British Gas/Smart Meter Dual Fuel Tariff - Gas Meter No EG4v11 Electric meter Max 102

filou

We desperately need some advice.  We joined First Utility 2014.  Everything was fine.  Then in 2018 they insisted on installing a smart meter.  They confirmed  that we could always switch supplier if needed, the smart meter would than become dumb.  We went ahead with it.  Then Shell Energy took over first Utility, and the bills started to climb up, the direct debit was now more expensive.  In November 2019 we changed to British Gas. The day of change over, we read the meter for BG end of November 2019, seemed normal, again in December and January.  However the February reading zoomed up to 15,000 KWH, this was more than we would use in a year.  We rang them to say something was wrong.  They made an appointment to come out and check it.  The appointment was cancelled, and we were to have £25 as compensation, which has not appeared anywhere.  Then they decided to change the meter and made an appointment to change it, that was cancelled due to Covid-19.  I then started to receive somewhat threatening emails to send in reading, which we were reluctant to do if there was something wrong with the meter..  However I did sent a reading for February of 15,003 KWH.  The electric seemed high, but within a normal range.  I have tried to talk  to them, I have used the chat line etc.  They do not want to talk to me at all.  I telephone, I key in the account number and date of birth, the line goes to non stop music.  I just cannot communicate with them, and they are not interested in talking  to me.
In desperation, I tried Resolver.  The high gas usage was not mentioned in the reply, but that my final bill, ( I suppose with Shell Energy) had been underestimat by 1011 units, this makes matters worse.  My final bill with Shell seemed OK and written by it "this bill is based on an actual reading", so how could a bill based on a a smart meter reading be underestimated, yet be taken from an actual reading?  I'm not clear whether the underestimated reading is from our side, but we read what was on the meter,   Resolver, then decided we should have the meter professionally checked, if it was correct we would have to pay £69.70.
  We have just read the electric meter, and it now shows 14,000KWH, do we have to have them both checked with the possibility of paying £141, in addition to a very high bill charging for gas and electricity we have not used.  The worst thing of all is that we are being totally ignored, and no effort made to find out what is wrong.  We would gladly pay the £60 penalty for leaving early, but we are lumped with this meter.  By the time we get to November, we'll be bankrupt!

Gerry1

You need to make it absolutely clear whether the figures relate to usage over a month or whatever, OR the meter reading at the time it was read (which will be the total since it was installed).

It's also unclear whether you are referring to electricity, gas, or both.

Robin9

I believe the EG4 meter is one of those fitted with small keypad and potentially easy to misread.  The reading you want is obtained by pressing 9 - is that what you have been doing?

filou

 I thank Gerry1 and Robin9 for their replies.  My  worry is the gas readings,  15,003 KWH is for the month of February, the last  time I looked at the electric meter I was scared by another big number.  I will need to check it again.

Gerry1

MAX 10Z refers to the comms module above the electricity meter, not the meter itself.  If it's a Liberty 100, watch the video which shows how to read it.  It also has the instructions for your Liberty EG4v11 gas meter.

Note that the decimal point is almost invisible on the Liberty 100 display.  The reading here is 12359.9 not 123599.

Read the meters daily to get an idea of what's happening.  Switch the supply off at the meters for a couple of hours and make sure the readings don't change.

Robin9

filou - you may already be aware that for the gas the number you enter is what you see be pressing 9 (as above )  - do not try to convert that to kWh yourself

As your meter is newish it is possible that the records have not been updated - check the serial number of the meter itself against the one on the bill.

filou

Robin9 , and Gerry1 -Yes I press nine, look for KWH, check and double check where decimal point is. I do not attempt to convert KWH to metric.  I agree with you I have a feeling that the figures are cumulative totals.  So far I just seem  to have statements, and not detailed bills.  I will check again, and take your advice on checking the meter daily.  Many thanks to you both.
  I will also watch the videos.

Gerry1

I do not attempt to convert KWH to metric.

You shouldn't rely on a kWh reading from a gas meter.  It has to calculate it from its cubic metre readings, and its information may be incorrect or missing if it has gone dumb or hasn't yet been programmed correctly.

You should just read the m3 figure, sending it to your energy supplier if necessary.  For comparison purposes you can convert m3 to kWh using this site.

Robin9

filou said:

-Yes I press nine, look for KWH, 

I've just reread this - you don't look for kWh - the reading you want is m3.  That is the figure the system wants