How to Read Your Energy Meter

Why would you need to read your energy meter?

Energy suppliers ask consumers with conventional credit meters to check their meters monthly and submit the readings. Here’s why you should follow their advice and get familiar with your meter cabinet.

Regular meter readings:

Ensure you’re only paying for the energy you use

Energy meters record the amount of gas and electricity you’re actually consuming. Without their readings, energy suppliers simply estimate your usage based on your previous consumption and typical demand for your household size. But their estimates might be off, leaving you either overpaying or underpaying.
Avoid a big catch-up bill

If you’ve used more energy than your energy supplier has estimated, when you finally submit a meter reading, you may be hit with a budget-busting catch-up bill.
Make your fixed monthly payments more accurate

Meter readings help your energy supplier more accurately forecast your energy consumption over the year. If you’re paying by direct debit with fixed monthly payments, meter readings mean these payments will be more accurate, and you’ll avoid ending the year in excessive credit or debit.
Identify problems early on

A faulty appliance or wiring could be driving up your energy use, and you might only notice when your meter readings are excessively high. Alternatively, your account could be linked to the wrong meter, so you’re paying for someone else’s usage, again something you’d only notice if your meter readings and resulting bills are off.
Understand your usage

If your meter readings and the actual bills issued from them seem really high and you’ve ensured there aren’t any faults, it’s time to reevaluate your day-to-day behaviours. Could you turn down the thermostat by a degree or two? Take shorter showers? Switch off all the lights before you head out the door? Meter readings help you track and manage your energy consumption and spending.
Help energy suppliers manage demand

Understanding how much energy consumers are really using helps energy suppliers better align supply and demand, reducing waste and maximising the use of renewables.
Avoid a visit by a meter reader

Under Ofgem regulations, they’re required to “take all reasonable steps to obtain meter readings at least annually.” If you don’t read your meter for some months, your supplier will contact you, usually via letter, and eventually send someone out to take the meter reading for you.

How to read your meters

There are many models of meters installed in Britain, and all work slightly differently. However, they follow the same principles, so this guide should help you navigate most types. If in doubt, search instructions for your exact meter model or contact your supplier.

The first step is always to locate your meter. They're usually located in a meter box outside the property, under the stairs, in a basement, or in a garage. If you’re stumped, search for your fuse board (consumer unit), as your electricity meter is often nearby. If you live in a block of flats, your meter may be located in a communal meter room on the ground floor.

If you’re submitting a meter reading to a supplier for the first time, they’ll want to verify the meter serial number. For electricity meters, this is the MPAN, a 21-digit number beginning with an S printed on the meter. For gas meters, it’s the MPRN, a 6- to 10-digit number, again stamped on the meter. Make sure the number on the meter matches what’s printed on your energy bill, so you’re not inadvertently paying for someone else’s energy use.

Smart meters

Smart meters are next-generation, wireless-enabled gas and electricity meters that automatically submit real-time data about your energy usage to your supplier. They theoretically eliminate the need for manual meter readings. They also transmit their most valuable information to your in-home display, including your usage in pounds and pence.

However, you shouldn’t firmly shut the door to your meter cabinet and never glance at your smart meter. An estimated 3.5 million smart meters in the UK have gone “dumb,” losing their ability to transmit meter readings. This typically happens when the consumer switches energy suppliers. While these meters can be reconnected to the network, this requires a fix from the energy supplier, which can take months to arrange. You’ll also typically need to send a manual reading when you first switch suppliers, even if the meter retains its connectivity.

To read your electricity smart meter:

Make sure you’re reading your actual meter and not your in-home display.
Wake and cycle the meter display: Press a button on the front of the meter, often labelled “A” or “OK,” to wake the meter and cycle through its displays. If in doubt, it’s probably the button closest to the screen.
As you cycle through the screens, look for a number followed by “kWh,” which stands for kilowatt-hours, a unit of measurement of electricity. This is the total amount of electricity you’ve used, which may also be labelled “Import.” Record all the numbers before the decimal point (unless your supplier specifies). Make a note of the date and time.
If you have a multi-rate meter, such as with an Economy 7 tariff, you’ll need to record two separate numbers with kWh. One will likely be labelled T1 or Day, and the other T2 or Night. Sometimes the meter will also display a third number totalling these two, which your supplier may also want.

To read your smart gas meter:

Again, make sure you’re using the meter and not the in-home display.
Wake up the display: Press a button near the meter’s small screen, often labelled “A” or “OK.”
Look for a number followed by "m³," for cubic metres, the unit in which gas is measured. Write down the numbers before the decimal or the numbers in red, as specified by your supplier. This is what you’ll submit to them.

