Meter Reading

Your meter tells PSNH how much electricity you use each month, and it can do the same for you. Here's how:

Locate your meter
It's covered by a glass bowl with four or five small dials that look like small clocks. It's usually on an outside wall about five feet off the ground. Still can't find it? If your electricity comes from a utility pole, follow the wire from the pole to the building, and then follow the wire down the wall. The meter is usually located in a box at the end of that wire.

Read your meter
Notice on the two illustrations below that some hands turn clockwise and others move counterclockwise. To get the reading, read the dials from right to left. Remember, each dial must revolve one full cycle (1 through 10) before the dial to its left moves one full number. Record the number on each dial that the hand has just passed which is the lowest number.

You can see from the dial hands on the illustrated meter that the January reading was 7235 KWh Kilowatt-hours, and the February reading was 7890 KWh.


Subtract the January reading from the February reading. The difference is 655, which means that 655 (kilowatt-hours) were used during that period. A meter register may have a multiplier of 10, as in the case of some space-heating customers. Therefore, the difference between readings must be multiplied by this factor. This multiplier is clearly marked on the face of the meter register.

Now that you know how to read your own meter, you'll begin to learn how you use electricity and more important, how to save.

When Do We Read Your Meter?
View the PSNH Meter Read Schedule (PDF File Format 12KB)