UK households are being encouraged to take an energy meter reading next week before the Ofgem price cap increases. The Ofgem price cap is set to rise from £1,717 a year to £1,738 from January 1.
Your bill may vary depending on your energy usage – this figure is for the typical household who pays by direct debit. However, if you’re covered by the price cap and don’t have a smart meter, it’s crucial that you take a meter reading on December 31.
This ensures you’re not mistakenly charged higher rates for energy used prior to the price cap update. For most standard electricity meters, you need to record the first five numbers shown from left to right, ignoring any red numbers , reports the Mirror.
If your meter has two rows of numbers, both readings will need to be noted down. If you have a dial electricity meter, each dial will turn in the opposite direction to the one before – ensure you check which way they are going before taking a reading.
Citizens Advice advises that if the pointer is between two numbers, note down the lower number, or if it’s between nine and zero, write down nine. If the pointer is directly over a number, jot that number down and underline it – then, check the dial to the right and if the pointer on that dial is between nine and zero, reduce the number you’ve underlined by one.
Any red dials can be ignored. For those with a digital metric meter, you only need to jot down the first five numbers from left to right, ignoring any numbers after the decimal point. If you have a digital imperial meter, simply read the four black numbers and disregard the two red ones.
For dial gas meters, the process is akin to that of dial electricity meters, but there’s no requirement to underline any numbers where the pointer has landed directly on it. If you’re utilising a smart meter, there’s no need for a meter reading next week as these gadgets automatically send your usage data.