- 1). Locate your kilowatt meter. See the picture above for an idea of what a standard meter looks like. It will always be on the outside of your home or apartment, so the power company can easily access it. If you live in an apartment building or townhouse, all the meters may be located in a single location. Ask your property manager for information on exactly which meter belongs to your individual apartment.
- 2). Determine what kind of kilowatt meter you have. According to SRP, an Arizona-based utility, there are two main types of kilowatt meters in use today. If you live in an older building, you probably have a dial meter that uses a series of dials to record power use. Newer buildings may have a digital kilowatt meter. This type of meter--much like a digital clock--simply shows the power use on a digital screen.
- 3
This dial meter has five separate dials, meaning it will give an output of five digits.electric meter image by palms from Fotolia.com
Record the numbers displayed on your kilowatt meter. If you have a digital meter, this step is as simple as copying the numbers shown on the digital display (usually four or five digits). If you have a dial meter, this step is more complicated. Your meter will most likely have four individual dials, each with the numbers zero through nine. Reading the dials from left to right, record the number the arrow is pointing to on each dial. WE Energies, a Wisconsin-based utility, says if the arrow is between two numbers, users should record the lower number (zero is lower than one, but nine is lower than zero). - 4). Locate your most recent bill from your power company. Compare the number you recorded off your kilowatt meter to the one estimated by the power company. If your number is substantially lower than the power company's estimate, you may have been overcharged. Energy Right Solutions, a division of the Tennessee Valley Authority, urges consumers to use this number to help set energy-usage goals from month to month.
- 5). Contact the power company and give them the number you found on your kilowatt meter. They may take your information at face value and give you a credit to your bill, or they may send a meter reader out to check your meter again.
