Smart meter faulty??

Tallerdave

Since a picture saves a thousand words, if you're able to get actual consumption figures going back several years and get Excel or similar to create a graph, it might help with the "somethings gone astray" argument, as and when it happens! 

E.ON_Company_Representative

Chrissy_p0 said:

Hi, I deal with my Father in laws switching. I was just about to do a switch when I noticed that his gas bill was really high. In fact it was double mine, I have my heating on thermostat 24/7, gas hob, baths and loads of hot water used. He has a gas hob and gas heating, very rarely has his heating on and even then it's only a blast and then off. He uses his electric oven more than the hob and usually puts veg in the microwave, etc. I told him to look at his meter yesterday and it said he had used £3.50 that day and he had literally washed his hands, no cooking & definitely no heating on. Boiler was checked and serviced last year as usual. 
I can only think that he either has a gas leak or smart meter fault. Apparently smart meter failings are rare but if there was a gas leak it would've been smelt. I'm thinking to ask him to call the gas company out anyway to check but if there's no leak how do I go about getting proof that he isn't using any gas and it's still registering? Or is there something I have missed?
Thanks for any advice :0)

Hi Chrissy, hope you're well. A lot of great advice in this thread already. 
01 May 2021 3592 Reading
31 May 2021 3687 Reading
01 Jun 2021 3687 Reading
The readings you've mentioned on page 2 (above) don't seem particularly out of the ordinary. As has been mentioned we've had a pretty cold May this year and we have seen general increases in usage across the board over the last few months. 

The in-home display showing £3.50 used in a day does seem high though for this time of year. The display could have been knocked and has changed to showing 'units used' rather than £££'s. If it was 3.5 kWh used that would be around 10 pence and adding the standing charge would make it around 35-45p for the day which would seem a bit more correct? If and when you go round or speak to your father in law it's worth double checking this. If it's showing figures not consistent with the actual readings on the meter itself try turning it off for a bit and then turn it back on. A cliché I know but can sometimes help.

It goes without saying but if you do find evidence of a leak then call 0800 111 999 as soon as you can. It's unlikely a gas leak would account for any bill increases as when they occur it doesn't actually use that much gas. If enough gas was leaking out to cause £3.50 per day of charges you'd definitely know about it. 

I think just a case of keeping an eye on the readings over the next few days. If it looks to be normal levels of usage at this stage then I'd say the usage in the last few months would just be genuine. Keep us updated on your findings and we'll of course keep an eye on this thread if you need us Thanks, Matt

Chrissy_p0

Apologies for 'posting and running' but my mum was admitted to hospital and this went on the back burner. 
I went round there and checked the meter etc for leaks, all good. The meter is a Landis + Gyr but there were no signs of a 'b' on the display.
He decided that he would switch the gas off at the meter when he wasn't using it to see if it moved. This seems to have produced normal readings for his usage...
3695 - 15th June
3701 - 3rd July
3704 - 14th July
As I've previously said, he doesn't have his heating on very often, even in winter BUT when I was round there yesterday I happened to hear his boiler start up. Upon investigation the 'pre heat' function was on, I've now turned that off. I don't have a clue how much gas that pre-heat function uses in the middle of winter but now it's off, if his readings start going too high again I can only assume he's got a gas leak. He's going away for 10 days in a minute so I've told him to take a reading and leave the gas on. I've told him that the minute he comes back to take a reading b4 he enters the house and if it has moved then don't enter the house!
In short I think the meter is ok & it is either the pre heat function on the boiler, or he has a leak somewhere. Thanks for all your help everyone. I'll report back with confirmation or for other ideas if they're wrong. :0)