How to Read a Smart Electric Meter Illuminating Company

Meter readings and energy rates are the ii most important elements that make up free energy bills.

Giving meter readings to your supplier ensure you lot pay for the correct amount of usage. Without them your supplier will estimate how much energy you're using.

Free energy rates on the other hand are how much your supplier charges for each unit of energy that you lot utilize.

We explain how to requite a meter reading just also how to brand sure you're on the all-time deal.

Meter readings

Free energy rates

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How do yous read an electricity meter?

There are three types of Electricity meters: unmarried rate meters, two charge per unit meters equally well equally dial meters. Electric meters are ever in kWh (kilowatt hours). Pictured below is a single charge per unit meter and a dial meter.

Single charge per unit meters

Read the numbers from left to right and don't include any numbers in red or after the decimal indicate. This electricity meter reading is 01967.

Two rate meters

Two rate meters are mainly used for economy 7 or economy x. It records two readings, 1 for your day usage and 1 for dark usage. Solar day usage is called 'normal' and night usage is called 'depression'.

For instance the electricity meter higher up would exist recorded as:

Low (night): 80506

Normal (twenty-four hour period): 97192

Two rate meter on one brandish (digital meter)

Some two rate meters have one digital brandish. To view the day and night usage you'll need to press a button to bicycle through the readings.

The readings may be labelled every bit Rate 1 (R1) and Rate 2 (R2). You lot may as well have other rates or readings on the meter which could be the live usage or the total usage.

The rate number and information technology's correlation to day or nighttime depends on how the meter was ready. For case Rate i could mean '24-hour interval' for 1 meter but 'night' for some other.

To figure out which is which, make a annotation of the readings in the morning and see which reading has avant-garde by midday.

Punch meters

Dial meters can be quite disruptive but they're non as well bad once you get used to them.

The dials become around in alternating clockwise and anti-clockwise directions. You read the meter from left to right. Similarly to single rate meters you ignore whatsoever numbers in red.

When the pointer is between 2 numbers, record the lower number. If it's between the 9 and 0, record ix.

When the pointer is directly on a number, first check the side by side dial to the right. If the dial on the correct reads 8 or 9, and so lower the reading for the punch with the pointer direct on the number.

For example the reading for this dial meter would be 60168.

How do you read a gas meter?

Gas meters wait similar to electricity meters and tin can exist read in the same way. You lot can identify the types of meter by the units. Gas meters are always in 'm3' or 'ft', although suppliers catechumen this into kWh on your energy bills.

You lot tin multiply past eleven.2 in order to calculate the kWh.

Electricity is e'er in kWh.

To read your gas meter, follow the same instructions every bit those for how to read an electricity meter.

How do you read a smart meter?

If you switch suppliers with a 1st generation smart meter or if your new supplier doesn't work with smart meters yet so you will need to requite the meter readings to your supplier. The meter will no longer be able to automatically transport meter readings to the supplier, but you will be able to manually take downwards meter readings from your smart meter!

Smart meters with a Keypad

Press 9 on the keypad to run across your reading.

Your electricity reading will be followed by 'kWh' and your gas reading will be a number followed past 'm3'.

Similarly to standard meters, ignore the numbers after the decimal point.

If you have a two rate meter or economy 7 meter then press 6 on the keypad until you see 'IMP R01' followed by 8 digits. This is your get-go reading.

For you lot second reading printing 6 again until you see 'IMP R02' followed by 8 digits.

The readings can besides be listed as Rate 1 and Charge per unit 2, or Charge per unit 1 and Rate iv. To find out which is day and night, record which number advances during the day/night.

Smart meters with a Light-green push labelled 'A'

Press the green push button until you see 'Total Act Import'. A reading should appear followed by 'kWh'.

For 2 charge per unit meters or Economic system vii meters your meter will have a '01' and a '02' reading, which you'll discover by pressing the 'A' button. You should record both numbers.

Smart meters with 'A' and 'B' buttons

Press the 'A' push button until you see 'Credit On', then press it over again to testify 'Meter Index', and again to show your readings. Call back not to include any numbers after the decimal point.

