Stuck With Proprietary or Discontinued Submeters? Your Options
Updated October 2026
If only one company can read your meters, or the maker dropped them, you still have options. Most properties keep some meters and replace others.
What can I do if my submeters are proprietary or discontinued?
Start by finding out what's actually installed. If another company can read the meters, keep them and change only the billing company. If the meters are sound but their radios only talk to one vendor's system, new nonproprietary transmitters can often go on the existing meters. If the meters themselves are worn out, replace them with nonproprietary ones you own. Most properties end up with some of each, and the work can be phased so billing never stops. NES surveys the system for free and handles whichever mix fits.
- Readable meters can stay as they are
- Sound meters can take new transmitters
- Worn meters get replaced in phases
- Billing keeps running during the switch
- Check your contract for who owns the meters
- NES meters are nonproprietary and sold at cost
A billing company gets bought and support goes quiet. A manufacturer drops a product line. Or you buy a property and nobody can tell you what's on the wall. In a lot of these cases the meters work fine. The trouble is that only one company can read them.
How do you know if you're locked in?
- Your contract says the provider owns the meters, or that you owe a buyout to leave
- Other billing companies say they can't read your system
- Parts and replacement transmitters are only available from your current provider
- The manufacturer discontinued the product, or the cellular network your gateway uses is shutting down
- Service calls go unanswered and meters keep going dark
Any one of these is reason enough for a survey. Read the equipment section of your contract first. Who owns the meters decides most of what happens next.
What are your options?
Keep the meters, change the billing company
- When it fits
- Another company can read the meters as they are
- What changes
- Only the reading and billing. No equipment cost. See switching submetering providers.
New transmitters on the old meters
- When it fits
- The meters are sound, but the radios are proprietary or discontinued
- What changes
- Nonproprietary transmitters go on the existing meters. The pipe usually isn't cut.
Replace the meters
- When it fits
- The meters are worn, leaking or reading low, or no transmitter fits them
- What changes
- New nonproprietary meters you own, phased in by building
A survey usually turns up a mix. One building might take new transmitters while the one next door needs new meters.
How do you switch without a gap in billing?
It starts with a free survey. A technician identifies each meter type and its age, and whether it can be read or retrofitted. NES replies within one business day of your request, and you get a written plan and price within five.
The work goes building by building. Units still on the old system keep billing until their building switches, so nobody gets skipped and nobody gets billed twice. Each unit gets a final read on the old meter and a first read on the new one.
As each building goes live, it gets daily reads, MyReads leak alerts, and our bilingual resident support line.
What should you ask before signing with anyone?
Ask who owns the meters, and get it in writing. With NES, you do. Ask whether another company could read them, and for the brand and model so you can check. NES meters are nonproprietary.
Ask about buyout or removal fees, since some contracts charge you to leave. Ask what the warranty covers and for how long. NES offers optional extended warranties on meters it sells and installs. And ask about the markup on hardware. We sell meters at cost.
NES sells meters from nine manufacturers, including Badger Meter, Master Meter, Neptune and Sensus. The full brand list links to each one's support page. For every question to ask a provider, see how to choose a submetering company.
Related questions
Get submetering and compliance updates
A short email when we publish new guides or a state changes its billing rules. No sales sequences, and you can unsubscribe any time.
We handle your email as described in our privacy policy.
Find out what's on your wall
The survey is free. We'll reply within one business day.