on Aug 21st, 2008How to find and read your Electricity and Gas meters
When you move in to your student property, first thing you’ll have to do is to set yourself up as the new bill payer. This goes for any service your house recieves which are likely to be gas, electricity and water. Some properties may have Sky TV or cable, but this is something you will know about prior to moving in and would have agreed to take this over from the previous tenant. If not, then just assume you have the 3 main utilities listed above.
Now, there are two ways energy companies use for working out how much electricity/gas you have used.
1. They use ‘estimated’ readings. These can be fairly accurate, although if you think you use less than the average for a property of your size, then you may wish to use method 2.
2. The second method is for you to regularly submit your meter readings. This involved you checking your meters every month or quarter, and then informing the companies of your reading. This is of course very accurate as you therefore pay for exactly how much you have used.
If you are money cautious then you will use method 2. If you don’t really care and trust the energy companies to make a fair estimate of your usage then you are fine to use method 1.
Keep in mind that when you vacate the property you will no longer be responsible for the bills occured, therefore you will inform the companies you are leaving. At this point they will ask you for your meter readings from the last day you were in the property. This will then give you a final bill. Of course if you are using method 1 then you can either get a nice suprise that since you’ve been there they’ve been overcharging you and find that your final bill is really small. Or, you could find that they have been undercharging you and find that you have a larger bill to make up for it. Because of this, method 2 and submitting your meter readings is probably the best option.
Water works a little differently as a lot of houses and unmetered and you therefore pay a fixed rate. It is becoming more common though to have a water meter installed, therefore you will also have dealings with these rates.
This guide is focused on electricity and gas meters so we will not be covering water here, but hopefully this will help anyway.
Electricity Meter
When you move in to your property it is likely you will be shown where your electricity meter is located. It is best to make sure you are shown, that way you don’t have to search the house looking for it - therefore it’s a good idea to ask when you move in. Failing that, a lot of properties come with welcome packs which document where everything is in the house and this is likely to tell you.
Failing all of that, a lot of electricity meters are under your stairs - so check there. There’s usually a little cupboard which houses it. If it isn’t there, then your meters may well be outside. They’re usually kept in white boxes attached to the side of the house - so check there if this is the case.
What does an electricity meter look like? Well - click on the image below to see a bigger photo and find out 
This is the electricity meter from my last student house. They all pretty much look like this to be honest. The reading is clearly marked as you can see on the dials towards the top. Just quote this number when ever you need to and you will then be charged for exactly how much you have used. I’d definitely recommend giving regular meter readings just to make sure you are paying for exacty what you use.
Gas Meter
Now, the gas meter is pretty similar to the electricity meter looks wise. However, you are likely to find your gas meter in your kitchen as oposed to under your stairs. Again, ask where it is situated so you can be sure - but if not, check around your kitchen in cupboards, you know you’ve found it when you see it. Failing this, it could be outside in a little box - or one of those white boxes which are quite noticable on the side of the property.
Below is a picture of the gas meter we had in our last property - click the image for a larger one.
So as you can see, it’s pretty similar in appearance. Please excuse how grubby it looks, it was kept in a box outside of the property so spiders likely to lay cobwebs . The unit itself is quite easily recognisable as it usually is marked as a gas meter - and will include a sticker about what to do if you smell a leak etc. Not only that, but you will notice gas pipes going into it - this is different to an electricity meter where you may see a few wires going into it instead. The idea is exactly the same though - take a reading from the number shown on the dials so just take note of this when needed and provide it to your supplier.
Gas and electricity bills will come quarterly, so you will be issued with a bill every 3 months. I was with British gas which did both my electricity and my gas. This is quite common as it’s a lot easier handling the bills from a single company. You can pay monthly by cheque which is quite common, or you can sign up for internet billing.
If you wish, they also do direct debit too which can be charged monthly if you wish - this just means you’ll be billed monthly instead of quarterly. The bills will be smaller, but they will be more frequent which may be preferable for some people.
Well that’s about it, if anyone has any questions then please leave them below and I’ll be sure to reply to them. Hope you found this useful, I’ve written up a load of different guides so if you are interested in reading any more then please click here for a list of all the ones there are on here.
