Gas Bills

Robin9

Please share with us. - even if proves to be an embarrassing own goal

hypokratis

Thank you all for trying to help me understand what I thought to be a simple arithmetic calculation to determine my gas bill.
I am still waiting for a response from the old supplier  “ senior management” but will find time to do my own calcs. over again. 

I will inform you all of the eventual resolution of this issue out of courtesy. 
The help has largely been appreciated except for one troll sensitive member’s contribution 
I will also learn in the meantime  how to improve navigation of the Forum which initially was not  as straightforward as I expected. 

Hypocratis

t0rt0ise

It is simple. You can either say

123400 x 0.0283
or
1234 x 2.83

and get the same answer. Some do the first way and some the second.

hypokratis

Thanks for your input tOrtOise
I will try to send a photo of my meter face but I never had to be aware of the information on the face of my meter past sending regular 4 Black digit meter readings until now, as a result of the dispute.  The fifth Red digit reading between 0 and 9 obviously works together with a neighbouring single dial reader showing 1 unit per full rev. The meter is a U6 type if that means anything to you It means it reads an equivalent 6 cu.mtrs/ hr. although everything else says cu.ft. 

While I reconcile myself to accepting my old supplier’s stance that 2.83 is the correct conversion factor to change cu.ft. to cu.mtrs. and my meter actually reads in 100’s of cu.ft. I am waiting for a reply as to why the meter giving 212cu.ft/hr when multiplied by 0.0283 gives a coincidental answer of 6 as U6 ? 

Also why my new supplier (knowing the serial number and type of meter I have)  confirms they will use 0.0283 in calculating my bill.,

I will out of courtesy give a final answer to everyone when I have one and close this issue for ever. 

I am not responding to anymore comments until then. 

victor2

There is so much the OP does not understand, or seemingly does not want to accept, about gas metering. 
Maybe the supplier will attempt to explain it in a language he can comprehend, but I somehow doubt it, as a quick google tells you what a U6 gas meter is. 
I guess we'll never know as he'll never consider the issue closed to his satisfaction.
Good luck OP. I sincerely hope you do reach a satisfactory solution.

QrizB

At the risk of confusing people further ...

• One inch is defined as 2.54 centimetres.
• One cubic inch is therefore 16.387 cubic centimetres.
• One foot is 12 inches, so one cubic foot is 1728 cubic inches.
• 1728 cubic inches equals 28,317 cubic centimetres - which is 28.317 litres, or 0.028317 cubic metres.
• HOWEVER the black digits on gas meters count hundreds of cubic feet (as explained many times before)
• 100 cubic feet is 2.8317 cubic metres

Does this help at all?

hypokratis said:

I am waiting for a reply as to why the meter giving 212cu.ft/hr when multiplied by 0.0283 gives a coincidental answer of 6 as U6 ?

Gas meters come in various sizes. Your meter was designed to measure gas flows at a maximum of 6 cubic metres per hour, hence the U6 designation. However for historical reasons the meter fitted to your house had to be marked in cubic feet, so it was recalibrated and re-marked accordingly. The maximum flow rate of your meter is still 6 cubic metres per hour but this is shown on your meter as 212 cubic feet per hour.

https://niccolo.co.uk/guides/guide-to-gas-meter-sizes

theoretica

hypokratis said:

 I am waiting for a reply as to why the meter giving 212cu.ft/hr when multiplied by 0.0283 gives a coincidental answer of 6 as U6 ? 

Or you could say 2.12 reading on an imperial meter multiplied by 2.83 gives 6.  Because the U6 meter gives (up to) 6 cubic metres an hour, as the U16 is larger and will give up to 16.  Seems the technical people were working at least in part in metric (sensible if you wanted to be compatible with other countries) but the customer facing bit on that meter was in imperial. 

Robin9

hypokratis said:

Thanks for your input tOrtOise
....................... but I never had to be aware of the information on the face of my meter past sending regular 4 Black digit meter readings until now,...............................................

And you don't have too now.  All that is wanted when you submit a reading is those 4 black digits. Everything else is irrelevant and can be ignored --  you are just confusing yourself unnecessarily .

Edit - just concentrate on those old bills and the meter readings and A,C or E.

Gerry1

hypokratis said:

The meter is a U6 type if that means anything to you It means it reads an equivalent 6 cu.mtrs/ hr. although everything else says cu.ft.

This U6 stuff is a total red herring.  Once again, you need to forget all about it.

U6 is not a specific model number. it simply means it's a small meter, one that's suitable for domestic purposes.

Think of it as the equivalent of a vintage scale used in a traditional sweetshop.

'To weigh 1 lb' means that it would be suitable for measuring 4oz of boiled sweets but not a big bag of potatoes or a sack of coal.  1 lb is just the upper limit of what it can handle; as long as your amount is lower than the limit, and the limit is not a hundred or a thousand times bigger, then you don't need to worry.  If the scale indicates 4oz, you won't be charged for 1 lb's worth !

Your only concern should be that it's the correct type of device for the task, which your gas meter clearly is.

hypokratis said:

Also why my new supplier (knowing the serial number and type of meter I have)  confirms they will use 0.0283 in calculating my bill.

I've already explained it, but let's try it some other ways.  It comes down to the supplier and the user agreeing to use the same units when readings are given.

Every gas supplier will be expecting you to ignore the red figures for tens and they will do their sums based on that expectation.  If you buck the system by including the red digits, you'll get a wrong answer.

Imagine that this was a slot machine selling penny chews and it displayed the number of pennies it contained.  It might be marked 'Pennies' but if everyone has agreed to work in Round ££s then you'd have to record it as £814.

Once again, you are still massively over thinking this.  You're not the first person to have an Imperial meter reading that' has to be converted to cubic metres before doing the number crunching, and it's inconceivable and that any supplier, especially one of the biggest and longest established ones would not know how to do this.