How a quick check of the gas meter saved me £1262

Glum

I recently noticed that our annual gas usage was about 25,000 kWh which is very high for a small property. So I took a meter reading then stopped using the boiler, the pilot light* and the hob for twelve hours. I was shocked to discover that the meter had clocked up 1.5 cubic metres (i.e. 3 cubic metres per day or 1,095 per year which is about 12,380 kWh). So there was indeed a gas leak and it was nearly half the annual consumption. Based on the new unit rate, this would have cost around £1262 next year.

THIS IS SUCH A SIMPLE TEST:
Read the meter.
Don't use any gas for eight hours.
Read the meter again.
If you don't have a pilot light* and there is any difference in the readings, turn off the gas at the meter and call the emergency gas line 0800 111 999 for advice about getting it checked and tested.
 
YOU MAY HAVE A LONGSTANDING GAS LEAK THAT COULD BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AS WELL AS COSTING YOU A LOT OF MONEY.

*Note: My pilot light uses about 0.0234 cubic metres per hour (0.5616 cubic metres or 6.35 kWh per day, £241 per year). Another incentive to scrap the boiler.

FWIW Here are the technical bits:
I called the emergency gas number and they sent someone out within half an hour (no charge). He confirmed that there was a full pressure drop at the meter but could NOT find the leak with his gas detector so he capped off the meter to make it safe. He was not familiar with the boiler and didn't test the left hand side where there was a very loose gas union. There was never any smell as the gas was just venting up the chimney. Sickeningly, based on bills from the last few years, this leak is not a recent incident. I eventually found a Gas Safe engineer to tighten the union but he ran the pressure test with the meter still capped. He couldn't understand why there was no gas at the hob so I had to tell him to remove the cap on the meter. He could not explain how the union had worked loose, was unhappy about putting the boiler back into service, and rushed off to another job. It was obvious that it needed a better seal around the combustion chamber cover. I explained this to another engineer who turned up the next day and confirmed the simple problem but then told me that the required adhesive was no longer available. So I gave him the bottle I'd bought that morning (red face!) and he duly sealed it up, lit the boiler and ran the CO and smoke tests. The heating was finally back on but I spent a good while bleeding radiators and testing the controls. The end result is that the gas consumption is halved and is now in line with "typical" use of around 12,000 kWh per year.

My experience, after dealing with three Gas Safe-registered technicians: be diligent and do not assume that Gas Safe-registered means infallible.

By the way, it seems that 'DIY', 'competent', and 'lawyer' are terms that should never be mentioned in the company of gas fitters and plumbers. However, following a long and detailed conversation with the technical adviser of a leading boiler manufacturer, he finished the call with, "You do know you can install the new boiler yourself?!"

Be safe. I hope this tip saves you cash or a catastrophe.

[Deleted User]

Installing a new boiler has to be notified to your Local Authority under Building Regulations. Only a competent person (eg; a GSR heating contractor) can self certify his/her own work. Yes, anybody with a drill and spanner can install a boiler but it is needs to be signed off by an approved person for Buildings Regulation compliance.