British Gas New Meter in Jan 2023 and bills increasing ever since

activist3

Hi,
   I wonder if anyone can help.  I am trying to support a friend with an issue with the Gas part of her british gas bill.  Since she had a new meter in Jan 2023 the bill has been getting crazier and crazier.  It is now saying that in the period 

Nov 22 to April 23 she used 11473 Kwh of Gas.  She is a single mum with electric cooking and the gas is only used for a shower/bath and heating which is rarely on.  

Her latest bill says that from 
Nov 23 to April 24 she has used 19744 kwh of Gas which simply cant be true.  She has spoken to british gas and said there seems to be a problem and the meter keeps going around quickly but they have refused to come out or do anything about it.  I can post the bills if it helps

Can anyone offer any advice?

Brie

has she turned off anything with gas, even a pilot light, to see if the meter stops?  I know that's what suggested for electricity and assume the same might be the case with gas.  

What was her use prior to the new meter?  That would support a claim of things being to twonk.

BarelySentientAI

Turn everything off and see if it still goes up.

Turn the main gas valve off and see if it still goes up.

activist3

Thank you for that.  I will get her to do that.  From her bills her usage has gone like this 
Dec 2021-June 2022   11580kwh
Dec 2022-June 2023    12039kwh

July 2022- Nov 2022    1723kwh
July 2023-Nov 2023   5112.45 kwh

Nov 2022 to April 2023  11473kwh
Nov 2023 to April 2024  19744 kwh

Apologies that the dates dont line up but its for comparison 
She had a new meter in Jan 2023

activist3

BarelySentientAI said:

Turn everything off and see if it still goes up.

Turn the main gas valve off and see if it still goes up.

Thank you.  I have just checked with her and the dial stops

Ectophile

Check the gas bills to see what units they think the meter is measuring in.  All modern electronic meters measure in cubic metres (m³).  If the bill says cubic feet or ft³, contact the energy company.  Be prepared to raise a formal complaint.

Turn off all gas appliances for several hours, and check what the meter does.  It shouldn't increase at all (or maybe a tiny amount).  If it does increase, then...

Turn off the big gas valve next to the meter and leave it several more hours to see what the meter does*.  It shouldn't increase at all.

If turning off the gas valve stopped the readings going up, then you need to find where the gas is going.  Possibly a gas leak.

If the meter still goes up when the gas valve is off, the meter has gone faulty.  Contact the energy company.  They can be very reluctant to do anything, so be prepared to raise a complaint, then escalate it to the ombudsman.  Insist on the meter being checked for accuracy.

*If you have any old appliances with pilot lights, then don't do this until you know how to re-light them again.

wrf12345

There is times eleven difference between m3 and cubic feet (roughly) and the bills don't seem to show that kind of difference. Could just be the old meter was showing very low readings as it aged or could be a very tiny leak or a boiler that keeps switching on in maintenance mode or a faulty new meter, from the summer readings I would guess it is the boiler. I would gently suggest reading up on the benefits of cold water showers (youtube it) and switching the gas off completely when no heating is needed...

activist3

wrf12345 said:

There is times eleven difference between m3 and cubic feet (roughly) and the bills don't seem to show that kind of difference. Could just be the old meter was showing very low readings as it aged or could be a very tiny leak or a boiler that keeps switching on in maintenance mode or a faulty new meter, from the summer readings I would guess it is the boiler. I would gently suggest reading up on the benefits of cold water showers (youtube it) and switching the gas off completely when no heating is needed...

Thank you.  The heating is never on and they have one shower a day for them and there child.  They dont even run a bath anymore.  But nothing has changed in the way they run the house so i dont understand why it is suddenly nearly doubled usage.  

tim_p

You talk about it being a new meter and later you say “the meter keeps going around quickly” Is the gas meter new?

Are those readings marked as Actual or Smart on the bill. Does the bill say units are m3 or ft3? BG have past form for getting a smart meter as imperial (ft3) and not metric (m3)
What are some actual readings from the meter?

Robin9

Watch out for the decimal point

SwanJon

wrf12345 said:

There is times eleven difference between m3 and cubic feet (roughly) and the bills don't seem to show that kind of difference. Could just be the old meter was showing very low readings as it aged or could be a very tiny leak or a boiler that keeps switching on in maintenance mode or a faulty new meter, from the summer readings I would guess it is the boiler. I would gently suggest reading up on the benefits of cold water showers (youtube it) and switching the gas off completely when no heating is needed...

To convert from (hundreds of) cubic feet to cubic meters, you multiply by 2.83.
Not as much as 11, but still more than is show here.
readings rather than kWh would be helpful