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How to read your energy meter

Our energy expert says...

Although your energy bills will give you all the information that you need to compare prices and switch energy provider, it’s always good to know exactly what all the numbers on your meter actually mean. Reading your own gas and electricity meters allows you to work out whether you're being billed correctly and whether you're on the best tariff as well as giving you access to some of the best deals on the market.

Online tariffs

As well as the fact that many of the best deals on the market are now online-only tariffs where you submit your own meter readings, a number of energy providers also offer additional discounts when you choose paperless billing and manage your account online.

On top of offering some of the cheapest gas and electricity prices, online tariffs also eliminate the need for estimated bills - so you won’t ever overpay on your energy again.

But to take advantage of these offers you not only need access to the internet, you also need to be able to read your own meter.

Gas and electricity meters

Most homes are fitted with an electromechanical induction meter, which has an aluminium disc that rotates as your home uses energy - the meter simply records the number of times that this disc turns.

These meters use one of three types of display; standard, digital or dial.

• Standard - If you have a standard display, you will have a mechanical display with red and black numbers. Ignore the red numbers and simply read the black digital from left to right
• Digital - If your digital meter has just one display, then will be very easy to read. Simply write down the numbers from left to right, ignoring the red figure at the end
  If you're on an Economy 7 tariff then you'll have two displays; the top numbers will show your off-peak electricity use and will be marked “low”, “night” or “rate 1”. The bottom display will count your normal electricity use and will be marked “normal”, “day” or “rate 2”. Even if you have an Economy 7 meter, you still simply note down both numbers, ignoring the red digit at the end
• Dial - These meters are slightly more complicated to read. Moving from left to right, note down the number at each dial. If the dial is between two numbers then go with the lower number - the one it has just passed. If the next number is nine, or between nine and zero, you should reduce the previous number by one.
  For example, if the dial read “2, 6, 4, 9, 8”, you should write down “26498”.

While reading your own meter helps you avoid estimated bills, you should make sure that a technician comes out at least once a year to confirm what you've read.

Economy 7

Working on the basis that there is less demand for electricity at night, Economy 7 tariffs offer cheaper rates at night. So if you use most of your electricity at night - usually between midnight and 7am - then you might be able to cut the cost of your bills by switching to one of these deals.

To make an Economy 7 tariff work for you, you might need to make some changes around your home, such as fitting your washing machine and dishwasher with timers so that they only run at night. You should also set your boiler and storage heaters to run at night rather than during the day.

But this has resulted in some criticism of Economy 7 tariffs as you might not have enough hot water to last you through the following day.

If you're considering one of these deals, make sure that you compare day rates as well as the lower night time costs; some tariffs charge a higher price during the day that could eat into any savings you make overnight.

You might also have to pay to have your meter installed. Having said that, many people do benefit from Economy 7 deals so do your research and compare tariffs. And remember that having an Economy 7 - or variable rate meter as they're also known - installed, doesn’t prevent you from switching energy provider in the future - so make sure that you regularly compare the market to ensure that you're always on the cheapest deal.

Prepayment meters

If your home is fitted with a prepayment meter, either because you struggle to budget for bills or have a poor credit history that prevents you from signing up to a billing tariff, then you won’t receive bills from your energy supplier.

Instead, you'll charge your card or key with cash to keep you gas and electricity meters running, or by inserting tokens directly into your meter.

Most customers using a prepayment meter are on a low income and there are currently 5.8 million of these meters installed across Britain, with around 14% of electricity consumers and just over 10% of gas customers are using them.

While these meters can be great budgeting tools, they are invariably set to the most expensive gas and electricity rates, meaning that poorer households often end up paying even more for the energy - an issue that energy providers have repeatedly been criticised for.

Shops that offer top-up facilities for prepayment meters are also sometimes hard to find, while token meter customers have to wait for an engineer to visit in order to update prices - meaning that some pay-as-you-go customers still sometimes end up with an unexpected bill.

While it’s a good idea to switch to a credit tariff so that you can take advantage of cheaper energy rates, customers who owe money to their provider might find this difficult, while some people value the budgeting benefits of a prepayment meter over cheaper prices.

Smart meters

Everyone’s been talking about smart meters, and while they won’t save you energy in themselves, it’s estimated that they could help consumers cut their bills by as much as 15%.

Smart meters are slowly being rolled out by energy providers - and some of the smaller companies, like Ovo Energy are hoping to install a smart meter for all customers in 2010. These “intelligent” energy meters show you where and when you're using your energy, rather than just how much.

The idea is that because you can see where your energy is being wasted, you'll be able to change your habits, such as leaving the TV, DVD player and set-top box on standby in the front room, and switching lights off when you leave a room.

Smart meters also send automatic meter readings direct to your energy supplier, meaning an end to estimated bills.

Ask us a question

If you have an energy query please email ourexpert@energychoices.co.uk