Understanding Your Electrical Meter

    Where power lines enter your house, you'll find an electric meter, which looks like a large glass jar with a bunch of wheels and dials inside. Inside the electric meter, four or five dials measure kilowatt hours—the units of electricity you're billed for.                                                                                                                                                                 

A kilowatt hour is equal to 1000 watt hours, the amount of energy it would take to light ten 100-watt light bulbs for one hour. Each month a utility company representative records the dial readings. The previous month's reading is subtracted from the current month's to come up with the usage that appears on your bill. If you know how to read an electric meter, you can do the same thing. This can be helpful in tracking energy costs or checking the accuracy of your bills.
Read an electric meter from right to left, jotting down the number each pointer has passed or is pointing to. Note in the illustration that the numbers circle the dials alternately clockwise and counterclockwise. Don't let this confuse you.