data for 14/05 afterwards. This behavior is intended for the current version of the system.