I have been advised by British Gas that my gas consumption was about £600 last month and that they will be changing my direct debit to £335 per month .
It is one of a number of houses which I own and the only gas usage is cooking and central heating .
Whilst I include all the bills in the tenants rent and accept that the heating will be left on when the house is empty I fail to understand how so much could be used in a month . I also regularly submit my own readings .
Do gas metres go faulty on occasions ?. Even British Gas must have doubts because they came back two days later to recheck the reading .
I intend to check the metre daily next week to see what is causing the high usage .
Do any members have experience of faulty gas or electric meters.
I have owned the and let the house for twenty years and have never experienced consumption like this before .
All my other gas accounts have large credit balanced because British Gas always collect too much if you pay by standing order . |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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That seems ridiculously high. One option - change it to a card meter then you'll know what you put on it as credit.
Is the bill definitely for your rental property ?
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I had this last year with water bills.
Nearly £1000 for a 1 bedroom flat. Usual bill would be around £80
When I contacted them they said there must be a leak, I argued this saying even if there was a leak outside that amount of water I would notice.
They came out to check, no leak found. After me running taps for engineer outside he came back n said there's a problem with the meter. When I pushed him on this he said oh they have yours and upstairs meters mixed up, again impossible as it's the same size property upstairs.
Bill was readjusted to correct amount.
when I called to pay the bill the chap the other end said the original bill sent would mean I was using over 3500 litres per day |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Oh and I know of someone who got a very large bill unexpectedly and it turned out that there was a pin sized hole in an external pipe and gas was leaking out. |
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Meters can go faulty but very rarely.
You can request the meter be removed and checked but if it's not faulty you will be charged about £60 if I remember rightly.
I have investigated such problems on a number of occasions and never once found a faulty meter. It's usually excessive usage so you should monitor that. However I have also found the odd faulty appliance and once found incorrect billing.
I would start with taking daily or weekly readings and asking the property users what appliances they have used. If your including the bills in the rent you might find that they're taking the piss  |
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"Meters can go faulty but very rarely.
You can request the meter be removed and checked but if it's not faulty you will be charged about £60 if I remember rightly.
I have investigated such problems on a number of occasions and never once found a faulty meter. It's usually excessive usage so you should monitor that. However I have also found the odd faulty appliance and once found incorrect billing.
I would start with taking daily or weekly readings and asking the property users what appliances they have used. If your including the bills in the rent you might find that they're taking the piss "
. Hi. Thanks for the reply.. Even if the heating was left permanently on , I fail to see how it could be so high . The house is always warm and I don't really have any issues with tenants wasting heat as this has always been the case .
I had a brand new oven fitted recently , otherwise everything is the same ..I will be check both the metres and the timer on the heating carefully for the next. two weeks . |
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"Have you asked your tenants if they used it excessively?"
No . I accept that gas will be wasted and the heating left on when the house is empty . A plumber who was doing some work on the house commented on this and how hot the house was even though no one was in .
However this have been the case for at least twenty years . This is the highest bill ever . I used expect to pay about £1500 per annum on this house , not in excess of £4000 as per British Gases estimate for future use .
I had thought of having a new Vallant Combo Ecotec installed as I have found it to be an excellent boiler in other houses. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"You might have a gas leak that you can't smell I am a gas eng have seen this before  . Do I get British Gas out to check for leaks ? Or is it the responsibility of Transco. "
National grid 0800 111 999 |
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"You might have a gas leak that you can't smell I am a gas eng have seen this before . Do I get British Gas out to check for leaks ? Or is it the responsibility of Transco.
National grid 0800 111 999"
. Hi. Thanks for advising . |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Meters can go faulty but very rarely.
You can request the meter be removed and checked but if it's not faulty you will be charged about £60 if I remember rightly.
I have investigated such problems on a number of occasions and never once found a faulty meter. It's usually excessive usage so you should monitor that. However I have also found the odd faulty appliance and once found incorrect billing.
I would start with taking daily or weekly readings and asking the property users what appliances they have used. If your including the bills in the rent you might find that they're taking the piss . Hi. Thanks for the reply.. Even if the heating was left permanently on , I fail to see how it could be so high . The house is always warm and I don't really have any issues with tenants wasting heat as this has always been the case .
I had a brand new oven fitted recently , otherwise everything is the same ..I will be check both the metres and the timer on the heating carefully for the next. two weeks ."
How big is house? What sorts of doors and windows does it have also what is the insulation in the loft like also depending on age of house it may need insulation in the walls.
Even of the house is nice and warm if the insulation up to scratch it can boost your energy bills up by 30% x |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Hiya, the other possibility is metering. Modern meters measure in cubic meters (m3), older meters in cubic feet (ft3). There are about 34 cubic feet in 1 cubic meter. If your meter is an older type measuring in ft3 but they have mistakenly billed you in m3 then that would explain the sudden jump. Check the meter and the bill and make sure the meter types both match! As the previous poster said, check the cooker too though as it is the most likely culprit. Hope you get it sorted. |
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