How to Submit Meter Readings to a Supplier

Most suppliers accept a meter reading through several routes: your online account on their website, their mobile app, by phone, and for some suppliers by online chat, email or text¹. As a rule of thumb, submit a reading at least once a month, ideally on the same day of the month each time, and expect most suppliers to require at least one reading a year¹. If you have a smart meter installed and working in smart mode, it sends readings to your supplier automatically and you do not need to submit them yourself².

The reason for submitting readings is simple: a bill based on a real reading is a bill for the energy you actually used. A household that never sends readings will most likely end up with an estimated bill, which can mean over-paying or under-paying³. For a home working towards energy independence, the meter reading is the point where the energy you generate, store and use meets the supplier's accounting: it is the record that keeps the commercial relationship honest.

The routes suppliers accept for your reading

Suppliers generally let you choose between submitting a reading via their website by logging into your account, through their mobile app, by phone, and for some suppliers by online chat, email or text¹. The exact mix varies by company. Octopus, for example, offers a monthly meter reading reminder that works without logging into an account, an online route, an app that can scan the meter with the phone's camera, and email; OVO offers a camera scan in its app, manual submission in the app, the online account, webchat and a phone line¹.

A few practical points sit behind that list. Whichever route you use, keep a note of the reading and the date you submitted it, because that record is what settles any dispute about a bill later. If you have not submitted a reading for a long time, or you are unable to take your own readings, your supplier may send someone to your property to read the meter, and may also visit to check everything is working¹.

Some metering arrangements have their own submission windows. Under the domestic RHI metering rules, for example, readings fall within a four-week period, from one week before the meter reading date and up to three weeks after⁶. If your reading is tied to a scheme rather than an ordinary supply bill, check the deadline that applies to that scheme before you submit.

For households where the meter is awkward to reach, or the householder has sight problems, the supplier should arrange for someone to come out and read it⁷. Suppliers may also be able to give extra help to read or move a meter⁸. If you cannot afford to top up a prepayment meter, your supplier must offer to help, for example by giving extra credit in a vulnerable situation⁹.

When a smart meter does the work for you

A smart meter automatically sends your electricity and gas meter readings to your supplier². Once it is installed and working in smart mode, regular meter readings do not need to be submitted by the household¹⁰. Ofgem puts the same point in its official guidance: with a smart meter, you do not need to submit meter readings yourself, and you get bills based on accurate meter readings and not estimates².

The frequency is not fixed. Automatic readings provide your supplier with monthly, weekly, daily, or even half-hourly readings⁵. Monthly is the minimum, and daily or half-hourly are optional; if you do not make your preferences known, the meter can collect a daily reading⁴. The choice of frequency matters for what the supplier knows about your usage and when, but the default arrangement already removes the monthly chore of reading the meter.

Even with a smart meter installed, you can still provide readings manually if your supplier requests it¹¹. That is not a fallback for normal operation, it is a tool for specific situations: checking usage, resolving an account issue, or covering a period when the meter cannot communicate. The in-home display also shows how much energy you are using during the day, which is a different thing from the readings sent to the supplier².

Getting an electricity meter reading: press 9 or A until IMP or IMPORT appears

On an electricity smart meter, when you reach the correct screen it will flash or include the word IMP or IMPORT, and a number followed by kWh¹². The button you press depends on the meter's design:

• Keypad meters: press 9 and wait for the screen to show IMP KWH, then write down the numbers followed by KWH from left to right, ignoring leading zeros and digits after the decimal point¹¹.
• Meters with A and B buttons: press A, then press A again until you see TOTAL ACT IMPORT and numbers followed by KWH, and write them down from left to right¹¹.
• Meters with three buttons to the right of the screen: press the middle button and write down the number below IMP, from left to right¹¹.
• Meters with a green A button to the right of the screen and a white B button below: press the white B button to light up the screen, wait for the meter boost prompt, press A to select no, and the reading appears followed by KWH¹¹.
• Meters with two buttons to the right of the screen, one saying reconnect: press the display or display select button repeatedly until numbers followed by KWH appear¹¹.

