Gas billing issue

Jennhm

Hi, I don't know where to find out this information so I was hoping someone here might be able to assist.

I recently switched from a PAYG meter to a credit meter, on the 21st of August. Previously, the whole year of gas on the PAYG meter has cost me only around £150. I'm the only person who lives there, I'm rarely home and the only thing I use the gas for is the shower, which will only be 2-3 times per week.

When my new meter was installed, they told me to call back in a month to provide my meter reading. They then told me that the reading was too low, and they need to me wait in for an engineer to come and check it. The reading was 00001, and they are telling me the meter is broken because it should be higher.

Can anyone tell me whether this does seem impossibly low, or whether it is just this low due to my very minimal usage? I really don't want to take time off work to wait in for an engineer to then tell me it is in fact correct.

Thanks!

Raxiel

If the meter is saying you've only used 1m³ in a month (Which is about 11kWh), and it's brand new (meaning it's not known to be good), they're probably right and it's faulty.


It's not impossible that reading is right, given your usage, but it's the less likely outcome.


My gas meter gives a reading of whole units on the first screen, but you can tap through to a 'test' screen that gives the reading to a few decimal places. If yours had something similar you could check that and see if it's stuck on exactly one, or if it's just not reached two yet. As well as checking if it is at least going up slowly.

notbritishgas

OP
What was the opening reading, the installer normall leaves a card near the meter giving the old reading and the new opening reading.

But yes if you have only used 1 metric unit, about 11 kWh, in just over a month that is incredibly low.
Looking at your usage pattern, 2-3 showers a week only, I presume you have a combi boiler so may be correct?

PS you do not have an electric shower do you?:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

One metric unit used in a month is low when you take in the shower usage. possibly very low use of a gas hob with no oven on you could use that amount One metric unit is only costing you around 33p in gas ( at 3 p/kwh ).So in a year if you keep that rate up its about £4..standing charges can be £100 a year so possibly its on a par with your old PAYG rates.
The meter would have probably been started at 99998 or 99999 , to allow for a little gas purging but e Your boiler would have been using a wedge of gas starting up to supply hot water. Installers give the start reading on a yellow sticky label on the gas meter along with old meter end reading and date of exchange etc
Digital metric meters usually display only 5 digits so it will not show 100/ths of a unit but if its a mechanical meter you could see the 100 ths moving round when the shower is on.
If it advances to 00002 it looks like the meter is OK and you are just such a low user that you would be better of on an Ebico Zero tariff. Hang on for a few weeks before informing supplier.
Sticking metric gas meters are extremely rare. I have only found a few stopped gas meters on the job in 20 years

matelodave

It's probably OK if you aren't consuming much gas. Especially if it was a brand new meter and wasn't actually on 00000 when it was installed.

I use to have a regular argument with BG about Mum's gas consumption. She only had a gas hob - everything else (water, heating etc was electric) and she only used the hob on rare occasions as she mainly used the microwave.

For the best part of 10 years she'd get a quarterly for about 150cu.m and every three months I'd phone them with the current meter reading which was usually the same or one more than the previous one. The meter only increment by 1 about once every six months. I think she got through just over 20 cu.m in the ten years she was there. We'd still get silly bills even when the meter reader had been to read it.

wavelets

Jennhm wrote: »

Hi, I don't know where to find out this information so I was hoping someone here might be able to assist.

I recently switched from a PAYG meter to a credit meter, on the 21st of August. Previously, the whole year of gas on the PAYG meter has cost me only around £150. I'm the only person who lives there, I'm rarely home and the only thing I use the gas for is the shower, which will only be 2-3 times per week.

When my new meter was installed, they told me to call back in a month to provide my meter reading. They then told me that the reading was too low, and they need to me wait in for an engineer to come and check it. The reading was 00001, and they are telling me the meter is broken because it should be higher.

Can anyone tell me whether this does seem impossibly low, or whether it is just this low due to my very minimal usage? I really don't want to take time off work to wait in for an engineer to then tell me it is in fact correct.

Thanks!

Surely you know roughly how much gas you think you have used over the last 4 weeks. You've been used to feeding the meter!

Novice_investor101

I have a combi boiler for heating & hot water, & a gas hob. I live alone, & do have an electric shower. I read my meters on the first of the month - gas in June was 0046, in August it was 0047, this month it's still 0047. I literally use the boiler for hot water to wash the dishes every couple of days when it's the summer months, & only use the hob for about 20 minutes a time 2-3 times a week.
Obviously, gas goes up in winter with the CH on.
It is annoying paying more in standing charges than actual gas used in summer.