UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions.

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
viv viv is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default could my meter be faulty?

I live in a one-bedroom flat, and because I'm afraid of getting a big
gas bill, I'm *very* sparing with my central heating. I usually just
put it on for half an hour when I come in each night, just to take the
chill off the air. At most, it'll be on for an hour or so. And the
only hot water I use is the water that's been heated through the
central heating being on (ie: I use the setting for "hot water and C/
H" rather than '"hot water only", then use some of the hot water to
wash, do dishes, etc, after I've turned the C/H off again). This is
the only thing use gas for, as I have an electric cooker.

I'm being as frugal as I can be, yet my gas bill from Powergen for
last quarter was over £110. This seems really excessive.

Also, I noticed that when I deliberately left the heating/hot water
off completely for a week, the meter still went on running, and
clocked up half a cubic metre of gas. The only way I can keep the
meter from running is to turn the gas off at the mains.

I contacted Powergen and they said gas meters were 'very rarely
faulty'.

I don't know anyone else where I live that has gas central heating, so
can't compare bills. Could anyone here tell me if this bill seems too
high?

Thanks in advance.

  #2   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 519
Default could my meter be faulty?

viv wrote:
I live in a one-bedroom flat, and because I'm afraid of getting a big
gas bill, I'm *very* sparing with my central heating. I usually just
put it on for half an hour when I come in each night, just to take the
chill off the air. At most, it'll be on for an hour or so. And the
only hot water I use is the water that's been heated through the
central heating being on (ie: I use the setting for "hot water and C/
H" rather than '"hot water only", then use some of the hot water to
wash, do dishes, etc, after I've turned the C/H off again). This is
the only thing use gas for, as I have an electric cooker.

I'm being as frugal as I can be, yet my gas bill from Powergen for
last quarter was over ?110. This seems really excessive.

Also, I noticed that when I deliberately left the heating/hot water
off completely for a week, the meter still went on running, and
clocked up half a cubic metre of gas. The only way I can keep the
meter from running is to turn the gas off at the mains.


Turn the boiler isolator switch off.
The electricity supply to the boiler that is.
See what happens over a few hours.

If it is in fact running, even when the boiler is completely off - not
just the programmer telling it to be off - which may in some cases
(frost stats, ...) then there is certainly a fault somewhere.

If you can find an isolator valve before the boiler for gas, then
turning this off will eliminate the boiler as a possibility, the
remaining possibility being a leak.
This may not be detectable inside, if it's into a well-ventilated space.
  #3   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,211
Default could my meter be faulty?

On 5 Feb 2007 09:47:23 -0800 Viv wrote :
I'm being as frugal as I can be, yet my gas bill from Powergen
for last quarter was over £110. This seems really excessive.


One-bed flat covers everything from a small modern studio to a
Victorian conversion with very high ceilings and draughty sash
windows. £110 would seem expensive for the former and cheap for
the latter. What sort of flat, what sort of boiler (make and
model should be visible if you look)?

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk

  #4   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,285
Default could my meter be faulty?

viv wrote:

Also, I noticed that when I deliberately left the heating/hot water
off completely for a week, the meter still went on running, and
clocked up half a cubic metre of gas. The only way I can keep the
meter from running is to turn the gas off at the mains.


Does your boiler have a pilot light? 0.5 cu. m of gas is only about 5.5
kWh, or 33 watts for a full week (168 hours). That's quite low as pilot
lights go - the one on my ageing Baxi accounts for about 120 W.

Also - as you seem to have a metric meter - make sure that your supplier
is aware of this and is not applying the times 2.83 conversion factor to
convert from the 100 cu. ft. 'units' of the more common imperial meter
into cu m. If this factor is applied when the meter is already metric
your bills will be high by a factor of almost 3. This has been known to
happen. Caveat emptor!

--
Andy
  #5   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,158
Default could my meter be faulty?


"Ian Stirling" wrote in message
...
viv wrote:
I live in a one-bedroom flat, and because I'm afraid of getting a

big
gas bill, I'm *very* sparing with my central heating. I usually

just
put it on for half an hour when I come in each night, just to take

the
chill off the air. At most, it'll be on for an hour or so. And the
only hot water I use is the water that's been heated through the
central heating being on (ie: I use the setting for "hot water and

C/
H" rather than '"hot water only", then use some of the hot water

to
wash, do dishes, etc, after I've turned the C/H off again). This

is
the only thing use gas for, as I have an electric cooker.

I'm being as frugal as I can be, yet my gas bill from Powergen for
last quarter was over ?110. This seems really excessive.

Also, I noticed that when I deliberately left the heating/hot

water
off completely for a week, the meter still went on running, and
clocked up half a cubic metre of gas. The only way I can keep the
meter from running is to turn the gas off at the mains.


Turn the boiler isolator switch off.
The electricity supply to the boiler that is.
See what happens over a few hours.

If it is in fact running, even when the boiler is completely off -

not
just the programmer telling it to be off - which may in some cases
(frost stats, ...) then there is certainly a fault somewhere.

If you can find an isolator valve before the boiler for gas, then
turning this off will eliminate the boiler as a possibility, the
remaining possibility being a leak.
This may not be detectable inside, if it's into a well-ventilated

space.

Could be an older boiler with a pilot light burning all the time

AWEM




  #6   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 244
Default could my meter be faulty?


