You may have a number of different meters installed for each of the services at your property.

It’s worth noting that the customer usually doesn’t own the meter—it’s owned by the electricity or gas distributor or the water corporation.

The old style meter most of us will be familiar with is the analogue meter, which has been used in the electricity and gas (and water) industries for a long time. It has a spinning disk and a row of figures that keeps adding up usage—like a car’s odometer. The meter reading data on the bill can be compared to what the meter is showing. If your property is supplied with peak and off-peak electricity, there may be multiple meters and a time-switch.