The electric meter installed in your home is a precision device. It accurately measures your use of electric energy in terms of kilowatt-hours. Your meter is factory tested, CEPALCO tested, and retested and sealed by the Energy Regulatory Commission. Test instruments of high accuracy, which are tested and calibrated annually by the Energy Regulatory Commission, are used to test your meter to make sure that the registration is accurate.


There are two basic types of electric meters. The "Window-type" meter provides a present reading which when deducted in a previous reading will readily give the kilowatt-hour consumption for the period covered by the two readings. The greater number of electric meters used however are the "dial-type" meters. How to read this type of meter is illustrated below:


The meter has minimum of four dials, numbered from one to ten. Electricity flowing through the meter moves the hands, measuring the kilowatt-hours of electricity you use.





In reading a meter, stand directly in front of it. Starting from the rightmost dial, write down the smaller number which the hand or pointer on the dial has just passed. For example, if the pointer is between "2" and "3", as shown on the right-hand dial (see illustration), you record the smaller number "2". Set down, in the same right-to-left order, the number you have read from the other dials. You will see that the figure is 5382. When the pointer is directly on a number, for example "5", read it as 5 if the pointer of the next dial on the right has pass its zero point. But read it as 4 if the pointer of the next dial is approaching the zero point. By subtracting the meter reading shown on your last bill from this reading, you get the number of kilowatt-hours used since the last billing date. You will also know how much you have saved on electricity