Faulty Gas Meter?

akira181

hot water is on demand only but I'll switch the whole boiler off just to be sure. Thinking about it, my previous 3 suppliers have gone bust, is there much point in getting Shell to check the gas meter?

I got moved to shell maybe 6 months ago, so presumably if my meter is faulty, Shell would refund at most 6 months of any overcharge? Considering today's prices and 6 months over winter, it might be worth the effort/chance?

Might be easier just to get the meter swapped to a smart meter asap (covid lockdowns prevented the previous attempts). Would get rid of any fault and I can monitor usage in real-time.

victor2

akira181 said:

hot water is on demand only but I'll switch the whole boiler off just to be sure. Thinking about it, my previous 3 suppliers have gone bust, is there much point in getting Shell to check the gas meter?

I got moved to shell maybe 6 months ago, so presumably if my meter is faulty, Shell would refund at most 6 months of any overcharge? Considering today's prices and 6 months over winter, it might be worth the effort/chance?

Might be easier just to get the meter swapped to a smart meter asap (covid lockdowns prevented the previous attempts). Would get rid of any fault and I can monitor usage in real-time.

If you're going to be away for a few days anyway, you might as well switch the boiler off and verify that the meter doesn't record any usage.

SAC2334

akira181 said:

hot water is on demand only but I'll switch the whole boiler off just to be sure. Thinking about it, my previous 3 suppliers have gone bust, is there much point in getting Shell to check the gas meter?

I got moved to shell maybe 6 months ago, so presumably if my meter is faulty, Shell would refund at most 6 months of any overcharge? Considering today's prices and 6 months over winter, it might be worth the effort/chance?

Might be easier just to get the meter swapped to a smart meter asap (covid lockdowns prevented the previous attempts). Would get rid of any fault and I can monitor usage in real-time.

I very much doubt that Shell formerly First Utility one of the most badly run suppliers in the UK will "come out and check the meter " to see if its working correctly . That is an expensive job as it has to be sent to a specialist . However any smell of gas coming from the meter in the meter box or if its indoors from around the meter itself would then get Cadent coming out to do a pressure check. They would come out fairly quickly too.
 As a meter reader I ve sent for them many times on smelling gas coming from meters and even from the roads and footpaths  .small gas leaks can go unnoticed if your sense of smell is nt good and possibly get the tenths of  units dial moving  . 

akira181

I left Friday evening and returned Sunday evening. The gauge hadn't moved at all, not even a fraction of a unit.

Gas usage in this flat has been consistently high since I moved in 4 years ago. I wouldn't be asking them to "come out and check the meter" as that would be largely pointless. I'd be asking them to remove the meter for it to be tested by an independent meter examiner, which they would legally have to do. If there's no fault discovered, I understand I'd need to pay for the test.

Since I need to change to smart meters anyhow and my billed usage is much higher than the average for a house twice the size of my flat, I think I have little to lose to get the meter tested and a decent amount to gain if it is overcharging me.

victor2

akira181 said:

I left Friday evening and returned Sunday evening. The gauge hadn't moved at all, not even a fraction of a unit.

Gas usage in this flat has been consistently high since I moved in 4 years ago. I wouldn't be asking them to "come out and check the meter" as that would be largely pointless. I'd be asking them to remove the meter for it to be tested by an independent meter examiner, which they would legally have to do. If there's no fault discovered, I understand I'd need to pay for the test.

Since I need to change to smart meters anyhow and my billed usage is much higher than the average for a house twice the size of my flat, I think I have little to lose to get the meter tested and a decent amount to gain if it is overcharging me.

At least you know you don't have a leak!

You could of course get the meter checked, but first consider what the charge will be if no fault is found, and compare that to the sort of amount you could be refunded if a fault is found. Say it was reading double your usage, so you got 50% of your expenditure over the last 6 months back, excluding the standing charge.

Very difficult to check yourself. If you know your boiler rating in KW, you could run off hot water for say 5 minutes and see what your meter records.

For example, if it is rated at 30KW, then in 5 minutes you would use 30 x 5/60 = 2.5kWh, which would be something like 0.08 Hundred Cubic Feet of gas, which is what an imperial meter like yours records, so you'd have to look at the red digits and/or dial to see what the meter shows. Not at all scientific, but might give you an idea if the meter is way out.

