User Manual

Datamatic, LTD. System Training Manual Version 06.09.09

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Confidential Datamatic, Ltd. 2009

Reading an Electric or Gas Meter

Following are some basic rules on how to read “clock style” electric or gas meter indexes. Each of the

four or five dials on the meter represents one digit of the present reading. The dials move both

clockwise and counter-clockwise. When the hand of one of the dials is between numbers, always take

the smaller number. For example:

Residential Electric meter example

6 3 7 2

This reading would be 46372. To tell if a hand is past a number or not, look at the dial to the right. If

the dial to the right has passed zero, then the hand is pointing to the correct number. If the dial to the

right has not passed zero, then use the next smaller number.

Residential Gas Meter example

6 3 9 2

This reading would be 6392. The second digit is a three because the digit to the right has not yet passed

zero. If the second dial from the right was between zero and one (or past the zero), then the third digit

would have been a four.

To practice, go outside a home or business and record the readings for several days in a row. By

subtracting yesterday's reading from today's reading, you can get a feel for how much energy (kilowatt

hours for electric) or gas is used each day.

When a power or gas company representative reads a meter, they do not set it back to zero. Therefore,

the dials keep turning until the next time the meter is read. By subtracting two consecutive readings, the

amount of consumption is determined for the month. Utilities check to confirm that the readings each

month fall within an expected range. If a reading is significantly lower or higher than expected, the

meter reader can be alerted and confirm the reading is correct. This helps ensure bills are accurate each

month.