Digital Power Meters
- Daniel Ruzbasan & Mary Scanlon
- Sep 3, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Sep 8, 2025
We recommend installing power meters in your home's electrical system if you operate a generator in your home, and if you have a setup that uses a dedicated generator inlet box located on your home or shed.
Digital power meters measure the output of your generator, and they can help you to ensure that you balance out the power distribution on each leg of the machine during operation of your generator. Balancing simply means to try to draw power equally from each 120-volt leg of a 240-volt generator, so that you increase your system's efficiency, reduce the chance of heating up the power windings in the generator's alternator, and to protect the appliances and other equipment that you may connect to a generator in your home.
DROK Digital Power Meters
Please refer to our YouTube channel where you can view multiple storm prep videos that flesh out the concepts in our book Real Life Hurricane Prep. On YouTube, we showcase the two sets of digital power meters by Murata and by DROK that we installed in our home to monitor both power company power supply and our generator power supply. (We went a bit farther along in our installation because we wanted to more fully utilize the power measurement tools in our home, and it makes for a great learning experience on the YouTube channel.) Below you will find the simple wiring diagram that we used to install the DROK power meters. The YouTube videos contain all the links to the products portrayed in this diagram.
Enhanced DROK Meter Multiple CT Setup Wiring Diagram
If you view our YouTube channel and play the Part 3 DROK Meters install video, you will see that we fleshed out the install of our garage digital power meters and we now have multiple CT's (current transformers) installed in the circuit panel which can be read by the garage power meters. We now have the ability to switch the current portion of the power meters from FPL power (our electric supplier) to generator power. This way we can use one set of meters to monitor the voltage and amperage of either FPL or our generator. The enhanced flexibility really will help us in an emergency situation.
Here is a rather splashy picture of the DROK power meters as shown in the YouTube video. The wiring on the two toggle switches is clearly explained (we hope!) in the video.
Below is a wiring diagram that decodes the rather complicated wiring added to the DROK power meters and to the toggle switches that we installed on the meter faceplate. The diagram is simplified, showing only the current wiring and not the voltage wiring, for simplicity.
Please remember that the diagram is upside down and reversed to more easily illustrate the wiring methodology. The reasons are found in the Part 3 YouTube video. We recommend that you watch it a few times to get the hang of the concepts that we introduce!
Murata Digital Panel Meters
Like the DROK power meters, Murata digital panel meters have been a welcome visitor in our homes for many years. These robust meters have given very reliable performance in the electrical systems of two of our homes to date. You can download a comprehensive information sheet here and learn more about these awesome products.
To wire in the Murata Power meters, please refer to the pdf download above for lots of helpful information. Below is a picture of our Murata power meter setup. We walk you through the wiring below the picture.
The easiest way we can describe this wiring diagram is as follows:
****First, start at the bottom of the green screw terminal block in the picture. This terminal block separates so that it is a simple matter to separate the faceplate from the circuit wiring and place the meter faceplate on a towel on a workbench in order to work with the wiring of that component.
Next, we describe the wires that come out of the wall and into the terminal block. This cable comes from the circuit panel. The wires read from left to right on the terminal block
****The black wire on the lower left is the right meter power source (120V), and it follows through the terminal block, into the black wire that connects to the upper right-hand screw on the power switch located at the top middle of the faceplate in the picture. When the switch is turned on, the power flows to the upper left-hand screw on the power switch and then turns back to the right and connects into the 0.5-amp fuse holder at the top right of the picture. The power flows through the fuse and connects to the right-hand power meter's green 2-screw terminal block.
****The red wire located second from the lower left is the left meter power source (120V), and it follows through the terminal block, into the second first white wire that connects to the lower right-hand screw on the power switch located at the top middle of the faceplate in the picture. (We have since replaced this small white wire with a piece of red wire to make the diagram a bit easier to follow, but the color is not crucial; it is the path of the electricity that is more important in this case.) When the switch is turned on, the power flows to the lower left-hand screw on the power switch and then continues back to the left through the small green wire and connects into the 0.5-amp fuse holder at the top left of the picture. The power flows through the fuse and connects to the left-hand power meter's green 2-screw terminal block.
****The lower white wire is the neutral power wire. It connects to the green screw terminal block and then heads out of the terminal block and connects to the left-hand meter's 2-screw terminal block. Then a small white jumper wire connects the neutral of both switches, from right to left. This neutral wire provides a return power path for electricity back into the circuit panel.
****There is a green wire located at the bottom of the picture, and it is not hooked up to the green terminal block. This is a 7-wire setup and as such, the green wire is unused and sits as a spare wire if it is ever needed. This explains the empty space in the fourth space in the green terminal block.
****The blue and brown wires are the wires that send the CT (Current Transformer) signal from the circuit panel to the terminal block, through the block, and into the right-hand power meter as illustrated by the two grey wire nuts that secure the wires to the meter's short feed wires.
****The yellow and orange wires are the wires that send the CT (Current Transformer) signal from the circuit panel to the terminal block, through the block, and into the right-hand power meter as illustrated by the two grey wire nuts that secure the wires to the meter's short feed wires.
****Please refer to the YouTube video (LINK TO BE PROVIDED ONCE THE VIDEO GOES LIVE) for a detailed explanation of the wiring on the circuit panel side of the wiring plan. The wiring is pretty straightforward, once you understand how the electricity flows in the system.
General Guidelines for Installation of Power Meters
Disclaimer: if you are not comfortable working with electricity, wiring and high amperage, please DO NOT ATTEMPT to install any kind of power meter on your own. Leave it to the pros. This video is for informational and entertainment purposes only. We always try to use our heads, and we ask you to do the same, so everyone is safe! Thank you.
****We start by picking a location for the digital power meters.
****Then we measure our wire run and obtain the necessary wire. (We used shielded 18-8 stranded wire for our power meter setups for most applications that require seven wires, as in the case of our setups above. Its greater flexibility makes it much easier to work with stranded wire, opposed to stiff thermostat wire.)
****Then we make our wall cutouts, pull the wire and insert the old-work electrical boxes.
****We then design, measure and cut out the meter faceplate, attach the parts and hook up the wiring using male/female screw terminal blocks to make future removal and repair easy. (Most people skip this extra step, but it is a total timesaver down the road!)
****Finally, we hook up the wiring at the circuit panel, double-check everything and test the system for proper operation.
We take great pride in any installations that we do at our home and at our customers' homes, and you should too. Please be super neat when dealing with electricity and wiring and make your install something you can be proud of!
Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can answer any questions or clarify these concepts.
Comments