High gas usage and potential meter fault code?

elementary

I currently have smart meters that are operating in dumb mode after supplier changes. In December my bill was for over 7,000kWh which is approximately 2.5x normal December usage. The readings are correct as I submitted them to the supplier, and still have photographs of them, but I am sure the meter is over reading.

Over the past week I have taken daily meter readings (sometimes multiple per day) and on one occasion logged an equivalent usage of over 1,000kWh per day with everything turned off.

Since I took the meter reading in December I have noticed a capital 'C' after the reading. More recently this has changed to a lower case 'b'. Does anyone know what these letters mean? Are they an error code?

Thank you for any advice.

Gerry1

C = Customer reading.

Matthaus73

If it is the same as my smart meter ( libra 310p) it could be a low battery. It should last 10 years but mine only lasted 8.5 and then meter started massively over reading

elementary

Thank you both.

Matthaus73 wrote: »

If it is the same as my smart meter ( libra 310p) it could be a low battery. It should last 10 years but mine only lasted 8.5 and then meter started massively over reading

That's the same meter, a Landis + Gyr Libra 310P. I wonder if the 'b' means battery low.

How did you go about getting the energy company to acknowledge your meter was over-reading and therefore granting a refund for the errant usage and presumably a replacement meter?

Matthaus73

Check out my thread 'faulty meter ?'

Its not good news as my energy company just said i was lying and fobbed me off for 2 months (my usage went from 600m3 pa to 400m3 in 6 weeks but they just said that was normal)

Finally had to go to the ombudsman which is on going but did kick my energy company to getting me a new meter which is working fine and they are going to moniter my usage over next 6 months

Matthaus73

Type in 'Landis + Gyr Libra' in the forum search and you will find a few others have had problems with the meter.

I turned my mains off but meter still went up....EDF said this wasnt possible.

I videoed for an hour with the mains off and the meter went up 6m3....EDF said this was normal

I showed them readings of up to 48m3 in a day (my average on winter is 2.6m3 per day) ...EDF said it was because my heating was on 24 hrs (its set at 15° so only comes on occasionally)

Engineer came round and told me meter readings looked faulty....EDF customer services denied this.

So what im saying is you are going to have a fight on your hands ! Ive had 3 months of stress ...good luck

elementary

I've booked an independent meter accuracy test. The most recent 24 hour period has shown usage of over 2,000kWh which equates to over £2,000 per month for gas.

This gave an average flow rate of almost 9m3/hour for the 24 hour period yet the Landis+Gyr literature says the 310P has a max flow rate of 6m3/hour.

I can't see how the meter is anything other than broken.

elementary

I'll add that I've done a 2 minute test with the gas main isolated and it showed an equivalent flow of over 10m3/hour (again compare this to the meter's max of 6m3/hour). At this rate 250m3/day is being recorded with the gas physically shut off before being able to reach the meter.

Talldave

It would be worth taking videos of this and uploading for all to see. If there's a fundamental flaw with these meters it needs publicising. A topic for Martin's TV show perhaps?

Was there a "cliff edge" moment when measured consumption rocketed or was there a gradual increase that got you to where you are today?

And related to that, how have you dealt with bills for this imaginary consumption?

Matthaus73

With my meter it seems to have been a gradual increase over 6 months which i only noticed when i got the bill as i never used to check my meter ( thats changed now i check every day!) Then it shot up dramatically to some days 48m3 per day then calmed down then went completely random which apparently is very unusual as normally once it goes wrong it stays wrong

I agree that an investigation needs to be done into these meters as there seem to be a few on here going wrong. :money:

elementary

Talldave wrote: »

It would be worth taking videos of this and uploading for all to see. If there's a fundamental flaw with these meters it needs publicising. A topic for Martin's TV show perhaps?

Was there a "cliff edge" moment when measured consumption rocketed or was there a gradual increase that got you to where you are today?

And related to that, how have you dealt with bills for this imaginary consumption?

I have taken a 2 minute test video but have so far been unable to strip out the personalised metadata and am unwilling to upload until I have succeeded for obvious security reasons.

My December bill was 2.5x a normal December which got my attention and since then I've taken regular readings which have varied wildly. For the past couple of days it's been registering two thirds of a year's usage in day.

I've also been making energy saving improvements to my house for over 2 years and haven't seen the expected energy usage reduction so it may have been misreading for some time. It's over the last few weeks/months it has gone truly crazy though.

The energy company have arranged for an independent company to come in a couple of weeks and take the meter away for testing. If it's faulty I don't have to pay, if it's working (which can't be possible) I do. They won't bill me for the exorbitant usage until they get the test results and will then sort it out.