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Meters and Measurements
Electricity meters record units (kilowatt-hours). A kilowatt-hour is the electricity needed to burn ten 100-watt
light bulbs for one hour. There are a number of different types of meter. Some meters have four dials, some have
five dials and some may even have six dials on the face of a meter. Each dial has 10 numbers and a pointer. Every
other dial is numbered counterclockwise. The hands of the dials move in the same direction as the counting order
of the numbers from 0 to 9. Ignore dials that are red, or don't have a pointer or that have no numbers marked on
the dial. If the meter has digital numbers, use those as your reading. This common meter type is explained below.
Here’s how to do it:
- Read the dials from right to left. Read the first dial clockwise, the second dial
counterclockwise, and continue to alternate from dial to dial
- Dial one must make a full revolution before dial two can move one space.
- Write down the number that the pointer has just passed (always the lowest number),
not the number that it is moving towards.
- Important Note: If the pointer appears to be directly on a number, the only way to
be sure it has reached that number is whether the dial to the right has completed its revolution or
passed zero. Since the first dial has no dial to its right, the number must be read independently.
- If that dial’s hand (the one to the right) has just passed 0, write down the number that the left
dial is pointing to.
- If that dial’s hand (the one to the right) has not passed 0, write down the last number that
the dial on the left has passed.
- Be sure to write the numbers down from left to right!
- Just like the odometer of a car, the register turns over after the last dial on your meter has
completed a full revolution (100,000 kilowatt-hours on a five-dial meter).
Each time the meter turns over (a full revolution), a “1” must be added in front of the
next reading in order to compute the number of kilowatt-hours used.
Determining Usage
- To determine usage for the month, subtract the previous month’s reading from this month’s reading.
The resulting number is the kilowatt-hours registered on the meter since the last meter reading.
- Meters are read once a month. Because of weekend, holidays or the length of the month, the total
days between each meter reading may vary. This is why it’s possible for monthly usage to increase or decrease from
previous billing periods even though the average daily usage remains the same.
Example of Meter Reading
- Far Left: The pointer has passed 1, and is between 1 and 2.
Read the smaller number, which is 1.
- Second from Left: The pointer has passed 7, and is between 7 and 8.
Read the smaller number, which is 7.
- Center: The pointer has passed 5, and is between 5 and 6.
Read the smaller number, which is 5.
- Second from Right: This pointer has just passed 9, and is between 9 and 0.
Read as 9.
- Far Right: The pointer is directly on number 2. Read as 2.
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