Is there an issue with gas supply in East Dulwich?

[Sue]

My gas meter (or a pipe near it) has been making strange loud whirring/bubbling noises this morning - not continuously, just on and off.

The boiler seems to be working as normal.

I know there was some publicity about gas supplies running down, but I thought this was predicted only to affect commercial rather than residential use.

I don't want to phone the gas company unnecessarily.

Has anybody else had this?

[rch]

Did you sort this out? Sounds like you may have an old meter. Mine died out of the blue just before Christmas... gas was still working, just not calculating usage. No funny noises, though. Bear in mind that if your supplier offers you a Smart Meter replacement, you don't have to accept it, you can have a normal one.

[Sue]

I was out most of the day, and when I got back quite late in the evening the meter seemed fine.

It's been fine since.

Very odd.

I have just double checked that it is actually calculating usage (which it is) and I checked the date it was replaced, which was 2006. No idea whether that is old for a meter!

If it happens again I may phone the gas people but otherwise I'll just leave it. As it's never happened before, I did think it might be something to do with the cold weather and the supply running down, but it seems not.

Thanks for asking though!

[James Barber]

Hi Sue,

Older meters are replaced every 20 years. Newer smart meters will be replaced every 10 years.

super reliable but they're not meant to make the noises you've described. Definitely worth calling your gas supplier as it might be your meter calibration isn't correct.

[DulwichFox]

James Barber Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi Sue,

> Older meters are replaced every 20 years. Newer

> smart meters will be replaced every 10 years.

> super reliable but they're not meant to make the

> noises you've described. Definitely worth calling

> your gas supplier as it might be your meter

> calibration isn't correct.

Iv'e lived in my home for 22 years. My meter was meant to be replaced 10 or so years ago.

I had an appoinment but it was cancelled and nothing has happened since.

My meter still gets read by British Gas appointed meter readers but they have never commented about my meter being old.

DulwichFox

[rch]

My meter is with British Gas as well, but I call in readings which are subsequently verified once or twice a year by meter readers.

When I called to report the meter failure, which I noticed during a reading, British Gas' customer service was so bad at handling the replacement booking that I subsequently went to complaint, whereupon they gave me compensation.

Sue, I would suggest that you call your gas company to report the noises, just to be sure, as some meters will start to generate random readings as they fail and you could end up being charged for extreme usage, if a possible problem isn't logged at the time, as you won't be able to "prove" that you didn't use the volume of gas shown on the meter.

They will probably want to send an engineer out to do a safety check at minimum.

[Sue]

Yes, thanks Robin, you're right. I will.

Definitely better to be on the safe side, even though I haven't heard the noises since.