Homes with solar panels or other generation may have an import and export meter. On a keypad version, press 9 three times: IMP Units shows the total import units, and the reading after Exp Units is the export reading¹³. On a version with a blue button, the default display shows a small 0 followed by five numbers, which are the import reading; press the blue button repeatedly until the display shows a small 5 followed by five numbers, which are the export reading¹³. On a meter with a red and black button, do not push the buttons while the meter alternates between displays, as it shows each reading for about 10 seconds¹³.

For a fuller walkthrough of each meter type, see how to read an electricity meter, and for smart meters specifically, how to get a reading from a smart meter.

Reading a gas meter: look for VOLUME or METER INDEX and a number in M3

On a gas smart meter, the screen will flash or show the word VOLUME or METER INDEX, and a number followed by M3¹². As with electricity, the button depends on the model:

• Meters with A and B buttons: press the A button until METER INDEX appears on the screen; the numbers next to m3 are the reading¹⁴.
• Meters with a keypad: press 9, see VOLUME on the screen, and wait until it changes to numbers followed by M3¹⁴.
• Meters with a button to the left and right of the screen: press either button and wait until you see 01 with numbers followed by M3¹⁴.

Most gas smart meters show the reading as numbers followed by m3¹⁴. Older gas meters split into two types. Most gas meters are metric, show readings in cubic metres (m3) and have five numbers to read; imperial gas meters, including dial and some analogue meters, show readings in cubic feet (ft3) and have four numbers to read¹⁵. On standard gas meters generally, you need the first 4 or 5 numbers⁷.

The unit matters because the supplier converts gas units to kWh before billing, and the conversion differs between metric and imperial meters. If you want to check a gas bill yourself, see converting gas units to kWh, and for the older meter types, how to read a gas meter.

The numbers to record and the ones to disregard

The rules are consistent across independent guidance, whatever the meter type. On a smart meter, write the numbers down left to right, ignore any zeros at the beginning, and ignore any numbers after the decimal point; on electricity meters, look for numbers followed by kWh¹¹. On a digital metric meter, write down the numbers before the decimal point and ignore everything else³. On a digital imperial meter, write down the first four numbers and ignore the numbers in red³. On a two-rate digital meter, note down the numbers before the red number and ignore the red number itself³.

For standard digital electricity meters, make a note of the first five figures and ignore the last figure if it begins with 0.1¹⁶. On a standard meter generally, take a reading of five black numbers from left to right, ignoring any red numbers¹⁶. For electricity meters, read the first five numbers and ignore any red numbers after the decimal point or comma¹².

Dial meters need more care, because each dial is read from the position of a pointer:

• Read the first five dials from left to right and ignore any red dials or dials marked 1/10⁸.
• If the pointer is between two numbers, write down the lower number; if it is between 9 and 0, write down 9⁸.
• If a pointer is directly over a number, underline it and reduce it by 1 if the next dial to the right is between 9 and 0⁸.
• For gas dial meters, read the first four dials from left to right, ignore the large dials or red dials, and write down the number the pointer is directly over⁸.
• An alternative phrasing of the same method: start with the dial on the left, write down the number the pointer has just gone past, and check the next dial to the right when a pointer is directly over a number¹².
• On dial meters generally, read the dials from left to right and disregard dials without numbers or hands⁷.

If a dial lands awkwardly between 9 and 0, see what to do when a gas meter dial is between 9 and 0. For the full process of capturing a reading, see how to take a meter reading.

Why certain meters display several readings, including Economy 7

Some electricity smart meters show separate readings for day and night tariffs, Economy 7 pricing, and peak and off-peak usage¹¹. This is not a fault or a duplicated display: the household is on a tariff that charges different rates at different times, and the meter records the two periods separately so the supplier can bill each at its own rate.

An Economy 7 meter displays two readings: one for on-peak hours, which could be marked as normal or day, and one for off-peak hours, marked low or night¹². They may be shown as Rate 1 and Rate 2, or R1 and R2¹². On digital and prepayment meters you can usually access each reading by pressing a button on the meter⁷. The daytime or on-peak reading should either be the top one, marked as normal or day, or the default display; the night-time or off-peak reading is the bottom one, marked low or night⁷.

When submitting, give the supplier both readings, not just one. A supplier billing an Economy 7 tariff needs the day figure and the night figure to calculate the bill correctly; sending only one leaves the other period estimated. Two-rate metering is also relevant beyond Economy 7: one of the benefits of a smart meter is access to more flexible tariffs, including dual-rate tariffs². Whether a two-rate tariff saves money depends on when the household uses electricity, a question covered in is Economy 7 worth it if you use electricity at night?.

