How to read your smart gas meter

This advice applies to Scotland. See advice for See advice for England, See advice for Northern Ireland, See advice for Wales

You don’t normally need to read your smart meter. Smart meters normally send readings to your supplier automatically - this is known as ‘smart mode’. You can check if your smart meter should work in smart mode.

You might need to read your smart meter in some situations, for example if:

  • you’ve just switched supplier - you normally need to send the first meter reading yourself


  • you switch supplier and they say they can’t connect to your meter - this can happen if you’ve got an older smart meter


  • you want to check your meter reading - for example, to see how it’s changed recently


Call your supplier to give them the reading - or check if you can submit one on their website or app.

If you can’t get to your meter, your energy supplier might be able to give you extra help to read or move your meter. You can check if you can get extra help from your energy supplier.

Check your meter - not your smart energy monitor

When you get a smart meter installed, you'll also normally get a small and portable device with a screen on it. This is called a ‘smart energy monitor’ or an ‘in-home display’ (IHD) - it either plugs into a socket or runs on batteries.

It can be easy to confuse your smart meter with your IHD.

You can check how to use the IHD for your smart meter.

Example An in-home display on a table with two chairs. It has a plug lead attached to it.

An example in-home display (IHD).

You might be able to take a reading from the IHD but it’s best to take one from the meter itself. The meter will be fixed to a wall or board - it’s usually somewhere like a kitchen cupboard or a box on a wall outside your home.

Example A smart meter attached to a board on a wall. There are 2 buttons on the right side of a small screen, one above the other - they are marked 'A' and 'B'. The screen shows 5 numbers on a single row.

An example smart meter. 

Reading your smart gas meter

The way you take a reading from a smart gas meter depends on the type of meter you have.

If your meter has A and B buttons under the screen

Example A gas smart meter with buttons under a screen. The buttons are marked 'A' and 'B'. The A button is red. The screen says 'METER INDEX' on the top row and '0000256.3 M3' on the bottom row.

If the number on the display is 0000256.3, the meter reading is 256.

To read the meter:

  1. Press the A button

  2. Press the A button again until you see ‘METER INDEX’ and numbers followed by ‘M3’

  3. Write down the number from left to right

  4. Ignore any zeroes at the beginning and any numbers after the decimal point

If your meter has 3 square red buttons

Example A gas smart meter with 3 square red buttons in a row under a screen. The buttons are marked 'A', 'B' and 'C'. The screen says '000135.658 M3'.

If the number on the display is 000135.658, the meter reading is 135.

The 3 red buttons on your meter might say ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’.

To read the meter:

  1. Press the left button - it might say ‘A’

  2. Write down the number from left to right

  3. Ignore any zeroes at the beginning and any numbers after the decimal point if there is one

If your meter has a circle button and two arrow buttons

Example A gas smart meter with a circular button and 2 arrow buttons below a screen. The screen says '00063.236 M3'.

If the number on the display is 00063.236, the meter reading is 63.

To read the meter:

  1. Press the middle circle button

  2. Write down the number from left to right

  3. Ignore any zeroes at the beginning and any numbers after the decimal point if there is one

If your meter has a keypad

Example A gas smart meter with a screen. To the right of the screen is a keypad with buttons for the numbers '0' to '9', as well as 'A' and 'B'. The screen says '00063.5' on the top row and 'M3' on the row below.

If the number on the display is 00063.5, the meter reading is 63.

To read the meter:

  1. Press 9 - you’ll see ‘VOLUME’ on the screen

  2. Wait until it changes - you’ll see numbers followed by ‘M3’

  3. Write down the number from left to right

  4. Ignore any zeroes at the beginning and any numbers after the decimal point if there is one

If your meter has orange and blue arrow buttons

Example A gas smart meter with an orange arrow button pointing up and a blue arrow button pointing down, both to the right of a screen. The screen says '000135.658 M3'.

If the number on the display is 000135.658, the meter reading is 135.

To read the meter:

  1. Press the orange button once or more until you see a number followed by‘M3’

  2. Write down the number from left to right

  3. Ignore any zeroes at the beginning and any numbers after the decimal point if there is one

If your meter has two white buttons to the right of the screen

Example An EDMI gas smart meter with 2 white buttons to the right of a screen. The screen says '000135.658 M3'.

If the number on the display is 000135.658, the meter reading is 135.

Your meter should have ‘EDMI’ printed on it.

To read the meter:

  1. Press the right button - it might be labelled 'OK' or have an arrow on it

  2. Write down the number from left to right

  3. Ignore any zeroes at the beginning and any numbers after the decimal point if there is one

If your meter has a button to the left and right of the screen

Example A G4 GWi gas smart meter with a white button on the left and right of a screen. The screen says '01 12345.678 M3'.

If the number on the display is 12345.678, the meter reading is.12345.

Your meter should have ‘G4’ and ‘GWi’ printed on it.

To read the meter:

  1. Press the button on the right of the screen to wake your meter

  2. Press the same button once or more until you see a number followed by ‘M3’

  3. There might be a number such as 01 or 02 on the left of the screen - ignore this number, it’s not part of the reading

  4. Write down the number from left to right

  5. Ignore any zeroes at the beginning and any numbers after the decimal point

If you can't find your meter on this page

Check your meter says ‘M3’ after the reading. If it says 'KWH' it's an electricity meter.

If you're not sure if it's a smart meter, it might be a standard meter instead. Check how to read a standard gas meter.

If you also need to read a smart electricity meter

Find out how to read your smart electricity meter.