Gas usage

[marsaday]

I have a tenant who is spending £20 on gas every 4 days. It is a prepayment meter. This doesnt sound right and the boiler is only 4 yrs old. it is a baxi combi and there are only 4 rads in the house.

He is not leaving the heating on 24h or anything like that. just normal usage.

any ideas what may be happening? These amount equals £5 a day which equals £150 a month on gas alone.

 

[gas112]

Were they in debt before has it been set to recover it

 

[D_Hailsham]

there are only 4 rads in the house.

Must be a very small house; or there are not enough rads for the heat loss, so the rads and boiler are running flat out to bring it up to temperature.

Which boiler is installed (make and model)

What controls do they have - programmer, thermostat, TRVs?

Does the boiler run continuously or does it stop and start during the day?

Is the house occupied all day or are the tenants out at work? If so do they leave the heating on all day?

How well is the house insulated?

Get then to turn all gas appliances off and take a meter reading (all numbers). Wait 30 minutes and take another reading. If there is a difference, something else must be using the gas. This needs investigating. Is the property a converted flat? If so could another flat in the same house be "pinching" gas?

Actual consumption is more helpful than money spent, so get them to take meter readings at the same time every day for a few days. Then post the results

Prepayment meters are always considerably more expensive.

 

[Biguns]

I would still check if any debt first. When the charged with money card is first inserted check how much, if anything is deducted for debt. Out of £5 they may only recieve £2 worth of gas. If it is a new tennant they may be paying for debt run up by a previous tennant

 

[marsaday]

dont think there is any debt as previous tenant was this tenants cousin.

the house is small - 2 beds, bath, lounge and kitchen, all over 4 floors.

the rads are all singles and so may not be getting the house fully warm.

the stat is on the stairway half way up. there is no radiator near it and so this may mean the house doesnt warm up.

a big possibility will be the lack of any insulation in the roof area. however, last week i have just finished installing 100mm kingspan in the roof and so this should make the house much warmer.

 

[Biguns]

But still follow the logical fault finding route:-

1/ make sure that when the meter is charged with credit, the credit shown on the meter is what was put on the card, plus any that was still on the meter

2/ Checks as outlined by D. Hailsham above. starting with everything turned off, take reading, then after 30 mins read again etc.

 

[tamz]

You should phone up your gas supplier and ask them for a change of tenancy. They will send someone out within a couple of hours to reset the meter. This should always be done when moving into a property with any PP meter, gas or electric.
As said before check when you put £20 on it you actually get £20. I may say £5 or so recovered for debt.
Also if you turn the gas off at the ecv and take a note of the money on it, leave it for an hour or so and recheck for any difference you may find it is ticking away the money while off.