WITH the cost-of-living crisis tightening its grip on households across the country, many Scots are looking for ways to save money.
And with the energy price cap set to rise to £2500 from October 1, getting a meter reading now is one of the simplest and easiest ways of doing that.
Suppliers of your gas and electricity need regular readings of the meters in your home to estimate the cost of your bills – if you don’t do this they will estimate your bills, which could cost you more depending on how much energy you use.
People with a smart meter may not have to take a reading, as it usually sends updates to your supplier automatically.
Here’s how to take a reading of your energy bills.
How do I take an electricity meter reading?
Digital display meters
Many electric meters have a digital display with five numbers shown in black and white, sometimes followed by a number in red. You must take a note of the first five numbers and ignore the ones in red.
Some meters have a dual rate display, which shows two different five-digit numbers. Some of these only have a single display which either alternately shows the numbers in a cycle or has a button you need to press to show them separately.
It is important to make sure you record both numbers to take your reading properly.
Dial display meters
Some electricity meters have a display with five dials, each with an arm that points to a number between zero and ninje.
The arm of each dial turns in the opposite direction to the ones next to it. It is important to check whether the arm of each dial turns clockwise or anti-clockwise.
Read the first four dials from left to right, ignoring the larger or red dials.
If the pointer is between two numbers, take a note of the lower number. If the arm is pointing between zero and nine, right down nine.
Taking the number from each dial, from left to right, you should have a four digit number that is your meter reading.
How do I take a gas meter reading?
There are different types of gas meters – digital metric, digital imperial and dial meter.
To take a reading from a digital metric meter, take a note of the first five digits shown from left to right on the display. You can ignore any of the numbers after the decimal point.
Similar to an electric dial meter, for a gas dial meter reading you need to read the first four dials from left to right – if one of the arms on the dial is pointing between two numbers, write down the lower one. You don’t need to take note of large or red dials.
For a digital imperial meter, take a note of the first four numbers. You don’t need to document digits shown in red.
For both gas and electric meters it is advisable to take pictures to supplement your reading as proof to provide to your supplier.
Why is it so important to take a reading now?
With energy bills set to skyrocket due to the energy price cap rise, families have been urged to take a note of their meters now before prices skyrocket.
Money saving expert Martin Lewis has advised people not to panic and that it is not essential to take a reading on or before October 1, as long as you take one around that time.
He added: “With prices rising for most on October 1, unless you’ve a working smart or prepayment meter, it’s useful to feed in an updated meter reading around that date to avoid discrepancies over what you used before or after prices rose.”
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