How to Read Your Net Meter (Registers #5, #6 and #8 Explained)

A bidirectional meter does not show you one number. It cycles through a series of registers, each holding a different running total, and the display moves between them every few seconds.

Once you know which register is which, checking your position takes about a minute.

What a register actually is

Every register is a cumulative lifetime total, not a monthly figure. The number only ever goes up. That is the single most important thing to understand, because it means the reading on the display is not your usage - your usage is the difference between two readings.

Registers are usually labelled on screen with a code, and the display cycles automatically. On many meters you can also step through manually with a button on the front.

The three registers that matter

On the bidirectional meters commonly installed in Pakistan, three registers carry the figures you need:

Register	What it counts	Direction
#8	Off-peak import	Grid → you
#6	Peak import	Grid → you
#5	Off-peak export	You → grid

• Import is electricity you drew from the grid.
• Export is electricity your solar sent back.
• Peak and off-peak are time-of-use windows. Peak is typically the evening demand period, when the tariff is highest.

You will see other registers as the display cycles - total kWh, maximum demand, reactive power, timestamps. For working out your bill you can ignore them.

Register numbering is a convention, not a universal standard. Meters from different manufacturers and in different countries label things differently. If your meter does not match this table, ask your utility for a register map for your model - they have one.

Step 1: Write down all three readings on the same day

Read #8, #6 and #5 in a single session and note the date. Mixing readings taken days apart introduces errors that are hard to spot later.

Photograph the display as it cycles. It is much easier than trying to write down a seven-digit number before the screen changes, and it gives you a dated record.

Ignore anything after the decimal point if your meter shows one - whole units are fine.

Step 2: Find the same figures on your last bill

Your bill prints the readings the utility used at the last billing date. They are usually labelled as previous or present readings, per register.

This is the baseline you subtract from. Using your own reading from last month instead of the billed figure is a common source of mismatch, because your reading date and the utility's almost never coincide.

Step 3: Subtract

For each register:

Units used since the bill = current meter reading − reading on last bill

Do this three times - once for #8, once for #6, once for #5. You now have off-peak import, peak import and export for the period.

Step 4: Work out your net position

Add your imports together, then compare against export:

Net surplus = (Export − any deduction) − (Off-peak import + Peak import) + Previous surplus

• A positive result means you exported more than you imported. That surplus is either banked as credit or purchased, depending on your scheme.
• A negative result is the shortfall you will be billed for.

The deduction is a percentage some utilities apply to export before crediting it, to account for losses or administrative adjustments. If yours does not apply one, enter zero.

Previous surplus is any credit carried forward from the last cycle. Do not forget it - it is the most commonly omitted figure and it directly changes your result.

Our free calculator does all four steps for you: enter the six readings, your deduction and your previous surplus, and it shows the ledger live. Nothing is uploaded - the maths runs in your browser.

The mistakes that produce wrong numbers

Treating the display as your monthly usage. The registers are lifetime totals. You must subtract.

Mixing up peak and off-peak. #6 and #8 are easy to transpose, and because peak units cost more, transposing them distorts your cost estimate significantly even though your total unit count stays the same.

Forgetting the previous surplus. If you carried credit forward and leave it out, your net position looks worse than it is.

Comparing against your own earlier reading instead of the billed reading. Different dates, different period, mismatched result.

Assuming export is credited at your retail rate. This is now wrong in a lot of markets. Under net billing, exports are sold at a separate, lower rate. See net metering vs net billing - and in Pakistan, what changed in 2026.

Reading a meter that has been replaced. If your meter was swapped mid-cycle, the new one starts from a different base. Your utility should handle the transition on the bill, but check it.

Sanity checks

A few quick tests that catch most errors:

• No register should ever decrease. If one has, you either misread a digit or the meter was changed.
• Export should be zero at night and rise during the day. If #5 is climbing after dark, something is wired incorrectly - report it.
• Peak import is usually smaller than off-peak import, because the peak window is shorter. A peak figure larger than off-peak is worth investigating.
• Compare month to month. A sudden change of more than about 30% with no change in habits or weather usually means a misreading rather than a real shift.

Reading your meter more often than monthly

Taking a reading weekly, or even at the start and end of a sunny weekend, is a useful habit. It tells you things a monthly figure hides - such as how much your export actually drops when you run heavy appliances in the evening instead of at midday.

That matters more than it used to. In net-billing markets, a unit you consume yourself can be worth three or four times a unit you export, so the pattern of your consumption is now a bigger lever than the size of your array.

Frequently asked questions

My meter shows different register numbers. What now? Register numbering varies by manufacturer and market. Ask your utility for the register map for your meter model, or look for labels like "Import", "Export", "T1"/"T2" on the display.

Can I read the meter through the app my utility provides? Sometimes, and it is worth checking. Where a portal exists it usually gives cleaner data than photographing the display - but confirm the figures match the meter before relying on them.

Why does my calculated figure differ slightly from the bill? Almost always a date mismatch: the utility read the meter on a different day than you did. Small differences are normal. Large ones are worth querying.

Does the meter record how much my panels generated? No. A bidirectional meter only sees what crosses the boundary with the grid. Electricity you generate and consume immediately never passes it. For total generation you need a separate generation meter, or your inverter's own monitoring.