How do I read my gas, electricity and water meters?

Submitting your own readings is what stops estimated billing, which is the single most common cause of a surprise bill. The only tricky part is dial meters, which are read in a way that is not obvious.

What you'll need

• Torch
• Phone camera (optional)

Step by step

1. Find your meters and note where they are.Under stairs, in a hallway cupboard, in an external box, or in a communal area. The water meter is often in the pavement outside.
2. For a digital display, read left to right.Ignore any digits after a decimal point and any shown in red — those are decimal fractions and are not part of the reading.
3. For a dial meter, read each dial from left to right.Note the number each pointer has passed. Adjacent dials rotate in opposite directions, so check which way each one is numbered.
4. Take the lower number when a pointer sits between two digits.Always the lower, except between 9 and 0, where you take 9. This is the rule people most often get wrong.
5. Ignore any dial marked in red or labelled as a test dial.They are for testing and are not part of the meter reading.
6. For an economy meter with two rates, record both.Usually marked as low or night rate and normal or day rate. Submitting only one causes billing problems.
7. Photograph the meter with the reading visible.It is proof of the reading and its date if a bill is ever disputed, and it takes two seconds.
8. Submit readings regularly, even with a smart meter.Smart meters occasionally lose their connection and revert to estimates without saying so. A quarterly manual check catches it.

Tips

• Take a reading whenever you move in or out of a property, and photograph it. It is the single most useful defence against a disputed final bill.
• Take a reading before and after a price change so the supplier bills each period at the correct rate rather than estimating the split.
• If a bill seems far too high, take a reading immediately and compare it with the one on the bill. Estimates can be wildly wrong.

Common mistakes

• Including the red digits in the reading — They are decimal fractions and including them overstates the reading by a factor of ten or more.
• Rounding a dial pointer up — You always take the lower number the pointer has passed, except between 9 and 0. Rounding up overstates usage.
• Never checking a smart meter's readings — They can lose connection and revert to estimates silently. A quarterly manual check catches it before the bill does.

Questions people ask