Reading a meter is similar to reading a clock. Each dial has 10 numbers and a pointer. The pointer turns only when the gas or electricity is being used.

How to Read Your Electric Meter

Record the numbers as indicated by the pointer on the dial. If the pointer is between two numbers, record the smaller number. (The only exception is if the pointer is between 0 and 9, then the number recorded is 9.) If the pointer appears to be directly on a number, check the dial immediately to the right. The pointer on that dial must have reached or passed zero before the higher number can be recorded. If the dial to the right has not passed zero, record the smaller number from the dial on the left. The meter above reads 6982.

Your electric meter measures the amount of electricity you use in kilowatt hours (kWh). It has four to five dials. Reading your own meter can help you monitor your monthly energy use. After they are read each month, meters are not reset to zero - the readings are cumulative. If the meter shown above had read 6482 a month earlier, you would have used 500 kWh during the month.

How to Read Your Gas Meter

Your gas meter measures the amount of gas you use in hundreds of cubic feet (ccf). Gas meters may have two rows of dials. To read the meter, look at the top row of dials. The meter shown above reads 2710. If the meter read 2610 last month, you would have used 100 ccf of gas.

If your meter has an odometer-type dial like the one above, simply read the numbers from left to right.