Taking a meter reading is an important part of working out the cost of energy bills, so it's crucial to know how to interpret various different meters.
Energy suppliers need regular readings from gas and electricity meters so they can work out a household's bills.
This is important as they will have to estimate a household's usage otherwise, meaning the potential bill could be too high.
Some houses have smart meters installed which normally send readings to a supplier automatically.
However, there might be some circumstances where you would still need to take a meter reading from a smart meter.
How to take a meter reading
Analogue meters
All households had analogue meters until smart meters started to be installed, so many will still likely have these.
Octopus Energy states: "If your meter hasn't been changed since before 2017, and either has dials or an analogue meter display with 4-6 black and white (and some red) numbers, you have traditional meters."
Electricity reading
On a single-rate digital meter, it will show five numbers in black or white and might be followed by one or more red numbers.
You will need to write down the first five numbers shown from left to right and ignore any other numbers.
Meanwhile, a two-rate digital meter will have two sets of numbers which you'll have if you get cheaper electricity at certain times.
Citizens Advice states: "The top row (labelled ‘low’ or ‘night’) shows how many units of cheaper electricity you’ve used.
"The bottom row (labelled ‘normal’ or ‘day’) shows how many units of standard-price electricity you’ve used."
You will need to write down both figures from left to right, ignoring any numbers shown in red at the end.
Another version of this is the two-rate single display meter which will either flash up the different rate readings in a cycle or have a button that you need to press to make the display cycle through the readings for the different rates.
To read the meter write down the numbers shown left to right, for each reading.
Finally, you might have a dial meter which has five or more dials which each turn to point to a number between 0 and 9.
Read the first five dials from left to right, ignoring any red dials or dials marked 1/10.
If the pointer is between two numbers, write down the lower number - if it’s between 9 and 0, write down 9.
If the pointer is directly over a number, write down that number and underline it.
Citizens Advice adds: "If you’ve underlined a number, check the next dial to the right. If the pointer on that dial is between 9 and 0, reduce the number you’ve underlined by 1. For example, if you originally wrote down 5, change it to 4."
Gas reading
Gas readings might come from a Digital metric meter which will have an electronic or digital display, showing five numbers then a decimal point, followed by some more numbers.
Write down the first five numbers from left to right and ignore the numbers after the decimal point, which are sometimes shown in red.
Meanwhile, a Digital Imperial Meter has an electronic or digital display, showing four black or white numbers, followed by two numbers shown in red.
Write down the first four numbers from left to right, ignoring the rest of the numbers shown in red.
Finally, a gas reading might also come from a Dial meter, which will have four or more dials, each one pointing to a number between 0 and 9.
Read the first four dials from left to right, ignoring the large dials or red dials.
If the pointer is between two numbers, write down the lower number - if it’s between 9 and 0, write down 9.
Be sure to note the date you took the reading on, and take pictures for safety.
Smart meters
When households get a smart meter installed, they also normally get a portable device called a ‘smart energy monitor’ or an ‘in-home display’ (IHD).
It is possible to take a meter reading from an IHD but it’s best to take one from the meter itself.
There are many different types of smart meters with various different displays and ways to get to the figures you need.
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EDF Energy states: "As each type of smart meter has its own way of taking a reading, the best thing to do is press the buttons to scroll through the screens."
Generally, people will need to look for a screen with a row of numbers in front of the letters 'KWH'.
They add: "Once you've found the right screen, read the numbers from left to right. Ignore any zeroes at the beginning and any numbers after the decimal point.
"If you pay two electricity rates (e.g. Economy 7), you might see both readings on the same screen – or you might have to scroll to another screen to get your second reading."
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