Gas Usage Monitor

fergie_

Apart from having a 'smart' meter installed, are there any gadgets out there that are able to constantly monitor gas usage? 

matt_drummer

Even a smart meter doesn't make that information available unless you go and sit watching it constantly.

fergie_

matt_drummer said:

Even a smart meter doesn't make that information available unless you go and sit watching it constantly.

That doesn't sound very smart... I'm surprised they can't log usage by day, hour, minute etc.

I have seen Emporia for the electrical side that gives real time monitoring and also logs everything. I had just wondered if there was anything similar in the gas space.

[Deleted User]

fergie_ said:

Apart from having a 'smart' meter installed, are there any gadgets out there that are able to constantly monitor gas usage? 

If you look carefully at the right digits of your analogue meter, you will see that the 'circle' in one the numbers 6, 9 or 0 may have a blob of silver solder. You can buy an optical reader that you paste over this digit which counts the number of revolutions of the solder dot. The meter will have details on how many revolutions comprise a cubic foot to cubic metre of gas.

There used to be such devices available to purchase which had the ability to populate a graph every 15 minutes. these have largely been withdrawn from sale as a result of smart metering. You might find one on an auction site or you could build your own.

All that said, it is far easier just to allow them to fit a smart meter!

FreeBear

fergie_ said: Apart from having a 'smart' meter installed, are there any gadgets out there that are able to constantly monitor gas usage? 

A smart gas meter has the potential to give you updates every 30 minutes or so - Getting access to the data in real time is not that easy... Using a Hildebrand Glow is probably the easiest method if you understand how to use MQTT.

Some (most ?) modern boilers can provide data on burn time and modulation levels, but again, accessing that data is not very easy... OpenTherm compatible boilers are probably the easiest, and it may be possible with Worcester Bosch with a bit more money along with an integration with Home Assistant (other systems available).

You can buy flow sensors that could be plumbed in to your gas pipe, but finding an approved Gas Safe engineer to fit one will be next to impossible. You still need some way of accessing the data and providing a useful display (Home Assistant perhaps).

Raxiel

FreeBear said:

fergie_ said: Apart from having a 'smart' meter installed, are there any gadgets out there that are able to constantly monitor gas usage? 

A smart gas meter has the potential to give you updates every 30 minutes or so - Getting access to the data in real time is not that easy... Using a Hildebrand Glow is probably the easiest method if you understand how to use MQTT.

Some (most ?) modern boilers can provide data on burn time and modulation levels, but again, accessing that data is not very easy... OpenTherm compatible boilers are probably the easiest, and it may be possible with Worcester Bosch with a bit more money along with an integration with Home Assistant (other systems available).

You can buy flow sensors that could be plumbed in to your gas pipe, but finding an approved Gas Safe engineer to fit one will be next to impossible. You still need some way of accessing the data and providing a useful display (Home Assistant perhaps).

My Worcester Bosch boiler is paired with their own brand thermostat and that does record the gas usage. It's not very granular though, with just:

A numerical cumulative total for the year in kWh

Monthly bar graphs with a hot water and heating split, where the Y axis rescales to to suit the highest to date, and ticks at 1/8 intervals.

A line graph with the cumulative total (and similarly scaled Y axis) and the ability to overlay one other year in its history to compare.

I did suggest it would be nice to have access to the actual values the app uses to draw the graph when I was corresponding with the devs about the weather compensation settings, but nothing ever came of it.