Falkirk Council

When you move into your new home, you will required to take a gas and electricity meter reading and pass them on to the relevant utility company. 

To identify which utility company supplies the energy to your home, please use the following numbers.

• Electricity – 0845 270 9101
• Gas – 0870 608 1524

Both of these numbers are automated services and you will require to have your postcode.

If you have moved into a newly built property and you do not know the postcode please contact Falkirk Council, Development Services on 01324 504837 or email snn@falkirk.gov.uk|.

What is a meter?

Gas and electricity meters are fitted to the fuel supply in each home so that the supplier (Scottish Gas, Scottish Power etc) can measure how much fuel has been used and therefore how much to charge the customer.

Why is it important to take readings?

In many cases bills are calculated using estimates of consumption. This can result in bills which do not accurately reflect what you have used. Fuel suppliers are only legally obliged to read your meter once every two years so it is sensible to check estimated readings against your meter. If there is a large difference, either higher or lower, providing an actual reading will result in receiving a bill for what you have used and make budgeting easier. One of the main causes of fuel debt is previously underestimated bills.

Different types

There are many different types of meters you may encounter in the home. First of all there will be a meter for each fuel in use i.e. one for gas and one for electricity. These can be located either inside or outside your home.

Gas: This is used to measure the volume of gas passing into your property. This is usually measured in cubic meters (m³) although some older models measure in cubic feet (ft³). However gas is charged in kilowatt-hours (kWh); a formula for the conversion between the two is included in your bill.

Electricity: Measures electricity consumption in KWh. These meters can either have one or two counters. If two counters are in place consumption is measured on two different tariffs; a daytime ‘on-peak/normal’ rate and a cheaper night ‘off-peak/low’ rate. ‘Off-peak’ meters are usually known as ‘Economy 7’ or ‘White Meter’ depending on your fuel supplier.

Whether for gas or electricity a meter will either be,

• Credit: fuel is used and a bill is sent at a later date.
• Pre-payment: fuel is paid for as it is used.

The majority of credit meters are ‘digital’ i.e. a straight row of numbers. However some older types are ‘dial’ these consist of a number of dials to be read in a set order.

Reading credit meters

Digital: All digital meters are read in the same way. For modern gas meters which measure intake in cubic meters (M³) and electric meters read the first five digits. For older gas meters which measure in cubic feet use the first four digits. Read from left to right, including all 'zeros' but ignoring the red number(s) or any number(s) after a decimal point. Next time you read the meter, take the old total away from the new. This will give you the number of units used for the time period in-between.

For example if your meter looks like this (modern gas digital meter), use the first five numbers.

The reading on the example is 32764.

Dial: These have rows of dials/clocks with pointers which move from 0 – 9. Read from right to left. For electricity read the five dials from 10,000 to 1. Ignore the dial marked 1/10 of a unit; this is for testing only. For the following example:  

Always write down the number the pointer has passed, this is not necessarily the nearest number to the pointer (Be careful, as not all the dials go clockwise). So if the pointer is anywhere between for instance 2 and 3 (see dial 4), write down 2.

• If the pointer is directly over the figure i.e. the 8 in dial 5, write down that figure and underline it.
• The sample meter reading shown above will read:
  4 5 9 2 8.
• This reading now requires adjusting to eliminate small variations to the pointer positions. Look at the figures underlined. If one of these is followed in the next dial by a 9, reduce the underlined figure by 1. The correct reading in this example is 44928.
• As with the digital meter, when you've worked out this reading, subtract the previous reading shown on your bill to find the number of electricity units used.

Gas dial meters have mostly been phased out. However if you encounter an imperial (cubic feet) gas dial meter it is read in the same fashion as the instructions above except with only four dials.

Reading prepayment meters

Visual displays are available usually by pressing a button, the display will ‘scroll’ through to show:

This list is not exhaustive and other information may also be displayed depending on the model of meter.