Faulty Gas Meter?

akira181

Zandoni said:

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.

Thanks for the detailed info. I'm guessing my meter is most likely accurate then? (based on the new info below, I think it might be)

Ultrasonic said:

akira181 said:

The meter is in ft3

What about your bill?

That never once occurred to me to check that. Unfortunately my previous bills (all stored online) are no longer available as my last 3 suppliers have gone bust.

Shell have my bill in ft3 and I just noticed they estimate my annual usage at 9500 kWh based on the 6ish months I've been with them. That seems to be more in line with what I think my usage is.

I'm now wondering if my last 3 suppliers have been billing me in m3...

QrizB

akira181 said:

I'm now wondering if my last 3 suppliers have been billing me in m3...

Sadly, billing a ft3 meter as though it was m3 will make your bill roughly 2/3rds smaller than it should be.

If your bills were high, rather than low, that's not going to explain it.

markin

Do you have any meter readings from past years, or when you first moved in? If you never checked actual yearly usage the 16,000 kW may never have been accurate.

What temp do you heat to, The sq ft of the flat? And the EPC, And Age and build of the flat?

theoretica

akira181 said:

victor2 said:

Is it a combi boiler or do you have a hot water tank?

(*snip)

Edit:

Another thought... Is it definitely your meter you are reading? If it is inside your flat it almost certainly is, but if it's outside, it could be supplying a different flat, despite you being billed for it.

It's a combi boiler, haven't used the heating for the last month, maybe two.  The meter is inside, I'm in a top floor flat and the meter near the ceiling so presumably noone is on my supply. 

Is there a shut off valve by your meter?  That would presumably confirm if anyone else is getting gas from it...

What settings/times are your heating on when it is on - and how isolated and insulated are the rooms with no heating?  If cold rooms are leeching heat and making the radiators you use work harder and longer that won't be great for your bills.

akira181

markin said:

Do you have any meter readings from past years, or when you first moved in? If you never checked actual yearly usage the 16,000 kW may never have been accurate.

What temp do you heat to, The sq ft of the flat? And the EPC, And Age and build of the flat?

I gave meter readings to the energy suppliers usually every 2 months fairly consistently. The last couple times my fix ended and I switched suppliers, my annual usage estimate was between 14000 to 16000 kWh.

I heat my flat to 21 in winter. I think my flat is around 1,000 sq ft, two rooms aren't heated (one large one medium). No idea what the EPC is but I assume not great. Old tenement building, ~120 years, with high ceilings. Thick curtains, (old) double glazing, carpets, and insulated loft but on cold winter days, it can take a long time to reach 21.

theoretica said:

Is there a shut off valve by your meter?  That would presumably confirm if anyone else is getting gas from it...

What settings/times are your heating on when it is on - and how isolated and insulated are the rooms with no heating?  If cold rooms are leeching heat and making the radiators you use work harder and longer that won't be great for your bills.

I checked the meter after the flat was empty for 2 days and it never budged, not even a fraction. Guessing it's not that.

I turn the heating on manually when it's cold and it's set to turn off around midnight every day. The thermostat is in the living room and it's a pretty thick solid wall between the living room and unheated bedroom.

I do suspect that the living room heater is slightly undersized though due to how long it takes to warm the room.

Alnat1

Could you manage to turn the thermostat down to 18C? Invest in a blanket, a one off purchase that will soon pay for itself. Set the heating to go off an hour before you go to bed, it stops you staying up too late too.