How do I read my electricity meter?
There's lots of different types of electricity meters, but they're easy to read once you know how.
Find out how to read a:
- Traditional (single rate) electric meter
- Two rate electric meter (also known dual rate, or Economy 7)
- Digital electric meter
- Dial electric meter
We'll send you an email when it's time to submit your meter readings. However, you can give us you latest meter reading at any time.
You can submit your readings through the link in your reminder email, or update them in just a couple of minutes through your online account.
How to read a single rate electric meter
Read the numbers on your meter from left to right. Ignore any numbers in red, or in a red box.
In this example, the meter reading is 65319.
How to read two-rate electric meters (Economy 7)
A two-rate or dual-rate meter measures two different rates for your energy usage – one for nighttime (off-peak hours) and one for the daytime (peak hours). You’ll need to provide meter readings for both.
- Your meter will have two rows. One will be marked “Low” or “Night”, and the other will be marked “Normal” or “Day”.
- Read the numbers from left to right to get your reading for each row. Ignore any numbers in red, in a red box, or after a decimal point.
In this example, the meter reading for the Day rate is 65319 and for the Night rate is 25318.
How to read a digital electric meter
Read your display from left to right, ignoring any numbers in red, or any figures that appear after a decimal point.
In this example, the meter reading is 65319.
How to read a dial electric meter
A dial electric meter has 5 or more dials. Each dial has a pointer that turns to point to a number between 0 and 9.
Each dial moves in a direction opposite to the one right before it. So, if the first dial moves in a clockwise direction, the one to the right of it will move in an anti-clockwise direction. There may be an arrow on each dial to show which way the dial pointer will move.
To keep track of the numbers, you may want to write these down before submitting them.
In the example below, the meter reading is 56514.
- Read the dials from left to right. We only need the numbers from the first 5 dials - ignore the dial marked in red.
- When the pointer is in between two numbers, record the lower one. But if the pointer is between 0 and 9, always write down 9.
- If the dial points exactly to a number, check the dial to the next dial along to the right. If the dial to the right points to 9, then take one away from the number on the dial you’re currently reading. For example, if the dial you’re reading shows 4, but the dial to the right of it reads 9, then the number you’d write down is 3.
Not sure how to read your meter? Our team is available to help on livechat, email or phone now.