[mnu]

Hello,

we moved into a flat in April 2021. There are a number of gas meters outside the flat, but with indication which flat has what meter. The landlord similarly does not know. The meters look like the attached photo. When I log into the Eon portal, I see a number attached to our gas bill starting with E6S1985... but nothing I can see that in any way maps to the meter itself. Also, the online portal does not show any actual meter readings in the history (only estimates). On top of this, occupants of other flats in the same building have the same issue.

Is there a way to identify the meter from the gas bill, or in any other way that doesn't involve asking everyone to turn off their heating and run controlled experiments flat-by-flat?

[theunknowntech]

Originally Posted by Beki

@theunknowntech Is this information open to the public then so they can find out their own supply details?

Umm... Yes and no...

The easy solution is to do a bunch of Xoserve lookups for every Meter Serial Number in that bank. Doing it that way would solve this puzzle in seconds for the entire meter bank at once, except that I don't have Xoserve access and there's no way I'd ever get it since it's a restricted platform. The closest a customer can grab is their own supply details, usually via the bills, and then try to match the Meter Serial Number up with one of the gas meters in the meter bank. It should be in there somewhere!

My methods are a little more... Hacky...

The technique I can use, is to review photos provided here against the list of serial numbers, and then use the GNU Image Manipulation Program (aka GIMP) to basically do a Join The Dots puzzle to match everything up. I can kinda draw an "overlay map" of my own on top of those photos and number each MSN in that photo so that it matches the list. You'd then simply need to take that list and photo find which number in my list matches your MSN then review my photo to figure out which meter that is. Rinse and repeat to identify all of them.

A video of the entire bank going from the first meter and slowly panning to the last one is also helpful, since it can make my puzzle solving a lot easier.

It sounds more complicated than it really is, but it's not too bad in practice.

The other option is to contact your supplier and ask for your MPAN/MPRN and Meter Serial Number, then try to match those up to the meter bank. That one definitely can be done by anyone... As long as you're the customer...

[theunknowntech]

Hi,

It looks like your photo didn't attach somehow, could you try again please? Technically speaking, I can probably try to help all of you at once but I'd need photos of all the meters for that building, along with a list of Meter Serial Numbers for all the gas meters. I can then try to match them all up for you. Please make sure to include clear photos of the meters which shows all the text on them, along with a wider shot that shows the entire meter bank at once. This is probably going to really test my powers using GIMP, but I'll see what I can do. You'll find all the MSNs on the gas bills.

The format of the one you've given me is the correct format for an MSN and one of the gas meters in that bank should have the same number stamped on it somewhere, usually below the display. As long as all the tenants and the landlord are OK with you providing those photos (you can of course blank out names and addresses), I can try to solve this monster puzzle. And trust me, my methods require zero disruption to your supplies. :)

[Beki]

@theunknowntech Is this information open to the public then so they can find out their own supply details?

[Beki]

@theunknowntech - Interesting! Thanks for letting me know. I was wondering if you had secret access to XOServe and ECOES lol!