Did you know you can read your own electric and natural gas meters? The purpose is not to simply satisfy your curiosity, but to help you monitor your electricity use and appreciate energy savings. Here’s what you need to know about reading electric, natural gas and digital meters.
When reading electric meters, you must first understand how you are billed. If you consume 1,000 watts (a kilowatt) in an hour, you have consumed one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity. This is the measurement by which you are billed. When you look at your electric meter on the side of your home, you will see a clock-like device. When power is drawn into your home from power lines, gears in the mechanism turn and show the amount of energy consumed on the dial. Record the numbers on the dial from right to left each month to see the amount of electricity you are consuming.
Natural gas meters show your consumption of gas as a measurement MCF, or thousands of cubic feet. You may also be billed in Therms, which is 100 cubic feet. This measurement is also referred to as CCF. The mechanics of a natural gas meter are the same as with an electric meter. When reading this gauge, however, record the numbers on the dials from left to right, which is the opposite of the electric meter. You’ll notice that the hands on adjacent natural gas meters move in opposite directions.
Digital meters replace analog dials in some homes. Reading these kinds of dials is simple — like reading the numbers on a digital clock instead of learning to tell time from a clock with rotating hands. The numbers you read are in kWh for electricity and either MCF or CCF for natural gas.
If monthly information is what you require, your utility bill should provide you with all the information you need. To fully benefit from energy savings, you will need to run energy-efficient HVAC systems. Contact Hansberger Refrigeration and Electric Company for new equipment that could save you substantially. We’ve been proudly serving Southwest Arizona since 1952.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information, click here to download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Hansberger Refrigeration & Electric Co services the Yuma area in Arizona. To get started, check out our website.
