gas meter reading jump while on holiday

armabelle

My family and I went on holiday for 2 weeks and I took a reading when we left. When we returned there was an increase in around 60m3 on our meter reading for gas. We live in a rented house. Do we need to discuss this with the owner of the house or with the gas company?

thank you

K.Flyer

First thing is that you need to get someone out to check that you do not have a Gas Leak.
Can you smell Gas in or around the house?
Some very old Gas Boilers and older Gas Fires have pilot lights which stay constantly lit, burning gas 24 / 7, but 60m3 of gas is excessive, unless you have read the meter incorrectly.
Get someone out to have it checked asap just in case there is a Gas Leak.

If you smell gas or have any safety concerns please call 1850 20 50 50
This is the Gas Networks Ireland (formerly "Bord Gais Networks") 24-hour Emergency Line.

armabelle

K.Flyer wrote: »

First thing is that you need to get someone out to check that you do not have a Gas Leak.
Can you smell Gas in or around the house?
Some very old Gas Boilers and older Gas Fires have pilot lights which stay constantly lit, burning gas 24 / 7, but 60m3 of gas is excessive, unless you have read the meter incorrectly.
Get someone out to have it checked asap just in case there is a Gas Leak.

If you smell gas or have any safety concerns please call 1850 20 50 50
This is the Gas Networks Ireland (formerly "Bord Gais Networks") 24-hour Emergency Line.

Thanks. We thought of that but since we came back almost two days ago the meter has not budged. If there was a leak wouldn't there be some movement by now?

Colser

armabelle wrote: »

Thanks. We thought of that but since we came back almost two days ago the meter has not budged. If there was a leak wouldn't there be some movement by now?

Had you gas heating timed to come on during the week days?

K.Flyer

armabelle wrote: »

Thanks. We thought of that but since we came back almost two days ago the meter has not budged. If there was a leak wouldn't there be some movement by now?

Yes you would expect to see some movement.
But the difference between the two readings remains unexplained.
But there may be a logical explanation, depending on how your heating system is set up.
Are you sure you took the readings down correctly?
If in doubt, get it checked, Safety First.

armabelle

K.Flyer wrote: »

Yes you would expect to see some movement.
But the difference between the two readings remains unexplained.
But there may be a logical explanation, depending on how your heating system is set up.
Are you sure you took the readings down correctly?
If in doubt, get it checked, Safety First.

I definitely took the reading correctly. Yes the reading remains unexplained. Definitely agree that safety first so will get it checked. But if there isn't a leak then is there another logical explanation? Can someone tamper with the meter?

K.Flyer

It would be strange for someone to tamper with the meter to Add 60m3 of gas to your bill.
Are you certain that all of the heating and hot water controls were OFF while you were away.
Did you notice if you had hot water straight away when you came home?

armabelle

K.Flyer wrote: »

It would be strange for someone to tamper with the meter to Add 60m3 of gas to your bill.
Are you certain that all of the heating and hot water controls were OFF while you were away.
Did you notice if you had hot water straight away when you came home?

Yes it would be strange but not so strange because a bigger amount than that would be obvious. I am just thinking of what else it could be because I am certain I took an accurate reading. I was in a fairly sobre state of mind and take readings regularly

Is it possible for someone to tamper with the meter? Is it fairly easy to do?

K.Flyer

Its not easy no and it is illegal. Why would someone try to Add money to your bill, that makes no sense, unless they have something to gain from it.

DGOBS

Is it possible during your time away that is was colder than 5ºC (with the house vacant) and your boiler frost protection kicked in, as this would fire the boiler and use some gas.

Donutz

Is it possible that the landlord called by for a nose around while you were away and got a bit cold in the process?

roy rodgers

Wouldn't 60m3 be around 20 to 30 hours of heating??

armabelle

DGOBS wrote: »

Is it possible during your time away that is was colder than 5ºC (with the house vacant) and your boiler frost protection kicked in, as this would fire the boiler and use some gas.

I will find out about this. Thanks for this. Good thinking!

armabelle

roy rodgers wrote: »

Wouldn't 60m3 be around 20 to 30 hours of heating??

I know!! Crazy right?

armabelle

K.Flyer wrote: »

Its not easy no and it is illegal. Why would someone try to Add money to your bill, that makes no sense, unless they have something to gain from it.

I bet it is illegal. I meant the company tampering with it. Or someone that works for the company.

K.Flyer

armabelle wrote: »

I bet it is illegal. I meant the company tampering with it. Or someone that works for the company.

Ehh, no.
I think you are off on a completely wrong tangent there.
Meters are not always read every billing session and meter readers are not on a commission relative to your usage.
If you don't mind me asking, are you getting your amount based only on the last two or three numbers furthest to the right?

For example, the digits in the red section of the numbers on this meter.

armabelle

K.Flyer wrote: »

Ehh, no.
I think you are off on a completely wrong tangent there.
Meters are not always read every billing session and meter readers are not on a commission relative to your usage.
If you don't mind me asking, are you getting your amount based only on the last two or three numbers furthest to the right?

For example, the digits in the red section of the numbers on this meter.

No, I don't read those decimal points and just round off. The amount used while we were away was 60 m3.

I hope I am off on a tangent but in all honesty, when something like this happens, tangents are all that are left in coming to some sort of a conclusion. The other poster said something about the anti-freeze thing and I am looking into that but 60m3 of gas is a lot so I don't know.

googled eyes

Why did you take a reading before you left and when you got back? Did you already think there was an issue?

armabelle

googled eyes wrote: »

Why did you take a reading before you left and when you got back? Did you already think there was an issue?

No, I just take readings regularly to keep track of usage because we got some high bills in the past

googled eyes

armabelle wrote: »

No, I just take readings regularly to keep track of usage because we got some high bills in the past

Fair play. I only check when my bill is due. I find the suppliers are more than happy to over estimate bills.