Removal of gas meter

rjmachin

I am getting a ASHP installed in the next few months so will no longer need the gas supply.

I am currently with Octopus for Electricity and EDF for Gas.

Octopus currently remove gas meters for no charge, where as EDF charge £80.

My EDF account is currently £170 in credit, last bill was for £38 at the start of April and am adding £38 to the pot by DD each month.

So far this month, I am estimated to has used £33 (£29 Energy, £4 standing charge)

I am wondering what to do once the heat pump is installed:

1. Switch to Octopus to not pay the £80 charge - Will they be annoyed if I switch just to save a bit of money and then have to close the account?  Will they even allow it?  Is it MSE or frowned upon?
   
   
2. Stay with EDF, get them to remove it and see if they can use the credit from the account, take the £80 hit and be done with Gas

MattMattMattUK

rjmachin said:

I am getting a ASHP installed in the next few months so will no longer need the gas supply.

I am currently with Octopus for Electricity and EDF for Gas.

Octopus currently remove gas meters for no charge, where as EDF charge £80.

My EDF account is currently £170 in credit, last bill was for £38 at the start of April and am adding £38 to the pot by DD each month.

So far this month, I am estimated to has used £33 (£29 Energy, £4 standing charge)

I am wondering what to do once the heat pump is installed:

1. Switch to Octopus to not pay the £80 charge - Will they be annoyed if I switch just to save a bit of money and then have to close the account?  Will they even allow it?  Is it MSE or frowned upon?
   
   
2. Stay with EDF, get them to remove it and see if they can use the credit from the account, take the £80 hit and be done with Gas

Why not just move now, why wait? Then once you have moved switch to pay monthly in full (you will need to call them, but it is easy to do).

Also keep in mind what normally happens is initially the meter is removed and the supply is capped, however the cut off valve and pipe will remain. The DNO will also want to remove piping after a period of time (to stop unscrupulous types removing the cap) and that may involve some additional works, so keep that in mind when planning things. 

Alnat1

Another vote for switching it all to Octopus now, then they will remove the meter as part of the heat pump installation. 

MeteredOut

Also get a friend to refer you, and you and they will receive £50 credit.

Alnat1

MeteredOut said:

Also get a friend to refer you, and you and they will receive £50 credit.

They are already with Octopus for electricity so won't be a new customer and can't claim a referral credit.

rjmachin

MattMattMattUK said:

Also keep in mind what normally happens is initially the meter is removed and the supply is capped, however the cut off valve and pipe will remain. The DNO will also want to remove piping after a period of time (to stop unscrupulous types removing the cap) and that may involve some additional works, so keep that in mind when planning things. 

What is involved in this?   

I currently have a tarmac driveway, with the gas pipe coming out of the ground up to a gas box on the wall, which has the meter inside.

Will the DNO want to dig up the drive?  And how far would they want to remove the piping to (e.g. the property boundary with the street)? 

MattMattMattUK

rjmachin said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Also keep in mind what normally happens is initially the meter is removed and the supply is capped, however the cut off valve and pipe will remain. The DNO will also want to remove piping after a period of time (to stop unscrupulous types removing the cap) and that may involve some additional works, so keep that in mind when planning things. 

What is involved in this?   

I currently have a tarmac driveway, with the gas pipe coming out of the ground up to a gas box on the wall, which has the meter inside.

Will the DNO want to dig up the drive?  And how far would they want to remove the piping to (e.g. the property boundary with the street)? 

It depends on which network operator and the exact setup, so you will need to ask yours, but they will usually not send someone out to review it until you have had the meter removed. If they can cut the supply off at the edge of your property then they will, that means there are no functional pipes running onto your property and you do not have to worry about them after that, you can completely remove the capped pipe and cut off valve from inside your home.  From the experience of friends (three have had gas removed after getting heat pumps) all have had the supply cut off at the street, one by digging down from his lawn, the other two from Cadent digging through the pavement, but it depends. Sometimes it is more complicated as it depends on the topography of the local network, so you really will not know until they check things for you.

wrf12345

I would get most of the credit refunded, move to octopus about a week before the next DD and then cancel the DD just before it is due, otherwise they will take another DD. Does mean that you will get a cheque rather than refund to bank for any surplus in the final bill. You can probably work out how much is due and just leave that amount of surplus in the account. Even with smart meters some energy companies make up final figures so worth checking your readings until you have confirmation from Octopus that the move has completed. 

Alnat1

With the new faster switching, you can probably move to a new supplier in around 3 days.

The old supplier has up to 6 weeks to prepare a bill (they all tend to take at least a month to do this) and a further 10 days to refund any credit. If they don't stick to the timescales you can ask for compensation.

It may be that the actual meter reading you give to close the account is not used. There is a mysterious "3rd party" who decides the final figure, both the old and new companies have to use it. If the estimated figure is higher than the meter reading, you won't pay the new company for any units until it passes that number but the old company will charge you for them.

Scot_39

rjmachin said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Also keep in mind what normally happens is initially the meter is removed and the supply is capped, however the cut off valve and pipe will remain. The DNO will also want to remove piping after a period of time (to stop unscrupulous types removing the cap) and that may involve some additional works, so keep that in mind when planning things. 

What is involved in this?   

I currently have a tarmac driveway, with the gas pipe coming out of the ground up to a gas box on the wall, which has the meter inside.

Will the DNO want to dig up the drive?  And how far would they want to remove the piping to (e.g. the property boundary with the street)? 

Depends on situation - see ENA summary here - but don't expect any action on their part to be quick - see the "more than 12 months" wording.

https://www.energynetworks.org/customers/disconnecting-from-the-gas-network

rjmachin

I just called Octopus (after attempting to use Twitter) and my gas will be switched over to them on the 20th April, so this coming Saturday.

That was a lot quicker and easier than I had expected.