Zandoni

akira181 said:

I left Friday evening and returned Sunday evening. The gauge hadn't moved at all, not even a fraction of a unit.

Gas usage in this flat has been consistently high since I moved in 4 years ago. I wouldn't be asking them to "come out and check the meter" as that would be largely pointless. I'd be asking them to remove the meter for it to be tested by an independent meter examiner, which they would legally have to do. If there's no fault discovered, I understand I'd need to pay for the test.

Since I need to change to smart meters anyhow and my billed usage is much higher than the average for a house twice the size of my flat, I think I have little to lose to get the meter tested and a decent amount to gain if it is overcharging me.

Can you post a picture of your meter, if not it’s manufacturer and year.

akira181

Zandoni said:

Can you post a picture of your meter, if not it’s manufacturer and year.

That's my gas meter, an oldie by the state of it (blocked out a couple digits of the serial number to be on the safe side, no idea if that was necessary). Says 1987 in the bottom corner

It was on 9979 when I got back on Sunday. We've had showers and used the gas hob since then and it's recorded less than a unit so far. I never noted the red number as I can't see it without ladders. So either the meter reads randomly or my boiler use is insanely high considering it's only on a couple months of the year.

victor2 said:

Very difficult to check yourself. If you know your boiler rating in KW, you could run off hot water for say 5 minutes and see what your meter records.

For example, if it is rated at 30KW, then in 5 minutes you would use 30 x 5/60 = 2.5kWh, which would be something like 0.08 Hundred Cubic Feet of gas, which is what an imperial meter like yours records, so you'd have to look at the red digits and/or dial to see what the meter shows. Not at all scientific, but might give you an idea if the meter is way out.

I have a Vokera Easi Heat Plus 25Ci and a Google Nest thermostat (although I don't use any of the smart features as I found them largely useless). CH output of 20kW and DHW of 25kW. It's around 3 years old and serviced regularly.

I have a suspicion that the gas pipe is undersized but that's not likely to increase usage is it?

Next time I run a bath, I'll take note of the usage. In the meantime, I'll get in touch with my supplier and see what they say

Zandoni

akira181 said:

Zandoni said:

Can you post a picture of your meter, if not it’s manufacturer and year.

That's my gas meter, an oldie by the state of it (blocked out a couple digits of the serial number to be on the safe side, no idea if that was necessary). Says 1987 in the bottom corner

It was on 9979 when I got back on Sunday. We've had showers and used the gas hob since then and it's recorded less than a unit so far. I never noted the red number as I can't see it without ladders. So either the meter reads randomly or my boiler use is insanely high considering it's only on a couple months of the year.

victor2 said:

Very difficult to check yourself. If you know your boiler rating in KW, you could run off hot water for say 5 minutes and see what your meter records.

For example, if it is rated at 30KW, then in 5 minutes you would use 30 x 5/60 = 2.5kWh, which would be something like 0.08 Hundred Cubic Feet of gas, which is what an imperial meter like yours records, so you'd have to look at the red digits and/or dial to see what the meter shows. Not at all scientific, but might give you an idea if the meter is way out.

I have a Vokera Easi Heat Plus 25Ci and a Google Nest thermostat (although I don't use any of the smart features as I found them largely useless). CH output of 20kW and DHW of 25kW. It's around 3 years old and serviced regularly.

I have a suspicion that the gas pipe is undersized but that's not likely to increase usage is it?

Next time I run a bath, I'll take note of the usage. In the meantime, I'll get in touch with my supplier and see what they say

Old gas meters used to be made with leather diaphragms, when we changed to natural gas it was much drier and caused the diaphragms to shrink, this made the measuring chamber smaller and caused the meter to run faster, typically about 6%. Your meter has a S at the end of the serial number which means it has a synthetic diaphragm and it's unlikely to shrink, the black dot is a code for maker of this diaphragm.

Parkinson Cowan made very good meters and this one is unlikely to be out by the allowed plus/minus 2%. It also looks like it has been re tested at one stage so it would have been tested again for accuracy.

Gerry1

With your sort of meter, the average use over the year would see it increment by slightly more than 1 unit (100 ft3, 32kWh) per day.  Your usage in three days has been less than 1 unit so as it's summer it seems to be in the right league, although obviously it's only a very short window.

Try reading it daily, using all the digits and see what the story is.

Ultrasonic

akira181 said:

The meter is in ft3

What about your bill?