Gas Suppliers overcharging customers with Imperial Meters 6 February at 12:50PM edited 6 February at 1:40PM in Energy 6 replies 512 views

Motolady

Why do gas suppliers charge 100ft3 per unit count on Imperial household meters when it is clearly stated on the meter itself that it records 71ft3 per rev (unit count)?
All the suppliers I have had over the last 15 years have automatically calculated my gas bill with the assumption that one unit count = 100ft3 of gas, whereas it is only 71ft3.  I have contacted both my present and past suppliers with this query and been ignored by both.

To my mind I am, and have been, wildly overcharged by 29ft3 per unit of gas I have paid for in the last 15 years.  Am I wrong?

MattMattMattUK

Motolady said:

Why do gas suppliers charge 100ft3 per unit count on Imperial household meters when it is clearly stated on the meter itself that it records 71ft3 per rev (unit count)?
All the suppliers I have had over the last 15 years have automatically calculated my gas bill with the assumption that one unit count = 100ft3 of gas, whereas it is only 71ft3.  I have contacted both my present and past suppliers with this query and been ignored by both.

To my mind I am, and have been, wildly overcharged by 29ft3 per unit of gas I have paid for in the last 15 years.  Am I wrong?

The clock type dial uses 71ft3 per revolution, the number dials represent hundreds of feet (with a decimal).

Motolady

Why?!!  That is a mathematical disparity - how does .71 become 1.00 between the dial and the counter?

EssexHebridean

If the counter only moves to the next relevant number at 1.x revolutions? (I should add that this is the most likely explanation I can think of - so may be entirely incorrect!) 

Gerry1

This replaces an earlier post which I've now clarified.

It seems the figure of 0.071 cu.ft/rev has no relevance for the ordinary consumer.  It probably refers to the volume of the rotary chamber: 14 revolutions of the gubbins and you've used a cubic foot.

In other words, it's just a reference to the internal gearing that happens to be used.

It's a bit like a car travelling six feet when the road wheel rotates once.  880 revolutions and you've travelled a mile.  But if you used a smaller tyre and the car travelled four feet per wheel revolution, you'd need a speedometer/mileometer with different gearing.

Basically, the 0.071 cu.ft/rev figure is unhelpful except to industry personnel.  All the consumer needs to know is that the meter reads in cubic feet, but that when you take a reading you sent it in 100s of cubic feet.  (Think of the meter as if displaying pence, but you'd ignore the pence shown in red and just take the reading in whole pounds.)

The other point to remember is that the 'units' figure you send them and which appears on your bill relates to the volume of gas used, but this has to be converted to kiloWatt hours because that's how you are billed.  With an imperial meter, 1 unit=100 cu.ft=32kWh approximately.

If you don't see a figure of 2.83 shown in the bill calculation (or if the kWh figure is about 11.2 times the volume units) then you've been undercharged because they mistakenly think it's a metric meter.

Motolady

Thank you. Happily the 2.83 appears .....

FreeBear

Motolady said:

Thank you. Happily the 2.83 appears .....

If you ever have the gas meter replaced (most likely with a smart one), watch out for that 2.83 conversion. Your new meter will be metric, and if your supplier doesn't update their records, you'll end up overpaying for your gas.