Residential Electric Meter
On a dial meter there are five dials, numbered 0 through 9, with the 0 at the top. You’ll notice that the numbers go around the face clockwise on some dials, but counterclockwise on every other dial.
- Read the dials from left to right.
- When the pointer lies between two numbers, record the smaller number.
- If the pointer is directly on a number, look at the dial to its immediate right.
- If that pointer has not passed zero, write down the smaller number.
Subtract the previous reading from the new reading, and you will know how many kilowatt hours you have used.

This meter is reading 81384.
Residential Water Meter
Your residential water meter has only one dial. The dial has a sweep hand which measures water usage in gallons. One complete revolution equals ten gallons of water used. The odometer-type register in the middle of the dial registers the hundreds of gallons used.
To read the meter, record the numbers from the odometer-type register. Since the odometer registers in hundreds of gallons you do not record the last two numbers. (The last number is a permanent number and the next dial registers tenths.) The remaining dials register the actual (in hundreds) water used.
Subtract the previous reading from the new reading and you will know how many hundreds of gallons of water you have used.

This meter is reading 3692.
Residential Gas Meter
On your residential gas meter there are five or six dials, depending upon the type of meter you have. Your gas consumption is determined by the top four dials. You will notice that the numbers will go clockwise on some dials, but counterclockwise on every other dial.
The dial readings should be read from left to right.
If the pointer is in between two numbers, record the smaller number.
Subtract the previous reading from the new reading, and you will know how many hundreds of cubic feet of natural gas you have used.

The meter is reading 8149.