Could I have a gas leak and not know it?

stewie79

The only gas appliance in my 1 bedroom flat is a combi boiler. So far this month (December 26th) I've put £85 in the meter and used the radiators once, for two hours. My shower is electric and I rarely use the bath - this seems very excessive, especially compared to my mother who has a 3 bedroom house, uses her heating constantly and cooks on a gas hob, only paying £65 a month for dual fuel.
Is it possible that I have a leak or a faulty meter? Or is this just normal for a prepayment meter?

C_Mababejive

There is clearly something wrong as here i have a 35 year old boiler doing heating and hot water and i cook by gas. My gas DD per month is about £28 and it covers it. I monitor it regularly.

You say you live in a flat. Is this in a new build purpose built block or is it a house conversion?

If that volume of gas was leaking internally it would certainly be noticed.

If this is a newish purpose built block,are you sure that your meter is actually feeding your flat and not someone elses !

Does your combi have a preheat function? If so ..turn it off..

Does any installation pipework run outside where perhaps gas could be escaping un-noticed?

Are you paying off a debt on your card meter?

jessmist

Got to be something wrong. As we are a family of 5 and all our heating,cooking and shower is gas and we use a lot less than what you are paying.

System

As you appear to have a pay meter are there any arrears that the meter is set up to take?

Norman_Castle

There may be arrears and a daily standing charge. Try to work out what you are paying using this https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=how+to+read+a+prepayment+gas+meter&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&gws_rd=cr&ei=0Pu7Ut_yA-as7Qajl4GYDQ or ask your supplier (Don't agree a new deal without shopping around) and then look for a better deal. Your payments are far to high for your usage.

kingrulzuk

i have a 1 bedroom flat with a prepayment meter. and i use gas for only heating which i dont use much coz i come home late and i shower at work or gym and all i top up is £5 per month.
Dont have standing charge.

Nada666

Have you muddled through the displays to dig out what each means? Find out how much it is charging, if there are arrears, the repayment, the meter readings.

If your description of usage is accurate (two hours in total or two hours per day?) the £85 is not viable. Note that if arrears (whether usage or old standing charges) build up then they can eat up 70% of each and every top-up - so that £85 may represent only £25 of gas used (minus ongoing standing charges - another £7 or £8 per month.)

So it is entirely possible (and more probable) that you have only used £15 worth of gas.

Did you ask and receive your own key for the meter when you moved in? From the supplier or just the landlord? Read your meter (as in normal meter units reading not cash balance) for a while to check your actual day to day consumption. And try to dig through the other displays to decipher what each one is.

Nada666

Here is one possible list of display screens (not sure how universal or peculiar different meters are):

To access the different screens on a gas prepayment meter you need to press the red button and hold until you hear a beep. In total there are 31 screens on a gas prepayment meter, but only certain screens will be useful to you.
These screens are as follows:

• 00 - Purchased credit on meter
• 01 - last amount of purchased credit that was taken for arrears
• 02 - Last amount of purchased credit that was taken to repay emergency credit
• 03 - Last amount purchased allocated for gas
• 17 - Daily Standing Charge
• 21 - Amount of credit that must be on the meter before emergency credit may be offered
• 22 - Amount of emergency credit that will be offered
• 26 - The maximum repayment that will be made in 1 week for debt. (Card must be inserted in meter)
• 27 - Current gas arrears. (Card must be inserted in meter)

Please note: Certain meters will not show the screens in numerical order but these can be identified by the display screen number

ValHaller

stewie79 wrote: »

The only gas appliance in my 1 bedroom flat is a combi boiler. So far this month (December 26th) I've put £85 in the meter and used the radiators once, for two hours. My shower is electric and I rarely use the bath - this seems very excessive, especially compared to my mother who has a 3 bedroom house, uses her heating constantly and cooks on a gas hob, only paying £65 a month for dual fuel.
Is it possible that I have a leak or a faulty meter? Or is this just normal for a prepayment meter?

Given the possibilities with prepayment meters of having debt loaded on to the meter, you need to report how much gas you have used. The £££ figure does not help, it just winds you up without giving us real facts.

As for a leak of gas, if you have leaked £85 worth over the month, you would have smelled it. Or noticed the pile of rubble where your flat once stood.

SwanJon

Definitely make all the above checks, but there is something else to consider.

stewie79 wrote: »

compared to my mother paying £65 a month for dual fuel.

C_Mababejive wrote: »

My gas DD per month is about £28

How much were you paying per month in the summer? Your mother and C_Mababejive are paying an averaged amount each month, so it is possible that you are paying less than them for a few months of the year, but when the cold kicks in you pay more.
DD will give you a discount, but if you used £85 on the PP meter you are likely to have used £80 on DD, but paid less as you paid more in other months.