Digital electricity meters

Digital meters have an LCD screen displaying readings and other information.

Press a button on the screen, usually labelled “A,” to wake up the display and cycle through screens.
Look for a screen with kWh. If you have a single-rate meter, this is the figure you want. Write it down, usually excluding any numbers after the decimal or in red.
If you have a two-rate tariff, such as Economy 7, you’ll usually see three figures: total consumption in kWh, and then Tariff/Rate 1 for daytime usage and Tariff/Rate 2 for nighttime usage.

Dial electricity meters

Dial electricity meters have between four and six dials, each displaying one digit (0-9) from your meter reading. Each dial turns in an opposite direction to the one beside it: if the first turns clockwise, the second turns anticlockwise, etc.

Read the dials from left to right. Write down the number on the first dial, reading it like a clock face, then the second, etc.
If the pointer falls between two numbers, write down the lower number. If it falls between 9 and 0, write down 9.
If the pointer is directly over a number, check the next dial to the right. If the pointer on that dial is between 9 and 0, reduce the previous number by one.
Ignore red dials or small dials. Usually, you’ll have written down five digits, which you submit to your supplier.

Digital gas meters (metric, imperial)

Digital gas meters display your meter reading on a small LCD screen.

Newer metric meters register your usage in cubic meters (m³), usually in a five-digit number, followed by a decimal point and more digits. Write down this number, ignoring anything after the decimal point.
Older imperial meters denote your usage in cubic feet (ft³). They usually have four digits, a decimal point, then more numbers. Write down only the first four numbers before the decimal point.

Dial gas meters

A gas dial meter has four or more dials, each one pointing to a number between 0 and 9. The dials alternate between clockwise and anticlockwise.

Read four dials from left to right, ignoring any big or red dials or a fifth dial.
If the pointer on a dial is between two numbers, write down the smaller number. If it’s between 9 and 0, write down 9.
If the pointer is directly over a number, check the next dial to the right. If the pointer on that dial is between 9 and 0, reduce the previous number by 1.

Economy 7/Economy 10 meters

Time-of-use tariffs are those that charge you two separate rates for electricity, depending on when during the day you use it. The most common are Economy 7 and Economy 10, designed for households with electric storage heaters, which charge overnight with cheap electricity and then release heat during the day.

Economy 7: off-peak hours between midnight and 7 a.m., typically
Economy 10: 10 off-peak hours, often three in the afternoon, two in the evening, and five overnight.

With these tariffs, your meter will record two separate usage figures: one for peak and one for off-peak. You’ll need to record and submit them both, usually along with a total consumption for both.

Peak readings may be marked "Tariff 1," "T1," "Rate 1," "R1," or "day", while off-peak readings may be marked "Tariff 2," "T2," "Rate 2," "R2," or "night."

Prepayment meters

You generally won’t have to submit readings to your supplier for your prepayment meter, except if you’re transitioning to a credit meter or you suspect it’s recording your usage wrong. However, it’s important to know how to use your meter so you can top up and keep on top of your balance.

As with other meters, you toggle between screens on your prepayment meter by pressing a button, often blue on prepayment electricity meters and red on prepayment gas meters. With some meters, your key or card has to be inserted to operate them.

One of these screens provides a meter reading, the number of units of electricity or gas you’ve used since you last submitted a meter reading. On some prepayment electricity meters, this is the screen marked “H,” while on gas meters, it’s marked “3.”

More pertinent information is on other screens, including your current balance or debt.

How often should you take meter readings?

If you have a traditional credit meter - not a smart meter or prepayment meter - you should take and submit meter readings every month. This ensures your bills correspond to your actual usage and prevents you from over- or underpaying for months at a time.

While monthly readings are important, it’s especially crucial to take meter readings at the following times:

On the day you move out of or into a property
When you switch to a new tariff or supplier
When the energy price cap changes (quarterly at the beginning of January, April, July, and October)

If you have a smart meter, your meter should be automatically submitting readings to your supplier every half-hour. However, many meters have lost this functionality, and it’s worth checking every few months that your supplier is still receiving communication from your meter. If not, you’ll need to submit manual readings until a software fix is rolled out to your meter.

With a prepayment meter, you usually don’t have to submit meter readings, as you’re paying in advance for energy by topping up the meter. The only case in which your supplier might ask for a meter reading is if you’re switching from a prepayment to a credit meter, or you or your supplier suspect the meter is faulty.

Under the terms of their licence condition with Ofgem, suppliers must make every effort to obtain meter readings once a year, which means they’ll likely send someone out to read your meter if you don’t submit readings in that time frame.