If you have been finding it difficult to read your electricity meter, you are not alone. Many people aren’t even aware of what the readings on the meter exactly tell us. You can always learn and upgrade your knowledge about reading meters and their interpretation to ensure your electricity company charges you the right bill for the units you have consumed.
To ensure this, knowing how to read the electricity meter is an important thing to do. And this is what we’ll cover in this article.
Different Meter Types:
Broadly, your meters can be divided into two types, i.e., analogue and digital. The analogue meters have dials on them, while the digital meters show the numbers directly, doing reading and interpreting a lot easier.
Also Read: Information about smart meters
This article presents a complete guide to read through whatever type of electric meter you have. Let’s start:
Working of the analogue meter:
Also known as the dial meter, the analogue meter has 4-6 dials. They are impacted by turning off the electrical disk present at the center. The thing moving the central disk is the electricity passing through it. The more electricity passes through it, the higher the reading will be. Also, the reading on this dial is in Kilowatt hours.
This unit for measuring electricity is huge. This is why you might not see much movement at this dial.
What are the other dials on the analogue meter?
These dials are to be read from left to right. Write down the numbers in order on a sheet of paper. In case the arrow of the dial is in between two numbers, you must take the smaller number. If the arrow is precisely on a particular number, you must look at the dial towards the right. If the indicator on the right has passed zero, the reading on the left dial is the same number it is pointing to. But if the arrow hasn’t crossed zero, the dial in question will be read for a number lower than the arrow pointing towards.
Also Read: How fast does the electricity travel?
How to calculate the electricity used?
As many electricity companies do not reset the data after each payment. So, to calculate the amount of KW electricity used every month, you’ll have to subtract the current readings from the previous ones. Besides, another thing to look for is the exact way your electricity company records the reading. Some companies might round off the data while others take the exact number as the final one to bill the electricity consumers.
The more accurate information you’ll have, the closer your electricity bill estimates will be.
Also Read: Things to know about a Generator
Working of a digital meter:
The working of a digital meter is similar to backend data recording of the analogue meter but reading a digital meter is a lot simpler than the analogue one.
A digital meter has the entire reading shown on the meter as numbers. This reading is usually shared with the billing company through wireless. So, a meter reader doesn’t have to come to your place to get the reading.
Even in the digital meters, the data is not reset every month, so you’ll have to calculate the month’s electricity usage by subtracting the current month’s reading from the previous month.
Also Read: Benefits of a Smart Electricity Meter
Summing up
Reading an electric meter is not tricky. You must know the basics, which will let you calculate the electricity consumed per month. However, if you need help, you can always contact a professional electrician.
