HOW DO I READ MY ELECTRIC METER PAGE

 

Important – Notice the direction the dial turns – they alternate between clockwise and counter clockwise.
            Far right dial turns clockwise.
            The dial to the left of the far right dial turns counter clockwise.
            The Middle dial turns clockwise, etc.

1. Start with the dial to the far right – read right to left
2. The digit you record is the one that the dial has passed, but not passed the next digit.  For example, the far right dial on the meter above would be read as a ‘7’, it is not an ‘8’ until it passes the number 8.
3. Read the next dial to the left – remember, you are reading right to left
4. The second digit you read is similar to the first – the correct read is the digit the dial has passed.  The above meter would be read as a ‘3’.
5. The second dial would not be read as a ‘4’ until the first dial passed ‘0’.  A common mistake would be to read the second dial as a ‘4’ if the dial was actually passed the ‘4’, however, it is not a ‘4’ until the dial to the right passes ‘0’.
6. Now you are reading the third dial/digit.  Use the dial to the immediate right as the ‘0’ guide.  In our example above, the 3rd dial reads ‘8’.  This is because the dial to the immediate right has passed its ‘0’, thereby pushing the third dial passed ‘8’.
7. The correct read for this meter is  4 4 8 3 7

Last Updated: Tuesday March 10 2009