Test your Gas Meter

ianjohnson80

Is it possible to do something yourself?

Since having a new meter installed my consumption has more than doubled even though I have made a effort to limit use of the gas.


Any ideas??

space_rider

Generally the older the meter the less units it records. To test the meter just turn off all your gas appliances and if the units do not go up then you know there is nothing wrong with the meter. I only put my water on for 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening and that is plenty of hot water for myself and my 4 girls. I do have a dishwasher but the water is still hot enough to have a shower and wash hair before bed.

Blue76

Is it possible that you had an imperial meter before which has now been changed for a metric meter? If this is the case your metric meter will use 2.83 more units for the same level of gas usage that was recorded through your previous meter.

ianjohnson80

SR I have a Combi Boiler and so only heat water when required. The heating has hardly been on in the past 3 months but still a very high cons.

Blue76 How would i know if the old meter was imperial and the new metric?

not using any gas and the meter is not moving.

Cardew

ianjohnson80 wrote: »

SR I have a Combi Boiler and so only heat water when required. The heating has hardly been on in the past 3 months but still a very high cons.

Blue76 How would i know if the old meter was imperial and the new metric?

not using any gas and the meter is not moving.

Your new meter will be Metric and each gas unit will be approx 11 kWh.

Look at an old bill. If it was an Imperial meter(a gas unit is 100 cubic feet) each gas unit is approx 31 kWh. e.g. 200 gas units = approx 6,200kWh

ianjohnson80

Thanks....will take a look on a bill asap

Magentasue

Is that true about older meters recording fewer units?

If so, could it be that your new meter is accurate and the old one wasn't? How much are you using?

ianjohnson80

looked through my bills for the past 2 years and put them in to excel to look for trends and found that my average usage over the 2 years is 82.29kwh.

However between the epriod 22.09.08 and 26.03.08 I was using on average 211.27kwh.

This then dropped down to 97.49 kwh over the next 84 days and now averaging 39.23 over the past 89 days.

I have no idea why I was using so much over winter when I was averaging 60-70 kwh the previous year.

Will keep a weekly log going forward to monitor.

Thanks for everyones help.

Gareth56

Why should an older meter record fewer units?

Cardew

ianjohnson80 wrote: »

looked through my bills for the past 2 years and put them in to excel to look for trends and found that my average usage over the 2 years is 82.29kwh.

However between the epriod 22.09.08 and 26.03.08 I was using on average 211.27kwh.

This then dropped down to 97.49 kwh over the next 84 days and now averaging 39.23 over the past 89 days.

I have no idea why I was using so much over winter when I was averaging 60-70 kwh the previous year.

Will keep a weekly log going forward to monitor.

Thanks for everyones help.

Something is wrong with your figures or your bills.

In 6 months at 211kWh a day last winter you have used 40,000kWh - double the UK average for a year!!

I think it is probable that you are being charged for an Imperial gas meter when you have got a Metric meter fitted.

Have you checked your meter? - all new ones are Metric and will have M3 on the dial(cubic metres).

Then check your bill and make sure that each gas unit is approx 11 kWh.

It is quite common for an Imperial meter to be changed for a metric meter and the Utility company not to be informed, so they go on charging you for 2.83 times more kWhs than you should be charged.

Let us know.

Cardew

Gareth56 wrote: »

Why should an older meter record fewer units?

The measuring on a gas meter is essentially by a vane that is turned by the incoming gas.

The theory is that in old meters the vane does not spin so easily and thus under-reads.

I have no idea if this is true, but it seems to be plausible.