Situations where you must still read the meter yourself

Even with a smart meter, there are times when a manual reading is needed. The situations independent guidance lists are: switching supplier; the meter temporarily losing its connection; monitoring energy use more closely; changed meter settings; switching supplier with a SMETS1 meter; and a supplier confirming recent usage¹¹.

The switching case deserves its own explanation. Older SMETS1 meters could temporarily go dumb and lose their ability to send automatic meter readings after a switch of energy supplier¹⁷. More generally, you can switch suppliers if you have a smart meter, but the new supplier might not offer all the smart meter services such as remote meter readings, and the meter may need replacing¹⁸. If your supplier goes out of business, Ofgem's advice is to take a meter reading as soon as you can and keep a record of it, to make sure you are billed correctly by the new supplier; your meter may not work in smart mode when you move to the new supplier, and you may need to take readings manually and submit them to the new supplier instead. The meter may work in smart mode again if you change tariffs or suppliers¹⁹.

A lost connection is the other common case. If the meter cannot communicate via the designated wireless network, the supplier may ask for a temporary manual meter reading so that bills remain accurate until the problem is resolved²⁰. Smart meters can also fail in ways that affect readings: a smart meter may stop recording the energy you use, or may no longer send readings to your supplier². If you suspect the meter itself is at fault, see how to report a faulty or inaccurate meter. For the switching process end to end, see how to switch energy supplier, and for the day you move home, whether you need meter readings when moving home.

Following submission: estimated bills and their correction

Once a supplier has a real reading, the bill is based on accurate meter readings and not estimates². That is the whole point of submitting. Where readings are missing, the supplier falls back on estimates, and a household on a standard meter that does not send readings will most likely end up with an estimated bill, meaning over-paying or under-paying³.

One correction is worth knowing in advance: the first bill you receive after having a smart meter installed may still be estimated, so check it rather than assuming it reflects a real reading. If estimated bills continue after that, contact your supplier²⁰.

Where a reading is missed under a scheme with fixed submission windows, the catch-up is blunt rather than subtle: the reading is submitted three months later and payment for the previous six months is made in one payment⁶. That is the domestic RHI arrangement, but it illustrates the general principle, that a missing reading does not disappear, it accumulates and lands later.

For households that cannot get to the meter at all, suppliers might be able to give extra help to read or move it⁸. If the meter is not accessible, for example if it is awkward to reach or you have sight problems, the supplier should arrange for someone to come out and read it for you⁷. If a bill looks wrong and the supplier will not fix it, the route is the complaints process, covered in how to complain about an energy supplier.

How the DCC network works without Wi-Fi

Sending a meter reading does not require an internet connection, because smart meters work using the DCC's secure, standalone network⁵. You do not need home Wi-Fi, broadband, a router or an internet package for a smart meter to send readings¹⁰. The readings are transmitted from the home to a wide area network made up of mobile phone or radio masts²¹. The secure smart data network is solely for smart meters and does not use the internet¹⁰.

This matters for independence in both directions. On one side, the metering link does not depend on the household's own broadband, so a reading gets through even if the home has no internet at all, and the system was designed with top cyber security experts, including the government and GCHQ²⁰. On the other side, the household does not own this link: it is a closed, dedicated communications system run by the DCC, and more than 1,500,000 meters sit on it²². If it fails, the household cannot repair it, only report it and fall back on manual readings.

The payoff is accuracy. With smart meters, energy suppliers get accurate and reliable readings automatically over the DCC network, which enables billing only for energy used²³. Government guidance states the same expectation from the consumer side: meter readings should be sent automatically by your smart meter to your energy supplier²⁴.

Two further points of context. Smart meters are free from your supplier, with no upfront charge⁵, and you have the right to refuse one if you do not want it; energy companies have been asked by the government to take all reasonable steps to install smart meters in homes, and a supplier may be able to set up a meter to work in dumb mode, with all communications switched off⁴. All UK households are expected to have been offered a smart meter by the end of 2030³. For the wider picture of what a household can control and what it cannot, see taking more control of your home's energy.