I also have a very basic (inexpensive) light meter and like you, when I bought it, my readings showed up very low. Granted, I was testing the light levels underneath fluorescent lights, which those meters are apparently not that great at measuring. Either way, the readings were showing light output was about 1/4 - 1/2 of recommended minimums for my plants, but I knew that was wrong.
Sometimes just looking at your plants will give you a better idea of whether they're in proper lighting conditions, though the effects might take longer to show up. For instance, despite the low light readings, I could tell that some of my plants were in the high level of their light requirements because they'd develop red pigments/coloration in the leaves, or they were producing light green leaves (yellow/lime colored). Plants that aren't getting enough light may stop growing new leaves or slow way down, and the foliage will become dark green.
I think as others have pointed out, it's fall/winter in the northern hemisphere, you're not only getting a reduced number of hours of natural light, you're also getting reduced strength (generally). But also, the amount of light is going to vary day to day depending on cloud cover and other factors and it's going to vary hour by hour.
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