How to Read Your Gas Meter

Gas meters explained

All gas meters display a single four or five digit number indicating the number of gas units you've used. You can work out how many units you've used by subtracting your previous reading from an up-to-date one. Your supplier converts the number of gas units you've used into kilowatt hours (kWh) and displays this on your gas bill.

A kWh is a measurement of energy based on how much energy one kilowatt of gas produces in an hour.

Digital metric meters

Digital metric gas meters measure gas usage in cubic meters (m3) and usually show 'M' or 'M3'. You read it by:

• Writing down all the numbers before the decimal point, left to right.

• Ignoring any numbers after the decimal point (which may be shown in red).

Digital imperial meters

This is an older style of gas meter that measures gas in cubic feet (ft3). It will usually show the words 'cubic feet' or the letters 'Ft'.

They can be read by:

• Writing down the four numbers from left to right.

• Ignore any numbers shown in red.

Dial meters

This type of gas meter shows a series of clock-style dials with numbers from zero to nine.