W W W. P O W E R S AV E R . C A
For your safety, have your
home’s wiring inspected
P O W E R S AV E R
Electricity Meter
and Meter Reading
HYDRO ONE NETWORKS
What does your
electricity meter read?
W W W. P O W E R S AV E R . C A
Is my meter reliable?
When your home was built, the entire electrical installation
was inspected for compliance with the Electrical Safety
Electricity use is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh).
Code. If you plan to change or add to your electrical wiring
Your meter registers usage by multiplying the
system, you must have another electrical inspection
done. Contact the Electrical Safety Authority at
wattage of a product by the number of hours it’s
ww.esasafe.com or call them at 1-877-372-7233
in use. For example:
A 100-watt incandescent light bulb X 10 hours
of use = 1,000 watt-hours, or 1 kilowatt-hour
?
For more energy efficiency information
100
x 10
1
visit www.PowerSaver.ca or,
Printed on recycled paper
© Copyright 2004 Hydro One Networks Inc.
45KE 12/04
The Office of Energy Efficiency of Natural Resources Canada
Web site at www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca
The Ontario Ministry of Energy Web site at
www.energy.gov.on.ca
w
hours
kWh
Yes, it is.
How to reach us
On average, an Ontario household uses about
Before installation, all meters must meet stringent accuracy
Web:
www.HydroOneNetworks.com
900 kWh of electricity per month. By following
requirements set by Measurement Canada, an agency of
Call:
Customer Communications Centre
(Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET)
1-888-664-9376
energy-efficient practices, you may be able to save
Industry Canada. Once installed, meters are periodically
50 kWh of electricity on your bill. That would be
checked by Hydro One to ensure they continue to give
enough electricity to run your dishwasher 20 times.
accurate readings.
Power Outages and Emergencies
(24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
1-800-434-1235
Fax:
1-888-625-4401
Mail:
Hydro One Networks Inc.
P.O. Box 5700
Markham, Ontario L3R 1C8
Bringing Power to the People of Ontario
Know how your meter works and how to read it.
· How does your meter work?
· How to read your meter
· Keeping an electricity log
If you saved 100 kWh, that’s equal to 50 loads in
your clothes washer!
Meter readings are used to calculate your bill. When you
send in your meter reading we update our billing system.
Meter readings can be submitted online using the self service
section on our Web site, by phone at 1-888-664-9376, or by
mailing in the meter reading card left by our meter reader.
HYDRO ONE NETWORKS
W W W. P O W E R S AV E R . C A
How to read your meter
HYDRO ONE NETWORKS
Multiplier
Small dial
W W W. P O W E R S AV E R . C A
Keeping an Electricity Log
All Energy Periods – 28 Days
(Four 7-Day Weeks) kWh reading from meter
An electricity meter is a precision instrument
that records the amount of electricity used in
your home. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is 1,000
watts of electricity used in one hour. That’s
Start
Multiplier
Week1
= (20x10)
Week2
= (38x10)
equivalent to the power required to light a
Week3
= (20x10)
100-watt light bulb for 10 hours, or to operate
Week4
= (18x10)
4
a standard 5,000-watt electric clothes dryer
3
2
1
kWh used
Total Energy for 1st period
Electricity Use Index = Total Electricity = 960 = 34 kWh/day
28 days
28
for approximately 12 minutes. The average
Hydro One customer household uses about
DIAL 4:
DIAL 3:
DIAL 2:
DIAL 1:
900 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month.
Records thousands
of kilowatt-hours
records hundreds
of kilowatt-hours
records tens of
kilowatt-hours
records single
kilowatt-hours
*Note: The multiplier factor used in this example is 10.
Reading your electricity meter weekly for a year and
logging the numbers in a meter log such as the one
shown here, will give you a better understanding of how your
household uses electricity.
1
Electricity meters usually have four or five main dials.
Meters are fairly simple to read by following
Please keep in mind the following important
If your meter has four main dials, it records thousands of
the steps described here.
points so that your reading will be correct.
kilowatt-hours. You’ll see the words “mult x 10” on the
Read the dials from right to left and write down the
· Some of the pointers rotate clockwise, others counter-clockwise.
face of your meter — that means when you calculate
figures in the same order. Don’t worry about the very
your usage, you multiply the reading by 10.
small dial. It’s a test dial to verify the correct reading
· When the dial pointer is between two numbers, read the smaller
of the two.
of dial #1– you don’t need to read or record it. In the
If your meter has five main dials, it records tens of thou-
example above, the pointer has started a new revolution
sands of kilowatt-hours, and you don’t have to multiply
and the correct reading of dial #1 is 5.
(i.e. it has a multiplier of 1). If your meter has a different
multiplier, it will be noted on the face of the meter. Keep
in mind, that some meters have different multipliers.
?
Ask for our other energy-saving
brochures or visit www.PowerSaver.ca
for more information.
· When the dial pointer rests almost squarely on the number, as it
does on dial #4, the dial to the immediate right will determine
which number you record.
· On dial #3, the pointer is between 9 and 0, indicating the pointer
has not yet completed a full revolution. This means that the correct
reading for dial #4 is 8. (If the pointer on dial #3 had gone past
0, indicating the completion of a full revolution, the reading for
dial #4 would have been 9.)
· As in the drawing, read the dials from right to left: the first number
to record is 5, the second is 2, the third is 9, and the fourth is 8,
for a total reading of 8,925.
Read the meter as outlined in the previous page and
enter the readings in the chart above, beside “Start.”
At the end of the week, read the meter again and enter the
figures beside Week 1. Subtract the two to get your use for
that week. If your meter has a multiplier of one, the difference
between the Start and Week 1 will be your weekly kWh use.
If your meter has a multiplier of 10 your readings must be
multiplied by 10 when you calculate the kilowatt-hours used.
2
Continue taking the readings for four weeks and
then add them together to get the total kWh used
during that period.
3
Over a period of time, you will see how your electricity
usage can be affected by the weather or by changes
in the way your household runs.
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