pre paid gas meters

shopaholic777

hiya, i have a tenant that is on a pre paid gas meter with british gas. She has rang me to say that she is using a lot of gas (£20 in the last six days although she does not have the heating on a lot). She has rang British gas who tell her that there is nothing wrong with the meter, even though they haven't physically checked it. British gas will not talk to me as i'm not the customer so I was wondering if anyone out there can give me pointers as to who or what i can do to help this tenant.

molerat

The meter may be set to recover debt. She needs to check how many kWh she is using, £s are pretty meaningless.

MickMack

I presume you have considered the possibility of a gas leak?

She should turn off all her appliances for an hour or two (as long a period as is practical for her) and see if the meter reading changes at all...

Is she sure the heating is coming on and off when she expects, thermostat or timer switch hasn't been accidentally been knocked to some position causing the heating to be on longer than expected

Also is it a system with a combi-boiler which switches on automatically to supply hot water when a tap/shower etc is turned on???
With these systems a dripping hot water tap can be enough to cause the boiler to turn on and run nearly constantly in some cases. She (or you) should check the taps and the boiler to see if its running

macman

£20 in a week is not excessive if it's cold. Without knowing her actual kWh usage no real advice can be given.

HappyMJ

MickMack wrote: »

Also is it a system with a combi-boiler which switches on automatically to supply hot water when a tap/shower etc is turned on???
With these systems a dripping hot water tap can be enough to cause the boiler to turn on and run nearly constantly in some cases. She (or you) should check the taps and the boiler to see if its running

I thought combi's required a minimum flow rate before starting to prevent that such as 3 litres per minute or so. Not many taps will drip at that rate. My electric shower uses 4 litres per minute in comparison.

chanz4

When was your last landlords gas safety inspection done?

MickMack

HappyMJ wrote: »

I thought combi's required a minimum flow rate before starting to prevent that such as 3 litres per minute or so. Not many taps will drip at that rate. My electric shower uses 4 litres per minute in comparison.

Some combis have a small water vessel to give instant hot water.
These lowers the minimum flow rate through the combi (which does vary from maker to maker) to as little as 1 l/min, so it's not completely impossible!!

markharding557

£20 in a week is not unusual if the heating is on a lot.

33trevor

I have a problem with my pre-pay gas meter. I am paying about £7 a day for gas. Had appliances checked yesterday, all ok. No leaks detected. Phoned BG for advice.....nothing. All they can do is get meter checked, but it seems that they have to take the meter away to do this. Help anyone.

chanz4

33trevor wrote: »

I have a problem with my pre-pay gas meter. I am paying about £7 a day for gas. Had appliances checked yesterday, all ok. No leaks detected. Phoned BG for advice.....nothing. All they can do is get meter checked, but it seems that they have to take the meter away to do this. Help anyone.

They have to take it to an ofgem aproved test center, have they made you aware that when it comes back as correct you are charged for the test? Best way to test a gas meter is to take 7 day read at the exact time everyday

33trevor

Thanks chanz4. Yes they did say I would be liable for £75 call out fee if meter is ok, but they did not mention that the meter had to be taken away.
How will checking the meter over 7 days help. If I am spending £7 a day, surely this will only reflect my spend. It will not tell me if I am paying too much per Kw.