How to take a meter reading for gas or electricity

Bills are set to increase massively from tomorrow, October 1, with people being urged to take a reading of their gas and electricity before the price hike.

From Saturday, the government's energy price freeze of £2,500 will come into effect. With the price freeze coming into place, people will pay less on their bills than originally expected - however, it is still a significant rise from last winter's bills.

While those with a smart meter will not have to do anything, everyone on a standard meter is advised to give proof to their supplier of how much energy they used under the old pricing to avoid paying extra costs. However, there are a wide variety of meters being used across households in the UK and it can sometimes be difficult to figure out how to take a meter reading.

Read more: Martin Lewis issues important energy price guarantee clarification to 'stop confusion'

Fortunately, Citizens Advice has a full guide on how to use all the different kinds of meters for gas and electricity. Here's everything you need to know.

A digital meter has an electronic or digital display. It will show 5 numbers in black or white and might be followed by 1 or more red numbers.

To read the meter:

If you get cheaper electricity at certain times, you might have a two-rate (or ‘dual-rate’) meter. This means it will have 2 rows of numbers.

The top row (labelled ‘low’ or ‘night’) shows how many units of cheaper electricity you’ve used.

The bottom row (labelled ‘normal’ or ‘day’) shows how many units of standard-price electricity you’ve used.

To read the meter:

Some two rate (or ‘dual rate’) meters only have 1 digital display. They will either flash up the different rate readings in a cycle or have a button that you need to press to make the