Imperial Gas Meter

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  • WinterMelB's Avatar
    Level 1
    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
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    Last edited by WinterMelB; 14-01-22 at 09:38.
  • 16 Replies

  • theunknowntech's Avatar
    Level 80
    Heya! I'm theunknowntech, the resident evil genius and Beki's arch nemesis... MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

    That seems like an awful lot of gas and I'm kinda wondering whether there's a fault with the meter. I'll need to think about whether to recommend a Burns Test or not. With that being said though, the gas meter you've got sounds like it's ancient and could be overdue for re-certification. Would you be able to post some photos of it please? Ideally, as many as possible from different angles and with some close ups and some wider shots.

    I'll be back in the morning once I've had a think about this. Just keep an eye out for BatBeki though. She's evil and totally not the superhero she pretends to be. 😂
    Just another guy passing by... The unknown tech way...
    Pete is an IHD Tariff Update Robot! 🤖 Anasa is a Giant Enemy Robot Spider 🕷 🤖 Hannah is neither! Need Customer service? click here! Replacement IHD Guide? Here it is!
  • WinterMelB's Avatar
    Level 1
    @theunknowntech - I have attached a picture of my gas meter - it's the best I could get due to it's location in the house. Over the 70 days since I've move in I've used over 4,000 kwh of gas which as I live on my own and don't have a gas hob its seems very excessive - I'd be grateful for any help
  • theunknowntech's Avatar
    Level 80
    I see you've upload a photo, thanks for that! It helps me out a lot. :)

    If you've since also replied to this thread, your comment is still in pre-moderation right now and I've not been able to read it yet. I'll make sure to come back later though, as hopefully your comment will be live by then. It's a 20 year old meter as well (OK, 19 years old but close enough). That tells me it's almost certainly due for replacement. Let me have a chat with my friend Blastoise186 about this, as he's got a bit more experience than me.

    Bear with me, I'll be back!
  • theunknowntech's Avatar
    Level 80
    Ok, I've had a think about this properly and also chatted to Blastoise186 about it. He's in agreement that a Burns Test may help to identify any possible faults. You'll definitely want to do this now before attempting to request any kind of Meter Exchange, as doing that will prevent you from resolving this issue.

    While I'm not usually a fan of copy/pasting stuff, providing the instructions regarding Creep Tests or Burns Tests is complicated to get right, so this is one of the few things I will copy something over from my notes.

    Here's how to do a Burns Test. This is a quick test and only takes a few minutes, but you need to be able to get to all your gas appliances and your gas meter to do this one. Here's what to do.



    1. Turn off ALL gas appliances, the boiler and everything else that uses gas on your supply
    2. Wait for around 30 minutes to let things calm down and for the gas meter to completely catch up
    3. Check your gas meter reading and make a note of it
    4. Turn on just one gas appliance - a single ring on your gas cooker is usually the best option
    5. Monitor the readings on your gas meter for five to ten minutes. You must do this on the meter itself. Make notes of the current reading every 60 seconds during the test
    6. Shut off the gas appliance you fired up
    7. Check the gas meter reading again
    8. Restore your gas appliances to normal service once you're done


    The reading should only go up by a few units during the test. If it seems to be clocking up excessively quickly, this suggests there might be a fault. A Burns Test isn't perfect, but you'll be surprised how well it works. If you suspect an inaccurate or faulty meter after doing this, you'll want to call for help and request a Meter Accuracy Test (it's an OFMAT for a gas meter). These are not free and you'll be asked to pay the job fee upfront (usually around £160 or so).

    If the test confirms the meter is faulty, you will get the fee refunded, the meter will be replaced and you should get refunded for any usage that you didn't actually use if the meter clocked too fast. Recalculations don't occur if the clocking was too slow. While electric meters are only replaced if they fail the MAT, gas meters are usually replaced anyway as part of an OFMAT process. Be advised that over 80% of OFMAT tests come back with no fault and you'll sacrifice the fee in those cases.

    The fact you've got an imperial meter also makes things more complicated. But I think a Burns Test should still work anyway despite this. To me, it appears that the gas meter you've got has probably gone round the clock and back multiple times since 1993 and is probably wearing out, which might be a contributing factor here. If you get a replacement gas meter, it'll almost certainly be a more modern one that uses metric (cubic metres) rather than imperial (cubic feet) measurements, which are generally said to be more accurate anyway. The conversion to kWh isn't done by the meter, but by the billing system after you submit the meter readings.

    On top of that, I somehow get the feeling you're being billed based on cubic metres rather than cubic feet. If this is the case, your bills are incorrect and will need to be regenerated after being switched to imperial. If you've been overcharged as a result, you're entitled to a full refund of ALL overpayments for the entire time you've been at the property, up until the issue is fixed.

    Hope this helps. I'll be here if you get stuck.
    Last edited by theunknowntech; 14-01-22 at 16:42.
  • WinterMelB's Avatar
    Level 1
    @theunknowntech - thanks for this advice- I don't have any gas appliances apart from heating and hot water so will the burns test still work- will I switch on my heating for 5-10 mins then check the meter

    thank you for all your help
  • WinterMelB's Avatar
    Level 1
    @theunknowntech - in terms of the calculation of kwh- my bill is showing this is calculated as meter reading x 2.83 x 1.02264 x 39.7225 / 3.6 - does this calculation seem correct. I have a copy of my parents gas bill and they live in a similar sized property but as they are pensioners have the heating on for most of the day but they have only used 2243.06 kwh over 110 days so something is definitely not right with my meter
  • theunknowntech's Avatar
    Level 80
    Sure thing. Any single appliance should work - just as long as nothing else is running at the same time. Ideally, you'll want to use the least powerful thing possible and turn it right down until it only just comes on. That makes the test a lot easier to do.
  • theunknowntech's Avatar
    Level 80
    Oh, and I'll come clean. I think I may have broken something earlier when I accidentally crashed the forum trying to clear out my notifications. Perhaps it broke more than just that? Sorry!

    I've already sent Beki the details for that other issue, it's being looked into.