One of the biggest problems currently facing consumers is in understanding the various utility bills they receive from their suppliers. Often the balance on the bill is the only figure they will look at which can potentially result in both under and overpayments being made to the supplier, neither of which benefits the customer.
To prevent this happening it is important to understand how to accurately read a meter to enable you to check and validate the readings that appear on your bill. This will ensure you are only paying for your actual consumption and not being under or overbilled as a result of inaccurate or estimated readings.
There are many different types of both domestic and commercial meters within the UK and it is sometimes difficult to determine which figures from the meter are the actual readings.
To assist you with this, we have produced a simple guide below which will allow you to understand your meter(s) more easily and therefore enable you to check all future bills are accurate.
The term smart meter refers to a meter which records consumption automatically over a set time interval and communicates that information back to a central point – usually the supplier.
This means that any site with a smart meter fitted does not require a visit from a traditional “meter reader” to gather data and should never receive an estimated bill. Unfortunately this is not always the case and it is still advisable to check your bill against your actual meter readings whenever possible.
If you are unsure whether or not the meter in your premises is a smart meter, please contact your supplier who will be able to advise you.
There are 2 main types of electricity meter, those with dials and those with digital displays which can be either mechanical or LCD in appearance.
Single rate digital meter
The reading should be taken from left to right, ignoring the last number(s) which may be in red. The example reading opposite would be 06230.
Multi- rate meter These meters are present in premises that are charged different unit rates for on and off-peak electricity and usually have 2 or 3 individual displays depending upon the number of different rates being applied.
Two rate digital meter
The top display is usually marked ‘low’ or ‘night’ and shows how many units of off-peak electricity have been used.
The bottom display is usually marked ‘high’ or ‘normal’ and shows how many units of peak rate electricity have been used.
For both top and bottom displays, the readings should be taken from left to right, ignoring the last number(s) which may be shown in red. The example reading opposite would be 63521 and 21634.
Three rate digital meter As above but will have a third display usually for ‘evening and weekend’ consumption which is billed on an additional ‘off-peak’ tariff.
Dial meter
These are the most complicated types of meter to read.
Usually dial meters have 6 individual dials some of which turn clockwise and some anti-clockwise, so it is important to check which way they are turning when reading a meter.
Read the first 5 dials from left to right ignoring the dial marked 1/10 which is usually red in colour.
When taking a reading, unless the pointer is pointing directly at a number, the reading is taken from the previous number. i.e if a pointer is between 1 and 2, the reading is taken as 1, or between 9 and 0 it is taken as 9. The example reading opposite would be 56206.
As with electricity meters there are 2 main types of gas meter, those with dials and those with digital displays which are either mechanical or LCD in appearance.
Digital metric meter
The reading should be taken from left to right, ignoring any digits after the decimal point – usually shown in red. The example reading opposite would be 00235.
Dial meter These usually have 5 individual dials set in a row along the bottom of the meter. Again some dials turn clockwise and some anti clockwise, so it is important to check which way they are turning when reading a meter.
It is these dials alone which should be read, any others present should be ignored.
Read the first four dials from left to right, discarding the fifth which is usually reading the 1 /tenth's of units.
As with electricity meters, when taking a reading, unless the pointer is actually pointing directly at a number the reading is taken from the previous number. i.e if a pointer is between 1 and 2, the reading is taken as 1, or between 9 and 0 it is taken as 9. The example reading opposite would be 73256.
Water meter displays usually have seven digits and show both cubic metres and litres.
The first five white digits on the dial indicate cubic metres used
(1 cubic metre = 1,000 litres = 220 gallons). The last four red digits are units of 10 litres.
When taking the water meter reading, only the digits in black and white representing the useage in cubic meters, should be recorded. The red digits should be ignored.
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There are 2 main types of electricity meter, those with dials and those with digital displays which can be either mechanical or LCD in appearance.
As with electricity meters there are 2 main types of gas meter, those with dials and those with digital displays which are either mechanical or LCD in appearance.
Water meter displays usually have seven digits and show both cubic metres and litres.
