Units consumed
Definition. Units consumed is the number of kilowatt-hours billed for the cycle, calculated as the present meter reading minus the previous reading, multiplied by the meter's multiplying factor.
Also called: Units · kWh consumed · Consumption · یونٹ
Where you see it: In the reading block, to the right of the present and previous readings, and again as the multiplier in the tariff calculation below it.
The calculation, in full
Units = (present reading − previous reading) × multiplying factor. For an ordinary single-phase domestic meter the multiplying factor is 1, so the subtraction is the whole story.
This is the only figure on the bill you can independently check by walking to the meter. Every rupee below it is derived from it, so an error here propagates through the entire calculation.
What a unit actually buys
One unit is one kilowatt-hour: a 1,000-watt load running for one hour. A 1.5-ton inverter air conditioner drawing about 1,200 watts in steady state burns roughly 1.2 units an hour. A 60-watt ceiling fan needs sixteen hours to burn one.
Written that way the bill stops being mysterious. A household on 600 units a month is running about 20 units a day, and in a Pakistani summer almost all of that difference from a 200-unit winter is cooling.
Why units and rupees do not move together
A 10 per cent rise in units rarely produces a 10 per cent rise in the amount. Slab pricing means the extra units are charged at the highest rate you have reached, and crossing a slab boundary re-prices earlier units too.
Fuel price adjustment and quarterly adjustments are also per-unit, so they scale with consumption independently of the base tariff.
A worked cycle
- Present reading: 48,310
- Previous reading: 47,915
- Difference: 395
- Multiplying factor: 1
- Units consumed: 395 kWh
395 units puts an unprotected domestic consumer in the 301–400 slab, so the marginal unit is priced well above the first hundred.
Frequently asked questions
My meter shows a lower reading than the bill says. Which is right?
Check the date. The bill quotes the reading taken on the reading date, and your meter has been running since. If the bill's present reading is higher than what the meter shows today, that is a genuine error and grounds for a reading correction.
Do I pay for units used during a power cut?
No. The meter only advances while current flows. Load shedding reduces your units, which is why a heavily load-shed month can look cheaper than a neighbouring feeder's.
Related terms
- Meter reading — How to read a Pakistani electricity meter correctly, which digits to ignore, and how to check the reading printed on your bill against the device on your wall.
- Multiplying factor — Why some meters record a fraction of real consumption on purpose, how the multiplying factor corrects for it, and the billing damage a wrong factor does.
- Kilowatt-hour — The difference between a kilowatt and a kilowatt-hour, why appliance labels quote watts but bills quote units, and how to convert between them.
- Slab rate — How to read the slab table printed on the back of your bill, which slab your units land in, and the difference between marginal and re-priced slab billing.
Go further
Back to the full 44-term glossary, or open your own bill with the reference number lookup.