Low gas pressure

Boohoo

Hello.

Yesterday my dad had his yearly boiler service/inspection from British Gas.
After the engineer had finished he was going through the paperwork with him and told him about the low gas pressure at the meter and said the pressure at the back boiler and the front gas fire were low.
My dad phoned me while the BG bloke was there and I spoke to him as dad was unsure. The bloke as if there was any problems in the past with the meter and I said no. He said call your gas supplier and tell them to fit a smart meter. He has just switched over to Zog from Extra Energy. The gas meter must be over 30 years old as he moved into the house in 1985 and the BG bloke said some of the stickers were missing.
Has anybody had the same problem and what was the solution to this problem.
My dad is worried about putting the heating on now as he thinks the boiler will blow up.

daveyjp

What was the gas pressure reading?

firefox1956

How on earth is fitting a Smart Meter going to change the gas pressure ??
All sounds a bit iffy to me.............
Good job your Dad has got you to help him.

lemontart

If there is low gas pressure then the gas engineer should have reported it to National grid om 0800 111 999 . It could be something as simple as changing a part that sits on the meter (providing your supplier has the contract with grid to do this) or it could be indicative of other issues. It is potentially dangerous so please call now and turn your gas off until checked

[Deleted User]

Some of my colleagues have been going round checking the regulators on a National Grid contract ( called "blue flame " ). There has been a large batch of gas regulators fitted with the wrong pressure not suitable for a domestic supply..Bit of a long shot but its possible you ve got one. I can get the details of the pressure value your regulator should have if needed.

Boohoo

Thanks for the replies.

All the job sheet says is "low pressure to boiler + fire".
There is no figure written down and I don't recall him telling me what it was.
There was no hard sell from him to buy anything.
I have checked the amount of gas my dad has used over the past 4 years as he writes down the reading on the 1st of the month and puts on the calendar(he keeps them for years) and they are more or less the same so if the gas pressure is low then it most of just happened as he has had the boiler serviced since 1999 from BG.

alleycat`

Not much of a service/inspection then.

A comment to scare someone into thinking they might have a major issue, no attempt to rectify / guide and no details left to work with.

Mine is serviced annually since replacement 4 years ago (to maintain the warranty).

On my reports it states:

Two pressure readings, flue gas emissions (CO&CO2), some convoluted efficiency % and drop test results.
Without that information how would another servicing engineer coming along in the future know what the boiler had behaved like historically?

lemontart

If you notice that you have low gas pressure (for example, if the flame on your cooker is burning low) or have been advised by your gas safe engineer please call the National Gas Emergency Service 0800 111 999 and an emergency engineer will attend free of charge to check you are safe and check meter and incoming supply for issues.

I worked for the gas emergency service before I got ill and cannot over state the importance of doing this enough.

Incorrect gas pressure at the outlet of the
primary meter installation which affects the safe
operation of any appliance e.g. combustion
and/or flame stability.
ID
Notify the
Gas Emergency Contact Centre

this is taken from a Gas safe register document. http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/pdf/TB001_-_Gas_Industry_Unsafe_Situation_Procedure_%28GIUSP%29_Edition_7.0_v1.pdf

Boohoo

If you notice that you have low gas pressure (for example, if the flame on your cooker is burning low) or have been advised by your gas safe engineer please call the National Gas Emergency Service 0800 111 999 and an emergency engineer will attend free of charge to check you are safe and check meter and incoming supply for issues.

I worked for the gas emergency service before I got ill and cannot over state the importance of doing this enough.

Incorrect gas pressure at the outlet of the
primary meter installation which affects the safe
operation of any appliance e.g. combustion
and/or flame stability.
ID
Notify the
Gas Emergency Contact Centre

this is taken from a Gas safe register document. http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/pdf/TB001_-_Gas_Industry_Unsafe_Situation_Procedure_(GIUSP% 29_Edition_7.0_v1.pdf

My dad has gone on holiday for 10 days from yesterday so I will be popping into his most days to check.
As for calling that emergency number does anybody know how quick they may come as I wont be able to be in the house waiting till Saturday as I am working and don't want to call them Friday and when I get to his house and find they have broken in to gain access to the boiler.
He has turned off the heating and hot water and so there is just the pilot light on.

r2015

so there is just the pilot light on.

Which can use anything from 3kWh to 10 kWh a day.

Mine did.

Boohoo

Hello all.

Just an update for anybody who was following this thread.
Today was the only time I could be in the house all day for somebody to turn up. I called National Grid at 11:00am on the normal number not the smell of gas one. Told the rep the problem and she said somebody will be out within 2 hours.
At 12:15pm a guy knocked at the door and said he will look at the meter and off he went. 10 mins later he was at the door again and said he had to swap the regulator for a new one as old one was clogged. He then came into the house and relit the boiler and tried the gas fire and all was good.
He looked at the paperwork from BG and said they should of turned of the gas at the meter and rang National Grid asap and not left it to the customer to do but he said my dad was not the 1st customer of BG to tell him this.
Thank for all the help.