Smart Gas Meter Readings more than actual usage

Dexter250811

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone else has had the same issue with smart gas meters that I am experiencing. I have searched this and it appears there have been numerous issues with gas meters reading no usage but none that I have found saying they are overcharging.

We use E-On next as our gas and electricity supplier and our gas boiler is on a service agreement with British Gas.

A couple of years ago when British Gas came to service the boiler they stated they could not get a reading from the meter and we should report it to our provider. At this point I looked at the meter readings which did appear to be low for a domestic property, note - we are a one bedroomed bungalow with a multifuel burner, as a result we do not use the central heating much so I was expecting relatively low usage.

I reported this twice (by email) and both times E-On stated they were happy with the meter readings although I remained skeptical.

More recently, for around the last 6 - 8 months or so I started noticing the gas meter readings were increasing massively with no change to our actual gas usage. For example in July 2022 our gas statement showed a usage of 76.3 kWh for the month whereas July 2024 states we used 2783.7 kWh of gas! (we were on holiday for 2 weeks of July with no gas used in the property at all).

I have started keeping a diary of actual gas usage, i.e. the amount of time the central heating is used, the number of showers per week etc, and there is a large discrepancy between what I record we have used and what the gas meter says we have used.

I have contacted our supplier and provided a sample of this diary and our meter readings and they  still maintain the gas meter is reading correctly.

I have questioned this further and E-On are now saying and we should pay for an SLT test (at £103) for the meter to be tested, is this our responsibility or should E-On be paying for this?

Additionally my account is suddenly well over £1000 in debit and rising because of the gas meter readings, when previously it was always in credit.

I am going to contact Ofgem about the issue but I wondered if there is anyone out there who has had a similar experience or who could provide some advice?

Yours
Dexter250811

teaselMay

What happens if you use no gas appliances for the day? Turn the boiler off and anything else and see what the meter does, you may have a leak. 

Gerry1

teaselMay said:

What happens if you use no gas appliances for the day? Turn the boiler off and anything else and see what the meter does, you may have a leak. 

Better to start by turning the supply off using the lever or knob next to the meter, at least overnight and preferably for 24h.  If the reading changes then that's positive proof of a faulty meter.

If you do a test with the boiler off, make sure it's switched off at the spur outlet, not just the control panel: some boilers can fire up unexpectedly via a froststat or to keep a small reserve tank hot to give immediate hot water. Also see https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6452074/gas-meter-still-increasing-whilst-gas-isolated-siemens-landis-gyr-e6s/p1

(Edited for typos)

Dexter250811

teaselMay said:

What happens if you use no gas appliances for the day? Turn the boiler off and anything else and see what the meter does, you may have a leak. 

Hi, we went away for 4 days in august and during that time we had no appliances on. All we have is the Combi boiler and 4 gas hobs for cooking. The combi boiler is on nest and the frost stat was turned all the way down (it was august!). During that time the meter reading increased by 44m3 of gas usage, I have asked E-On how they think that is possible and I haven’t received a sensible answer, they just want me to pay to get the meter checked.

Regarding a possible gas leak I think we would have known about it by now, the pipe runs are relatively short and are within the confines of our bungalow. As mentioned we also have British Gas engineers carry out annual servicing on the boiler, they do these checks and have reported the meter is not reading correctly on their last two visits.

Dexter250811

Gerry1 said:

Start

teaselMay said:

What happens if you use no gas appliances for the day? Turn the boiler off and anything else and see what the meter does, you may have a leak. 

Better to start by turning the supply off using the lever of knob next to the meter, at least overnight and preferably for 24h.  If the reading changes then that's positive proof of a faulty meter.

If you do a test with the boiler off, make sure it's switched off at the spur outlet, not just the control panel: some boilers can fire up unexpectedly via a froststat or to keep a small reserve tank hot to give immediate hot water. Also see https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6452074/gas-meter-still-increasing-whilst-gas-isolated-siemens-landis-gyr-e6s/p1

Thanks for the link Gerry. For my own sanity I will do a test by isolating the gas at the meter and see what happens. I am keeping a diary of our usage and as I mentioned the usage according to our gas meter readings is far higher than my usage diary would suggest. If you also look on the ofgem website they state typical annual usages for different domestic dwellings. At the moment I think our meter readings are on an industrial scale if our meter was to be believed!

Reed_Richards

Are you sure that the meter that you supplier is taking readings from actually is your meter?  There should be an MPAN written on your bill and one on your meter.  Are they the same?

Ectophile

Occasionally, the smart gas meters can go haywire as the battery goes flat.  As mentioned above, if you turn off the main gas valve, and the meter still goes up, then it must be the meter and not a gas leak.

If the meter is tested and found to be working fine, then you pay.  If the meter is faulty, the supplier pays.

victor2

If turning off the gas supply at the meter doesn't show any usage, turn the supply back on and turn off your boiler completely by switching off the power to it. 
If that registers no usage, turn the boiler back on but the CH off. If it registers usage, it might be something like the hot water pre-heat is turned on and causing unexpected usage. 
It's a lengthy process, but might help identify where the reported usage is. 

EssexHebridean

Paging @MeteredOut on this one - they have recently dealt with an issue relating to a meter registering use even when completely turned off - and their thread will be a useful read for you OP. (Although their meter was as I recall an old style one, not smart).  In reality, the fact that yours is smart is irrelevant to the issue as the readings the meter is showing match those you are being billed for, but are seemingly incorrect - ie it sounds likely to be a mechanical fault not anything to do with the communication of the readings.

Gerry1

I linked to MeteredOut's thread yesterday.

FreeBear

Ectophile said:

Occasionally, the smart gas meters can go haywire as the battery goes flat.  As mentioned above, if you turn off the main gas valve, and the meter still goes up, then it must be the meter and not a gas leak.

As the battery goes flat, there should be a "B" on the display.