"viv" wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm being as frugal as I can be, yet my gas bill from Powergen for
last quarter was over £110. This seems really excessive.


There are some obvious possibilities more likely than a faulty meter,
setting aside the mystery of an advancing meter for the moment.

Is the bill an actual bill or an estimated bill? If an actual bill are the
previous and current readings correct? Check the bill and meantime record
the meter readings every day when you get in.

Next, is the meter number on the bill the correct meter number? Is this
your first "high" bill? For how long have you been the occupier?

Perhaps an obvious question, how do you know its your meter?

In cases like this concentrate on the bill, billing and metering first
before getting technical.

Jim A




  #7   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 132
Default could my meter be faulty?

viv wrote:
I live in a one-bedroom flat, and because I'm afraid of getting a big
gas bill, I'm *very* sparing with my central heating.


Do you have a wife and/or kids?

If yes to the above then try isolating the gas fire if you have one.
It could be being used while you are not there to compensate for the
cold house.

Just a thought.

Pete

--
http://gymratz.co.uk - Best Gym Equipment & Bodybuilding Supplements UK.
http://gymratz.co.uk/polar-heart-rate-monitors/ Polar HeartRate Monitors
http://fitness-equipment-uk.com - UK's No.1 Fitness Equipment Suppliers.
http://water-rower.co.uk - Worlds best prices on the Worlds best Rower.
  #8   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
viv viv is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default could my meter be faulty?

On Feb 5, 8:17 pm, Owain wrote:
viv wrote:
I'm being as frugal as I can be, yet my gas bill from Powergen for
last quarter was over £110. This seems really excessive.


My bill for the last quarter was between £40-50 with EDF. I'm not
generous with the CH, but I do have hot water every day and the gas fire
on quite a lot.

So it could be the 2.83 conversion factor mentioned by Andy Wade.

Owain



Thanks to everyone here for their advice so far (though some of it is
a bit technical for me, as I'm not a DIY-er). I'm not doing this post
from home, as I'm not on-line, so I can't answer questions about which
boiler, meter, etc, just now, but I will give a bit more info to
clarify matters.

As to the size of my home, it's a very modern ground-floor council
flat, so the rooms are fairly small. Also, I never have the heating on
in the kichen, and very rarely in the bathroom. That leaves just three
radiators:bedroom, living-room and hallway. My flat also has double
glazing throughout.

I live by myself, so the only time the heating's on is when I turn it
on. And as I said earlier, the only hot water I use is what has been
heated through having the C/H on.

Someone here remarked that 0.5 cubic meters isn't really that much,
which makes me wonder if somehow I'm being charged wrongly. I say this
because last year I monitored how much the meter changed through a
quarter. It was something like 8 cubic meters (it might have been
more, but it certainly wasn't very much - even the meter reader
remarked to me "it's hardly gone round at all since your last
reading"). So naturally, I expected a tiny bill, and was shocked when
it turned out to be £84. I phoned the company, and was told that I had
to multiply the cubic meters by about three or four factors to get the
kwh result, which is what they were billing me for. I seem to remember
that this calculation bumped up the cubic meters figure up by a factor
of 39, and when I'd done this, the bill of £84 turned out to be
correct. But I'd still hardly used my heating at all! I used a pocket
calculator to do the calculation, and checked it three times.

I just get the feeling I may be being charged wrongly somehow.

  #9   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 244
Default could my meter be faulty?


"viv" wrote in message
oups.com...

I just get the feeling I may be being charged wrongly somehow.


Possibly, but you still don't appear to have scrutinised you bill. That is
an essential first step in a metering/billing dispute.

Jim A





  #10   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,136
Default could my meter be faulty?

On Tue, 06 Feb 2007 11:51:52 GMT, Jim Alexander wrote:

I just get the feeling I may be being charged wrongly somehow.


Possibly, but you still don't appear to have scrutinised you bill.


Quite, that will have all the required numbers to take the volume of gas
used and convert it to kWHrs along with the formula to do so.

Might also be worth checking that the volume units on the bill are the
same as the volume units that the meter measures.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail





  #11   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 11
Default could my meter be faulty?

Try calling your local Energy Efficiency Advice Centre on 0800 512 012


  #12   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 519
Default could my meter be faulty?

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Tue, 06 Feb 2007 11:51:52 GMT, Jim Alexander wrote:

I just get the feeling I may be being charged wrongly somehow.


Possibly, but you still don't appear to have scrutinised you bill.


Quite, that will have all the required numbers to take the volume of gas
used and convert it to kWHrs along with the formula to do so.

Might also be worth checking that the volume units on the bill are the
same as the volume units that the meter measures.


And that the meter number on the bill matches the number on the meter.
Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Faulty water meter? DAVID ALEXANDER Home Repair 22 June 22nd 16 01:37 AM
FAULTY WATER METER? DAVID ALEXANDER Home Repair 5 November 10th 06 06:52 PM
11 Meter to 10 Meter Yagi Antenna Conversion Brad Electronics Repair 13 June 20th 06 01:13 AM
UPDATE: 11 Meter to 10 Meter Yagi Antenna Conversion Brad Electronics Repair 0 June 19th 06 07:37 PM
UPDATE: 11 Meter to 10 Meter Yagi Antenna Conversion Brad Electronics Repair 1 June 18th 06 09:49 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:49 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 DIYbanter.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about DIY & home improvement"