Gas leak causing very high gas bills?

[David937]

Hello,

We are a little concerned that we may have a gas leak because the gas bills are very high (79 pounds for last month IIRC), we noticed this now because we were expecting the bills to be lower with the new boiler. We are sure it's not the new boiler causing the high gas bills because last winter the bills were the same.

I have seen the gas bill for July 2007 and the price was 54 pounds which I think is a bit too high for just a cooker.

Note:
I don't know if this will help but I checked the Benchmark checklist and the gas pressure is just enough to run our boiler at 17.5mbar.

Is there a way to check for a leak?

 

[JohnD]

yes

however...

the £££ on the gas bill doesn't tell you how much gas went through the pipes. The meter readings tell you that. Have you kept accurate records of meter readings (not estimates)? If not start today, and make a note of weather conditions and how long the heating was on.

Increases in gas prices mean bills will be higher even if usage is unchanged.

Your summer gas usage surely includes hot water, not just the ccoker.

it has recently been very cold so you can expect to have used quite a lot of gas in the last few weeks.

If you have reason to believe you have a leak, you should have called the emergency number shown on your gas bill, they will come round very fast and test by measuring pressure loss at your meter with everything turned off (there should be no perceptible loss of pressure)

 

[gavinda]

get your fitter in you check the gas rate.

btw is it an estimated bill? they can be enormous.

 

[sambotc]

Hi,

Make sure all pilot's are off and no gas is being consumed. Then mark the position of the meter dial. Check back in an hour or two to see if it has moved.

If you suspect a leak you should call someone out to have it looked at though!

If your really concerned phone Transco: 0800 111 999

Sam

 

[David937]

get your fitter in you check the gas rate.

btw is it an estimated bill? they can be enormous.

Will ask my dad.

 

[David937]

My meter was changed a few years back, it has no dial but what I notice is some kind of ticker (like a mileage counter on a old car) which rotates when the boiler or any gas appliance fires.

I will do what you describe.

http://www.jaggedline.co.uk/images/gas_meter.jpg

 

[scatmanjohn]

I wish my was only £70.

I read and submit my readings on a monthly basis.

Last month £120 Gas

 

[David937]

I wish my was only £70.

I read and submit my readings on a monthly basis.

Last month £120 Gas

We were expecting the bills to go down because of the new Condensing boiler which was installed.

 

[Rob]

We were expecting the bills to go down because of the new Condensing boiler which was installed.

No. Your gas usage will be down. Your bills will be higher because of your supplier putting prices up

 

[andytheplumber]

Get a gas engineer to do a gas tightness test . This will tell you if you have a leak or not

 

[chappers]

Get a gas engineer to do a gas tightness test . This will tell you if you have a leak or not

Thats the best way and it should have been done after the new boilr installation

 

[bengasman]

a "big"gasleak is about the size of a pilot light, if you would be loosing enough gas to be even so mush as measurable, the whole street would stink.

 

[David937]

Ok

 

[gas4you]

A gas leak that would give you excessive gas bills would be so bad you would be posting on donut from the moon

 

[David937]

A gas leak that would give you excessive gas bills would be so bad you would be posting on donut from the moon

I remember measuring the gas usage as described in the FAQ somehow I think I done something wrong because I got a reading of 40kw!. And this was heating mode.