Top Tips – May

 

Learn to Read and Monitor Your Meter Readings

May’s Top Tip is learning how to take a reading from your meter and then use that to monitor how much gas or electricity you are using so you don’t get any nasty surprises when your bills arrive.

Electricity Meters 

There are three types of meter in common use in households.

Standard meters

   

A standard meter is a basic electromechanical induction meter, and usually measures your electricity consumption in terms of kilowatt-hours - the amount of energy used by a load of one kilowatt over the period of one hour. The displays on these meters are usually just a row of numbers but on some of the older meters they are displayed on a row of dials or clocks.

When this meter is installed, all electricity units are charged at the same rate, 24 hours a day.

Variable rate meters

Often referred to as "economy 7" meters, as they are used for the economy 7 tariffs that many suppliers offer, variable rate meters operate on the same principle as standard meters, except they give two readings: one for daytime electricity usage, and one for night-time electricity usage.

This allows your supplier to charge you a different (usually cheaper) rate for electricity used at night time under the economy 7 tariff.

Prepayment meters

Prepayment meters usually accept tokens or cards that can be bought or topped up, respectively. If the customer stops paying for electricity, the electricity supply will be cut off by a relay fitted into the meter.

The advantage of this kind of meter is that you can budget for how much electricity you use by paying for it before you use it.

How to read electricity meters

If you have a standard meter with a numeric display, simply read off the first five figures of the number displayed there from left to right.

If you have a variable rate meter, read off both sets of numbers, missing off the last number from each row (this will usually be red or in a red box).

Dial meters have a row of dials with pointers that move in opposite directions from 0 – 9. Only read 5 dials from the one marked 10,000 down to the one marked 1. Ignore the one that measures tenths of units. When reading each dial, record the lowest number that the pointer has gone past, not necessarily the one it is nearest to. For example if the pointer is between 6 and 7, record 6. If the pointer is directly on a number, the reading becomes more complicated and you must look at the next dial down to make an accurate reading. In the example below the dial on the far left (the 1,000’s) is directly over the 9. To decide whether this is 8 or 9 we need to look at the next one to the right (the 100’s). This pointer has not yet passed the 0 therefore we know that the next dial has not yet quite reached 9 and is still on 8. The reading on the meter below is 8925. There will usually be 5 numbers to record.

Gas Meters

There are two types of gas meter in common use in households.

Credit meters

The majority of people have a credit meter which records the amount of gas you use. Gas consumption is measured in units, i.e. hundreds of cubic feet for imperial meters. These gas units need to be multiplied by approximately 31.3 to convert from the units used according to the meter or bill into kilowatt-hours. Exact conversion figures from gas units to kilowatt hours for imperial meters are as follows:

• Multiply your units used by 2.83 to give you the number of cubic metres of gas used. (If you have a newer metric meter measuring gas in cubic metres you do not need to do this).
• Multiply by the temperature and pressure figure (1.02264).
• Multiply by colorific value (39.25)
• Divide by 3.6 to get the number of kilowatt hours (kWh)

You should find all these figures laid out on your gas bill.

With a credit meter you will receive a quarterly bill and someone will come and read your meter every six months. Estimated bills will be send out when there has not been a reading and you can call and give your actual reading for a more accurate bill.

When giving a meter reading, you may need your MPRN (Gas Meter Point Reference Number. This is the unique identifying number for your gas meter. It is a ten digit number and can be found on your gas bill.

It is sometimes referred to as a 'M' number.

Prepayment meters

With this type of meter, you pay for your gas before you use it. Coinless prepayment ('smartcard') meters have replaced token, key and coin meters.

You charge your card with a certain amount of credit and the meter records the amount of gas you have used.

Your gas supplier can tell you where you can get you card or key charged.

How to read gas meters

To read a digital type meter, only use the white figures. Ignore any numbers in red or after a decimal point.

If your gas meter has a standard numeric display with six digits, simply read off the first four digits for your reading.

If you have an old dial gas meter then these are read in the same way as the dial electricity meters (see above).

Monitoring your readings

Regular Meter Readings – It is important to keep track of how much gas and electricity you are using so that you can budget for the next bill and check how much fuel you are using. It can also be useful if you have a dispute. This means your meter needs to be read regularly.

You can use a chart below to keep a weekly/monthly check :-

Week: actual date	Electricity reading	Units used	Gas reading	Units used
1:
2:
3:
4:
Totals