Meter reading guide: how to read your gas or electricity meter

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Electricity meter reading guide

Overview

Choose your meter from the list below. If you’re not sure, most people have a Standard (24 Hour) or Day/Night meter so that’s a good place to start. 

Standard (24 hour) Meter

Standard meters are the most common, and have one row of numbers.

To read your meter: 

  1. Read the numbers from left to right, including any zeros

  2. Ignore any numbers after the decimal point or in red. If your meter does not have a decimal point, read all numbers, including any zeros.

    E.g. The reading for this meter would be 05812.

Standard (24 hour) electricity meter

Tip: Ignore numbers in red 

Day/Night Meter

Day/Night Meters have two rows of numbers to separately record the electricity you use during both day and night. These rows may be labelled as Day and Night, or 1/I (Night) and 2/II (Day).

To read your meter:

  1. For each row, read the numbers from left to right, including any zeros

  2. Ignore any numbers after the decimal point or in red. If your meter does not have a decimal point, read all numbers, including any zeros.

    E.g., The day reading for this meter is 12763, and the night reading is 07759.

day night electric meter

Tip: Ignore numbers in red 

Wattless meter

Wattless meters may look like Standard (24 Hour) or Day/Night meters, but they have kVArh instead of kWh as the units.

To read your meter:

  1. Read the numbers from left to right, including any zeros

  2. Ignore any numbers after the decimal point or in red. If your meter does not have a decimal point, read all numbers, including any zeros.

    E.g., The reading for this meter would be 05812. 

Standard (24 hour) electricity meter

Tip: Ignore numbers in red 

Digital meter

Digital Meters have an electronic display which changes every 9 seconds. You may also have a 'Scroll' button which allows you to manually change the screens.

The way you read your Digital Meter depends on whether you pay a single (24 hour) rate or different rates for day and night. This can be found on your previous bill under 'Usage Details' and 'Description'.

To read your meter (Single or 24 hour rate): 

  1. Scroll or wait until your digital meter shows the following screen:

    standard or 24hr digital electric meter

    E.g. The reading for this meter would be 0005812

  2. Write down the numbers from left to right, including any zeros
  3. Ignore any numbers after the decimal point. If your meter does not have a decimal point, read all numbers, including any zeros.

To read your meter (Day/Night rates):

  1. For your Day Reading, scroll or wait until your meter shows the following screen:

    electric digital meter - day

    E.g. The day reading would be 0012763

  2. For your Night Reading, scroll or wait until your meter shows the following screen:

    electric digital meter - night

    E.g. The night reading would be 0007759 

  • Write down both numbers for Day and Night from left to right, including any zeros
  • Ignore any numbers after the decimal point. If your meter does not have a decimal point, read all numbers, including any zeros.

How to submit your electricity meter reading

How to submit your electricity meter reading

  • Online: Login to My SSE Airtricity
  • Phone: Call ESB Networks on 1800 337 777 with your MPRN number
  • SMS: Text ESB Networks on 087 960 9223^ with your MPRN number

Can’t see your meter?

Contact us if your meter doesn’t match any of the ones above. 

Meter box locked?

If you can’t access your meter, you can request a meter key online by sending us your email address and SSE Airtricity account number. Once we receive your details we'll send you a free meter key within 7 days.

Smart Meter

The digital display screen on your new smart meter shows your current meter reading in Kilowatts per hour (kWh). To read the new meter, note the figures on the screen before "kWh" from left to right and include all digits.

To read your meter:

  1. Read the numbers from left to right, including any zeros (As shown in the image below highlighted in the red rectangle)
  2. Ignore any numbers after the decimal point. If your meter does not have a decimal point, read all numbers, including any zeros.
Smart Meter Read

Initially, the meter will continue to be read manually by ESB Networks. From 2021 onwards it will be read automatically.

To manually submit your meter read you will need to have your 11-digit MPRN number to hand. This can be found on your electricity supply bill and always starts with ’10’.

Visit YouTube for a video demonstration from ESB Networks which can be found under the heading of Smart meter.