Reading Electricity Meters

This is an introduction to reading electricity and gas meters.

Older meters have a row of four or five dials (today many are digital). These dials are read left to right. Look at the meter face below. On the dial on the far right the numbers and the hand go around just as they do on a clock. But on the dial next to it the numbers and the hand go around the opposite direction or counterclockwise. Whether the numbers go clockwise or counterclockwise, when the hand is between numbers it is indicating the number which is less. 

However, if the hand is directly on a number, check the dial to the right. If the dial to the right is past 0, then the hand on the dial to the left is indicating the number it appears to be on. If the dial is not yet past 0, then the hand is indicating the number before the one it appears to be on. 

In some areas, utilities may have different rules for reading the last dial. The meter-person may be instructed to put down whichever number the hand is closest to, or the highest of the two numbers the hand is closest to. Do you know the rule in your area?

(NOTE: Some meters are marked "K-10" or "K-20." This means that, instead of reading kilowatt-hours, the meter reads tens (or twenties) of kilowatt-hours. If your meter has such a marking, you must multiply the reading by 10 (or, if the meter is marked "K-20," multiply by 20).

This meter reads 4351 kWh.

Here is an electric meter to practice with. Enter one digit per box.