Gas usage mega increase

Ant555

rjmiller said:

Quick update as this is (almost) becoming comical.

Apparently I used 6 units of gas overnight. Which would seem odd anyway, but especially so given the supply was switched off.

I know we are 5 pages into this thread but can you see the meter reading advancing before your eyes if you watch for a few minutes when the supply is switched off?

Its almost a situation where if you had the tech, you could put a clock by the meter and video on a time lapse overnight to see if its a gradual increase or spurts of activity in the meter.

Zandoni

[Deleted User] said:

Robin9 said:

You might as well grasp the bullet and pay the cost (£150 ?? ) of a meter change.  Then you will have something to argue with

For you my friend, a bargain at £120.

https://help.bulb.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/360033353271-Faulty-or-broken-meters

In my days as a government gas meter examiner, meters were considered inaccurate if they were out by 2%. I see from your link it now seems to be 3%. Electronic meters like this one can and do occasionally register without gas passing through, it was usually caused by a dry solder joint on one of the speed of sound sensors. I’d suggest you dispute the meter and make sure they are aware of the fault, you could even tape a note on the meter.

Glum

This should give you an idea of how very small but steady increments are easy to spot, here is the gas consumption of a pilot light over 47 seconds. Measured over a longer period, this equates to about 0.6 m³ per day (over £250 per year). The right-most digit is 0.001 m³.


47 seconds later:


If your meter is erratic then all you can do is video it in one session over a few minutes, showing the valve shut off at start and end. If you don't see a change then try again later. Good luck.

rjmiller

@Ant555 @Glum

I did try and record yesterday but there was no change over the few minutes that I loitered with my phone. And then overnight a 6 unit increase.

I don't think it's constantly turning, maybe an occasional jump out of nothing.

I will try that again.

rjmiller

Robin9 said:

You might as well grasp the bullet and pay the cost (£150 ?? ) of a meter change.  Then you will have something to argue with

I think that'll be the next step. They bung in a new meter for 120 and take the old one away for testing. If it's faulty they reimburse the 120.

I know the test is independent but I'm a little antsy that they take it and it behaves normally, leaving me 120 down and still with the 370 quids worth of September gas to pay for.

I spoke to someone earlier in a similar property to mine who uses 40 quid max a month of gas. Mine's been double that for ages.

[Deleted User]

rjmiller said:

Robin9 said:

You might as well grasp the bullet and pay the cost (£150 ?? ) of a meter change.  Then you will have something to argue with

I think that'll be the next step. They bung in a new meter for 120 and take the old one away for testing. If it's faulty they reimburse the 120.

I know the test is independent but I'm a little antsy that they take it and it behaves normally, leaving me 120 down and still with the 370 quids worth of September gas to pay for.

I spoke to someone earlier in a similar property to mine who uses 40 quid max a month of gas. Mine's been double that for ages.

You cannot compare your usage with that of your neighbour. £480 per year for gas suggests that they are extremely low users. £100 would be standing charges and the rest would cover about 3600kWh at today’s prices.

rjmiller

While I wait for Bulb to deploy someone to take the meter for testing, I've been reading through a thread by someone with similar issues:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5330974/faulty-gas-meter-help/p1

This (or info on yet another similar thread) suggests the letter 'd' at the end of the reading means there's a major fault.

Mine has previously shown the letter 'c' and the letter 'e'. Anyone know what they stand for?

QrizB

c - Customer

e - Estimate

s - Smart

a - Actual

There are other codes, but those are the usual ones.

rjmiller

QrizB said:

c - Customer

e - Estimate

s - Smart

a - Actual

There are other codes, but those are the usual ones.

Cheers. Is that right for the actual reading on the meter? As in 21855.679C as here:

[Deleted User]

I thought that’s for readings on your bill not on the meter.