How to Read Your Meters

Reading Electric Meters

Locating Your Meter

If there are several meters on the wall, yours will be labeled with the Meter Number as seen on your bill.  Before you can read your meter, you have to find it. Use the following tips to locate your meter.

• The meter is usually near the main fuse box or panel of circuit breakers.
• The meter is usually on the outside of the house or apartment building.
• The meter is usually about 5 feet above ground level.
• The meter has a round glass bowl covering four or five small dials that look like tiny clocks.
• If there are several meters on the wall, yours will be labeled with the Meter Number in the Electricity Usage Section of your bill.

Some meters have four dials and some have five, but the method used to read them both is the same. Older meters have "clock" hands that take some practice to read correctly, but newer meters use "odometer" style dials that can be read directly. 

Reading Your Meter

Automated Meter Read (AMR) meters (pictured at left) are now the standard for new and replacement meters at homes, apartments and condominium complexes in Pasadena. The meters transmit a radio signal that automatically transfers billing data to handheld receivers our meter readers carry on their routes. These meters allow PWP to collect billing data much more quickly and accurately. To read an AMR meter, simply read the Solid State Digital readout in the center of the meter. To determine usage for the current billing period, subtract the meter reading on the previous bill from the current meter reading.

If your meter has 4 or 5 round dials

numbered clockwise from 1 to 0,

 follow these steps.

• Pointers indicate the reading on each dial.
• The pointers rotate in alternating directions (see example below).

1. Starting with the dial on the right and proceeding to the left, record the numbers indicated.

• If a pointer is between two numbers, record the LOWER number.
• If a pointer is directly on a number, check if the pointer on the dial to the right has moved past zero. If it has NOT passed zero, record the lower number from the original dial.

2. Congratulations! The 4- or 5-digit number (depending on the number of dials on your meter) you've just recorded is your new meter reading.  In the example above, the four dial reads 9045 and the five dial reads 97616.

3. To determine how much electricity (measured in kilowatt-hours, or kWh) you've used since your meter was read last, subtract the previous meter reading (from the usage section of your bill) from your new meter reading.

For example:

The meter below reads 26064, as follows: