MILLIONS of households will need to act soon to ensure they’re not overcharged on their energy bills.
Brits will need to get a pen ready to take a meter reading before Ofgem‘s January price cap comes into force.
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An updated meter reading will mean your supplier has a more accurate idea of your usage to bill you accurately.
The energy regulator will increase the price cap from £1,834, the lowest figure since March 2022, to £1,928 a year from January 1.
The rise in Ofgem’s price cap will mean a typical household will see their bills hiked by £94 a year.
The price of electricity will rise from 27.35p per kWh to 28.62p per kWh.
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The unit rates for gas will rise from 6.89p per kWh to 7.42p per kWh.
However, sending an updated meter reading to your supplier before this hike comes into force will mean that your supplier has a more accurate idea of your usage and will bill you accurately.
Customers who don’t do this are billed on estimated usage and will likely pay more.
So to make sure you’re billed as accurately as possible you’ll need to send over your readings by December 31 at the very latest.
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Only those without a smart meter need to do this.
Households with smart meters don’t need to send a manual reading because they’re sent to suppliers automatically.
How do I take a meter reading?
If you don’t have a smart meter, your energy supplier will usually require regular readings from your gas and electricity meter to work out how much you should be charged.
Customers who don’t send their suppliers regular readings will have their bills calculated by estimated usage and they will likely pay more – so it is always worth knowing how to send the numbers.
Once you’ve taken a reading, you should be able to submit it in several ways including text message or phone.
You might also be able to submit it online or through your supplier’s app.
It’s best to check with your supplier to see what your options are.
It’s always worth taking a picture of your meter reading when you submit it to your supplier – just in case you need it as evidence for a future dispute.
The way you take a meter reading depends on what type of meter you have – we’ve explained how to take a reading depending on your meter type.
Electricity meters
If you have a digital electricity meter, you will just see a row of six numbers – five in black and one in red.
Take down the five numbers in black and ignore the red number.
If you are on an Economy 7 or 10 tariff which gives you cheaper electricity at night – you will have two rows of numbers, so take both readings down.
If you have a traditional dial meter you will need to read the first five dials from left to right ignoring any red ones.
If the pointer is between two numbers, write down the lower figures and if it is between nine and zero write down the number nine.
If the dial is directly over a number, write down that number and underline it.
If you’ve underlined a number, check the next dial to the right.
If the pointer on that dial is between 9 and 0, reduce the number you’ve underlined by 1.
For example, if you originally wrote down 5, change it to 4.
Gas meters
If you have a digital metric meter showing five numbers and then a decimal place, you only need to write down the first five numbers from left to right.
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If you have a digital imperial meter your meter will read four black numbers and two red numbers – note down the four black numbers only.
If you have a dial gas meter follow the same steps for those with a dial electricity meter but ignore underlining any figures.
