How to read your electricity and gas meters

Submitting an accurate meter reading is the single most important thing most households can do to keep their bills honest. It stops estimates from drifting over months, and it is the only way the supplier can bill you for the energy you actually used.

There are four common meter types in UK homes. Here is how to read each one.

Digital meters with a single row of numbers

The most common type. Read the digits from left to right, ignore any numbers in red or after a decimal point, and write down the whole-kWh figure as you see it. If the meter cycles through several screens, wait for the one labelled kWh — some meters also show the date, the time, and the tariff.

Dial meters

Older but still in use in many homes. There are typically five or six circular dials, each labelled 0 to 9. Read from left to right. Each dial’s pointer is read as the lower of the two numbers nearest it, with one trap: if the pointer is sitting exactly on a number, look at the dial to its right. If that dial has not yet reached zero, write down the number below the one the first pointer sits on. Note that every other dial turns backwards; just read the number nearer to the pointer.

Economy 7 meters (two readings)

An Economy 7 meter bills day and night at different rates. It has two displays, often labelled Rate 1/Rate 2, or Normal/Low. Rate 1 is usually the day rate; Rate 2 is the cheaper night rate, typically running for seven hours during the small hours. Submit both figures when you take a reading. If the meter cycles through screens, note down whichever number appears on each labelled rate.

If you are not sure which is which, your bill will match the labels to the day and night rate; compare the figures on last quarter’s bill with the ones on the meter today and you can work out which rate is which.

Smart meters and the in-home display

You do not normally need to submit a reading from a working smart meter: the meter sends readings automatically to the supplier, typically once a month on the default setting. You should still check the in-home display (the small screen the installer leaves on the counter) occasionally. It shows the running kWh for electricity and gas, the cost in pounds against your tariff, and sometimes a usage graph. If your bill does not match what the IHD shows, submit a manual reading as a sanity check.

Ofgem’s page on getting a smart meter notes that older Radio Teleswitch meters have now lost their signal and need replacing; if yours is one of them, contact your supplier.

Gas meters

Gas meters look much like electricity meters. Digital gas meters show the reading in cubic metres (m³). Imperial gas meters, still found in some older homes, show it in hundreds of cubic feet. Read the black digits, ignore anything red, and write down the whole-number reading. Your supplier does the conversion from gas volume to kWh for billing; you do not need to do that yourself.

What to do once you have the reading

Submit the reading to your supplier through their app, their website or their phone line. Keep a note of the figure and the date for the next bill — it should match the opening reading on that bill. If it does not, something has gone wrong and it is worth asking about. For a wider walk-through of a bill, see our guide to reading an energy bill line by line.

If a meter is in an awkward location (behind a cupboard, in a sealed box) you can ask the supplier for a reading by their engineer; they will usually arrange one at least once a year, and more often if you have had a run of estimates.