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Is your gas meter stealing from you?
Sarah Coles
Feb 14th 2011 at 4:00AM
Filed under: Bills
Personally I've never trusted my gas meter. I don't like the way the dials constantly tick round, when when my house is like an ice box and I haven't turned a hot tap on in half an hour. I'm pretty certain my entire street is hooked up to my meter and laughing at how I haven't noticed by bill double in the last year.
However, my meter paranoia aside, it's worth paying close attention to what your meter is up to, because one in six older ones are stealing from their owners.
Over-registering
The problem is simple inaccuracy. One in six of older meters tested in a report for National Grid found the meters were over-registering, and almost all of those tested were inaccurate in one way or another. If your meter is over-registering you'll pay an average of £26 a year for your meter's cruel lies.
The real shocker is that this report is over three years old, but was never released by National Grid. They say they are replacing at least half a million meters a year, and are particularly targeting those meters which are known to have problems. So worn out meters will be replaced eventually.
What can you do?
So how can you tell if your meter is wrong? The anorak way is to check the model of your meter. Some of them have particular problems. So, for example, 88% of a 1983 model of the U6 UGI Black Spot meter were over-registering, as were 69% of a 2000 model of the G4 Magnol Version 1.
The alternative is to check your bills, and see how many units they have recorded you using. If that is going up, or staying the same, while you are redoubling your efforts to cut back, then it's worth getting in touch with your supplier and raising the problem.
All meters will be replaced over the next decade, in favour of smart meters, but if you have a faulty meter, that could be a very expensive ten year period. If you are worried, ask your supplier to check it out. It's not going to cost you anything, and could help shave some essential pounds off your bills as we head into record energy prices again.
Ofgem Disputes
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Networks/Tec...ngDisputes.pdf
Sarah Coles
Feb 14th 2011 at 4:00AM
Filed under: Bills
Personally I've never trusted my gas meter. I don't like the way the dials constantly tick round, when when my house is like an ice box and I haven't turned a hot tap on in half an hour. I'm pretty certain my entire street is hooked up to my meter and laughing at how I haven't noticed by bill double in the last year.However, my meter paranoia aside, it's worth paying close attention to what your meter is up to, because one in six older ones are stealing from their owners.
Over-registering
The problem is simple inaccuracy. One in six of older meters tested in a report for National Grid found the meters were over-registering, and almost all of those tested were inaccurate in one way or another. If your meter is over-registering you'll pay an average of £26 a year for your meter's cruel lies.
The real shocker is that this report is over three years old, but was never released by National Grid. They say they are replacing at least half a million meters a year, and are particularly targeting those meters which are known to have problems. So worn out meters will be replaced eventually.
What can you do?
So how can you tell if your meter is wrong? The anorak way is to check the model of your meter. Some of them have particular problems. So, for example, 88% of a 1983 model of the U6 UGI Black Spot meter were over-registering, as were 69% of a 2000 model of the G4 Magnol Version 1.
The alternative is to check your bills, and see how many units they have recorded you using. If that is going up, or staying the same, while you are redoubling your efforts to cut back, then it's worth getting in touch with your supplier and raising the problem.
All meters will be replaced over the next decade, in favour of smart meters, but if you have a faulty meter, that could be a very expensive ten year period. If you are worried, ask your supplier to check it out. It's not going to cost you anything, and could help shave some essential pounds off your bills as we head into record energy prices again.
Ofgem Disputes
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Networks/Tec...ngDisputes.pdf
