Enrichment · Passion Projects

Read the meter.
Check the bill.

Log a start and end reading for each meter and the log works out how much you used and how much a day, compares it with the last period and with the bill, and tells you when an estimated bill is off or the water meter moves with every tap shut.

Log a readingWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Passion projects kit, $39 for 34 items.

Meter periods

The worked example is a made-up household: two periods of electric readings during the first cold snap, and a water bill that was estimated high, with a leak test that moved. Readings save on this device only.

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What you get

Enrichment · Passion Projects$5

What you finish with
A record per meter per period with the unit, start and end dates and readings, whether the bill reading was actual or estimated, the bill’s usage and an optional leak test; use and use per day worked out; flags for readings that run backward, a bill that differs from your readings, and a leak test that moved; latest use per day by meter and the change from the last period.
Who it is for
Students doing a home energy or water project, families watching their bills, and renters checking a bill before they pay it.
Format
Browser log with a saved record per period. Prints a period, the whole log or a blank reading sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Passion projects kit ($39) and the Enrichment Suite pass ($119), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Passion Projects space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Find each meter and note the unit printed on it.
  2. Read it on the same day each month, and take a photo.
  3. Enter the start and end readings; use per day appears in the list.
  4. When the bill arrives, enter its usage and whether the reading was estimated.
  5. For water, run the two-hour leak test once a season.

Log a reading

How to read a dial meter

Reading a dial meter0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678942431Left to right; between two numbers, take the lower one.Dials alternate direction. This one reads 42431.Reading a dial meter0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678942431Left to right; take the lower number.This one reads 42431.
Many meters are digital now, but dial meters are still common. Take a photo of the meter when you read it, so you can check later.

Estimated bills

When the utility cannot read a meter, it bills an estimate and corrects it later. If your own reading shows less, send it to the utility; most accept customer readings by phone or online. Either way, the next actual reading settles the difference.

Leaks

The EPA’s WaterSense program estimates that household leaks waste about 10,000 gallons a year in an average home, and that many come from running toilets and dripping faucets. A meter that moves while no water is used is the simplest leak test there is.

Sources

  1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, WaterSense. Fix a Leak Week and How to Find a Leak (epa.gov/watersense).
  2. U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Saver. Reading Your Electric Meter and Estimating Appliance and Home Electronic Energy Use (energy.gov/energysaver).
  3. U.S. Energy Information Administration. Use of Energy Explained: Energy Use in Homes (eia.gov).
  4. U.S. Energy Information Administration. Natural Gas Explained: Units, therms and CCF (eia.gov).

The worked example is made up. Do not open or tamper with a meter; read it from outside. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.