The Ofgem price cap is rising from £1,717 a year to £1,738 – and if you don’t have a smart meter, you’ll need to send an energy meter reading
Millions of households should take an energy meter reading next week before the Ofgem price cap increases.
The Ofgem price cap is rising from £1,717 a year to £1,738 from January 1. Your bill can be more or less than this, depending on how much energy you use – this figure is for the typical household who pays by direct debit. But if you’re covered by the price cap, and you don’t have a smart meter, then it is important you take a meter reading on December 31.
This is so you’re not accidentally charged higher rates for energy used before the price cap update. For most standard electricity meters, you need to record the first five numbers shown from left to right. You can ignore any red numbers.
If your meter has two rows of numbers, you will need to write down both readings. If you have a dial electricity meter, the direction of each dial will turn in the opposite direction to the one before – make sure you check which way they are going before you take a reading.
Citizens Advice says if the pointer is between two numbers, write down the lower number, or if it is between nine and zero, write down nine. If the pointer is directly over a number, write 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. You can ignore any red dials.
If you have a digital metric meter, you only need to write down the first five numbers from left to right – you can ignore the numbers after the decimal point. For a digital imperial meter, you only need to read the four black numbers – ignore the two red numbers.
If you have a dial gas meter, the steps are the same as those with a dial electricity meter, but you don’t need to underline any numbers where the pointer has landed directly on it. If you have a smart meter, you shouldn’t need to do a meter reading next week, as these devices automatically send out your usage data for you.
