How to Read your Business Energy Meters & Submit a Reading?

Energy meters play a vital role by providing you with a clear understanding of your energy usage, allowing you to manage your business expenditures effectively. This insight offers you the opportunity to reduce your business energy bills.

There are a variety of meter options to choose from, and the choice depends on your specific business requirements. Some of the most common meters include:

Standard Meters

Many homes and businesses in the UK opt for standard electricity meters. These meters display your energy usage in kilowatt-hours (kWh) using a mechanical display.

To take a reading, simply note down the black numbers on the display, reading from left to right.

Smart Meters

Smart meters are advanced devices that provide insights into your energy usage, including when and how you use the most energy.

Some smart meters automatically communicate this information with your energy supplier, eliminating the need for intermediaries. This way, you’re billed only for the energy you use.

Dial Meters

Dial meters indicate your consumption through rotating dials on the meter when energy consumption increases. Some energy providers accept monthly dial meter readings, allowing you to closely monitor your energy usage.

Digital Meters

Digital meters also measure electricity consumption, with some featuring a rotating mechanism similar to dial meters. However, instead of displaying dials, they provide a numerical reading based on your energy usage.

Another type of digital meter employs a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) to show the reading of a manual meter on a digital screen.

Economy 7 and Economy 10 Meters

If your goal is to conserve energy and use it during off-peak hours, consider Economy 7 and Economy 10 tariffs for your business. These are sometimes referred to as variable-rate meters.

Economy 7 tariffs offer discounted electricity for seven hours during the night, while Economy 10 tariffs provide the same night-time hours and three discounted daytime hours.

It’s essential to adhere to the designated timeframes to avoid increased costs.

Pre-payment Meters

Pre-payment meters, often known as ‘pay-as-you-go’ tariffs, offer exactly what the name suggests—you pay for energy in advance. Most pre-payment tariffs require you to top up your account using a card, app, or key.

Digital pre-payment meters typically display the remaining credit on their screens, ensuring you know when to top up.

So, how do you go about reading your energy meter and providing the necessary numbers to your supplier for accurate billing? Let’s delve into how the type of actual meter readings you have can impact the process.

Smart Meters

If you have a smart energy meter and your supplier requests manual meter readings, it might be due to the inability of older smart meters to provide automated readings. You can typically transmit your smart meter readings directly to your supplier through their app. However, they often send email reminders when it’s time to take a reading.

Electricity Meters

For business electricity meters, your current reading is displayed digitally. Follow these steps:

1. Read your meter display from left to right.
2. Disregard any numbers in red and anything following a decimal point or space.
3. Transmit the number to your supplier through their app, email, or phone.

Economy 7 & Domestic Meters

If you’re on these tariff types, your meter displays two distinct figures—one for energy consumed during ‘normal’ hours and another for energy used during cheaper periods. You must provide both readings to your supplier.

With an Economy 7 or Domestic meter, you’ll see two rows labelled ‘Low’ and ‘Normal.’ Reading the meter is akin to reading a standard digital electricity meter, ensuring you submit both readings to your supplier.

Gas Meters

Business gas meters may be imperial or metric. An imperial meter comprises four primary numbers, while a metric meter has five. To obtain your imperial reading:

1. Read the first four numbers from left to right.
2. Include any leading zeros but omit any red numbers or those following a red number.

It’s worth noting that if your meter reaches 9,999, it will automatically reset to zero for recording purposes.

To obtain your metric reading, follow these steps:

1. Read the initial five numbers from left to right.
2. Include any leading zeros, but disregard any numbers occurring after a space or decimal point.

Unlike an imperial reading, which resets at 9,999, your digital metric meter itself will reset when it reaches 99,999 and then commence recording from zero once more.

Meter readings help your energy provider understand how much energy your business is using. If you don’t provide them with the latest reading, they’ll have to guess, and this estimate can often be higher than what you used. So, it’s a good idea to share your readings regularly to make sure your bills are as precise as they can be.

You have several options for submitting your meter reading, although some suppliers may have preferred methods. Typically, you can provide your manual meter reading through your supplier’s website, their dedicated app, over the phone, or automatically if you have a smart meter installed.

You can set up your energy meter, but first, get approval from your supplier and your landlord if you rent your business space. Ensure that the person installing it is qualified to avoid risks. For gas meters, ensure the installer is a certified gas-safe engineer. Explore our guide for more on business energy and gas meter installations.

At Utility Bidder, we’re dedicated to helping you save money on your business energy bills and providing valuable tips. Our friendly team is here to compare energy tariffs on your behalf if you’re considering switching gas and electricity suppliers.

Utility Bidder is your solution to saving time, reducing hassles, and streamlining essential business tasks. We specialize in comparing business gas and electricity rates..Get in touch to discover how we can support your business further.