[WinterMelB]

@theunknowntech - I have carried out the burns test this morning and this is the results:

07.32 boiler off - meter readings 1311-80
08.08 boiler on - reading 1311-80
08.09 readings 1311-81
08.10 readings 1311-82
08.11 readings 1311-82
08.12 readings 1311-83
08.13 readings 1311-84
08.14 readings 1311-86
08.15 readings 1311-87
08.16 readings 1311-88
08.17 readings 1311-89

Do you think this indicates a problem - I'm not at the point where I'm frightened to turn the heating on because of the cost

Your help is very much appreciated

[theunknowntech]

Analysis in progress. Please wait a moment...

[theunknowntech]

Hmm... Tricky...

I've not had to deal with imperial gas meters before, so I had my friend Blastoise186 gave me some advice over the last couple of days. I think I can figure this out from here.

As far as I can tell, that meter seems to be spinning a little faster than I'd like, but I'm not quite sure if it'd be fast enough to justify an OFMAT. I'm kinda borderline though so it's hard to say for sure - it could just be that your heating and hot water system is really inefficient! However, with that being said... We are talking about a 29 year old gas meter here and they are known to get a little out of sync as they get older.

Personally, I think what I'm about to say is probably the best advice I can give for your situation, so I'll explain what I think. For anyone else reading this, please be advised that the same circumstances may not apply to you and you should also perform a Burns Test for yourself before going any further, if you think you have a faulty gas meter.

I definitely think it's time for a Meter Exchange regardless of faults and there's no escaping the fact it's an ancient meter which is overdue for recertification anyway. I feel that's definitely something anyone would agree with me on. I'll let you decide whether you're ready to do that, so feel free to take it at your own pace. Going for Smart Meters might benefit you, but again, I'll leave that up to your discretion.

As for that OFMAT? Hmm... This is a really, really tough call for me to make and I'll totally understand if you decide to do the opposite as it really is borderline. At this stage, the worst that could happen is that you basically end up "buying" a new gas meter for £160 if the current meter passes the OFMAT, if you get what I mean. However, if the current meter fails the OFMAT you'd not only get the meter replaced anyway (gas meters are ALWAYS replaced during an OFMAT) and your £160 back, but you may also get a refund for any overcharges.

Based on the information you've provided, the stuff that Blastoise told me and the age of the meter, I'm going to recommend taking up the OFMAT process and getting the gas meter tested. It would have to be replaced sooner or later anyway and this would have the additional benefit of you knowing whether you've got a horrible gas meter, or a horrible boiler. :)

I hope this helps. Please let me know how you get on.

[Landmark]

Originally Posted by WinterMelB

I have just moved into a 3 bedroomed house which was built in the 1970's. It has an old imperial gas meter and a Worchester Greenstar SI Mark III boiler. I seem to be using an excessive amount of gas - in the last 24 hours the heating has only been on for 2 hours and the hot water used 3 times - once for a shower and twice for washing dishes by hand but I have used 34 kwh of gas - does this seem normal

I have attached a picture of the gas meter - the gas usage is certainly too high - over the 70 days I have been in the property I have used over 4,000kwh gas - I don't have a gas hob therefore it is only the heating and hot water that the gas is using - I live alone and out most of the day so the heating is never on for more than 3 hours a day

For a 5 - 8 year old combi boiler model this seems excessive. When was it last serviced, and what is the service history? When it was fitted, was the system flushed (chemically or by pressure method?)

[WinterMelB]

@Landmark the boiler was serviced just before Christmas and I had a radiator moved yesterday so the system was flushed yesterday- it just doesn't seem right that I'm using so much gas - I'm now only putting the heating on when it gets so cold i can't bear it

[WinterMelB]

@Landmark further to my previous reply I don't know if the system was flushed when I was fitted as I've only moved in 2 months ago - the Home report stated the previous owners had a maintenance contract with British gas so I'm assuming the boiler has been serviced regularly before I moved in but I don't have any confirmation of that

[Landmark]

Bear in mind, however, the timing of your observations; i.e. since yesterday's flushing of the system, you may get an improvement in your observations.

One last couple of things to check; namely low pressure < 0.3 bar and high temperature setting spring to mind. You may need to refer to the boiler manual to familiarize yourself and do these checks yourself to completely rule this out. In my experience, after a few years boilers may be set to run too hot and don't hold their pressure for more than a few days or weeks, which could reduce energy efficiency. The engineer doing the service may not have corrected this.

Lastly, but not least, engineers servicing boilers, do not always bother to clean out the magnetic filters. Call the engineer to check if this really was done, because this, too can compromise boiler efficiency. In fact when doing a flush, it may be better to check the filter for dislodged impurities just in case after the flush.