Millions of households are being urged to take an energy meter reading next week before the Ofgem price cap rises. The Ofgem price cap is set to increase from £1,717 a year to £1,738 from January 1.
Your bill may be more or less than this, 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.
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, reports the Mirror.
Any red dials can be ignored.
For those with a digital metric meter, it’s only necessary to note down the first five numbers from left to right, disregarding any numbers after the decimal point. If you have a digital imperial meter, just read the four black numbers and ignore the two red ones.
For dial gas meters, the process is similar to that of dial electricity meters, but there’s no need to underline any numbers where the pointer has landed directly on it. If you’re using a smart meter, there’s no need for a meter reading next week as these devices automatically transmit your usage data.