Meter readings for electricity will bear witness in 'kWh', for gas readings it will be in 'm3'.

Smart meters with no buttons

The screen will cycle through the readings. The number starting with 'R1' is your electricity reading.

How to read a prepayment meter

To go your electricity usage on a prepayment meter, printing the blue button to cycle through the screens. Each screen is labelled with a letter. To find your meter reading you need to cycle to screen 'H'.

If you pay different rates for day and night then these will be on screen 'H' and 'J'.

To see your gas reading press the cherry-red button or the 'A' button and bicycle through to the 'meter index' screen. This is your gas usage.

What practice my meter readings hateful?

Meter readings tell energy suppliers how much gas and electricity you are using. If you don't give your supplier meter readings they will estimate your usage.

You unremarkably end upward paying too much or too little on estimated usage. This means you could be building up credit or slipping into dept accordingly.

If you're in credit, great! You tin reduce your monthly payments and put the extra money dorsum in your pocket.

If you're in debit you lot could be striking with a steep payment increase and be prevented from switching supplier. Safe to say, it's better to pay for your exact usage past giving meter readings.

The energy regulator, Ofgem, has classified usage into a low, medium or high (this is what Look After My Bills use if y'all gauge your usage with us). They calculate these figures from the median usage of dual fuel customers paying direct debit.

Do you know if you lot're a low, medium or loftier user?

What are energy rates and how do they bear upon the price of my energy beak?

Energy rates are the defining factor in energy tariffs or deals. Therefore the rates are what yous apply to compare energy tariffs and deals to make certain you're not paying over the odds for your energy.

There can be two energy rates applied to your energy bills. Beginning there is a daily cost chosen the standing charge. This is not affected past how much energy yous utilise. Secondly there is the price of the unit rate per kWh which is applied to you usage.

24 hour energy usage (kWh) x unit of measurement rate cost per kWh + daily standing charge = the toll yous pay

At that place are two types of tariff:

A fixed rate tariff that fixes the rates for a flow of time, ordinarily one twelvemonth. Fixed tariffs are normally the cheapest deals on the market.

Whereas a variable tariff can vary because it reacts to wholesale energy costs. This means your costs are likely to go up and downwardly. Supplier standard tariffs are variable and are ordinarily the most expensive tariff you tin can be on.

The standard tariff is what suppliers roll you lot on to one time your fixed term deal ends. It'south vital to switch free energy tariff each year to avert paying the extra costs. This is why motorcar-switching services have become so popular in the last few years because information technology's all done for you lot.

How do you know if your free energy rates are expensive?

The most expensive rates are for the standard variable tariff, all the same suppliers requite these tariffs different names then they are non always easy to spot on your bill.

For example someone who uses a small-scale amount of free energy, only is on their suppliers standard variable tariff could be paying more than than a medium user on a great stock-still energy deal.

One indication is whether you accept get out fees on your bill because standard variable tariffs do not have go out fees.

You can also compare your free energy rates on a recent nib with the rates of inexpensive deal on comparison websites.

If you don't want the fuss, another mode to know whether y'all have expensive rates is to sign up to a service who volition check for you.

Our service, Look Later on My Bills, finds yous a great energy rates and we manage the switch procedure every year. As a upshot y'all'll ever be on a cheap tariff and yous don't have to lift a finger! Detect out how it works.

How to go a proficient deal

If you compare the market place and have moved to a fixed energy deal in the last 12-eighteen months and so yous're probably on a decent bargain. Yous should set a reminder for when the deal ends though to avoid being rolled to the standard variable tariff.

If you haven't inverse your energy deal in the last 12-18 months then it'due south highly probable y'all are on your suppliers standard variable tariff – the most expensive.

The only style to ensure you're on a good deal every year is to compare the market and switch every fourth dimension your deal ends.

There are four ways to switch energy supplier, but the most of import affair to remember is that y'all need to stay on top of switching.

We found switching energy supplier each year was hard to go on upward with. So we created a solution. Our service does all the comparing for you! With i, free, ii infinitesimal sign up to Look After My Bills we find you the best available bargain and switch you to it every year!

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Source: https://lookaftermybills.com/blog/meter-readings/