Reading Electric Meters

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Monitor home energy use by learning how to read your electric meter: record the values shown by each dial from right to left; if the pointer lies between two digits, choose the smaller. Subtract the result from the reading for a day or a month later and you get the energy consumption for that period of time. Multiply this value by the cost of a kilowatt-hour in your city to calculate your bill before taxes. (Some of the newer meters are all digital.)