How to Read Your Meter ......

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Reading your Electric Meter

Reading your energy meters is a good way to become familiar with how much energy your home uses. For example, when trying to decide between two energy alternatives -- like "should I close the windows and run the air conditioner round-the-clock or open the house at night and air condition only during the hottest portion of the day?" -- reading your electric meter can provide the answer.

Your electric bill is calculated in kilowatt-hours or the number of kilowatts of power times hours of use in the monthly billing period. By reading your meter at the same time each day, you will get an exact total of the electricity you have used. By writing each daily total on your Energy Diary, you can chart increases and decreases in your energy use. By noting high consumption activity, such as laundering or cooking, you will know how you are spending your energy dollar.

Notice that some of the dial hands on the meter above turn "clockwise" and some turn "counter-clockwise." Look at the first left-most dial (dial 1), it is turning "clockwise," and the hand is between the 7 and the 8. Record the number that the hand just passed - (in this case it is 7).

The second dial (dial 2) is turning "counter-clockwise" and is just past the 3, so that is the next number to write down and so on.

Look at the dial to the right of the dial being "read." If the hand on the right has moved past "zero," write down the number the hand on the left is pointing to - (using the same dials, it would be the 7).

If the hand on the right is not past "zero," then write down the next lowest number on the dial being read. In picture above, the meter reads "73256."

Now, if you read this meter at the same time tomorrow, subtract tomorrow's reading from today's reading to determine the number of kilowatt-hours used in one day.

 

 

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