Faulty gas meter?

[DanShuttleworth]

I was just wondering if anyone had come across this problem before as most people I have spoken to seem to think it's very rare!

I received my gas bill today and it showed I'd used £1200 in gas since Sept 09. Myself and my wife live in a 2 bed mid terraced relatively new build house. We never have the thermostat above 19 degress hardly use our gas hob at all.

The meter reading from 3 days ago read 11400 cubic metres, and today read 12115 cubic metres, this means out consumption has increased from 1.7 cubic metres per day over the last 9 years to 250+/day now, this would give us an annual cost of £27,000.

There is no smell of gas (and I think if there was one big enough to account for this there would be a big hole in the ground where our street was), so surely only the meter could be the cause here?! I've just been told that this is extremely unlikely and that I may have to pay for a meter test! The meter is a relatively new electronic type.

Just wondering if anyone else has come across this?

 

[Agile]

This seems very unusual but it could happen with an electronic meter.

You can pretty much check your meter by running your unspecified boiler on maximum for say two minutes and seeing what volume of gas it uses.

Then compare it with the specification.

Be very careful about the checking of the meter as there is a lot of money involved and you need a totally independent checker.

An RGI could bodge check by connecting two in series.

Tony

 

[tamz]

A 30 kw boiler consumes approx 2.7m3 gas /hr at full rate (which it is unlikely to do , it modulates down)
250 m3 gas /day = 10.4 m3/hr
Your meter is only capable of passing 6m3/hr. 10m3 cannot pass through this meter in an hour.
Get on to your supplier with your figures, including boiler size, cooker etc, and tell them it is impossible to pass that amount and insist it gets changed preferably for a diaphragm meter(U6 or G4). Do not be fobbed off.
National Grid have had a lot of faults with E6 electronic meters and they are being replaced as a priority on a policy exchange.

 

[Agile]

Take that "capable of passing 6m³/hour" with a pinch of salt.

The meter is capable of passing much more. However the specifications limit it to that figure because at a greater flow rate the pressure loss becomes out of specification.

Tony

 

[tamz]

Tony i know it is really capable of passing just over 30m3/hr without outlet pipe at a pressure drop of 1mb but unless the OP has fitted a gas booster to his boiler and is heating the full block his usage will not come anywhere near 10m3/hr.

His meter is well out and if he rings up and creates about it it will be swapped foc.
There are more clever people than us with the calcs work for Transco who will recognise when something is clearly not right.