Are you a British GAS customer?

[bmcecosse]

If you get your Gas from British Gas and you have a meter that reads in Cubic Metres (it will have M3 beside the reading) then you may be being charged almost twice what you should be paying for your Gas.

Check your Bill details - if the consumption figure (in Cubic Metres) is being X by 2.83 then this is WRONG! This is a conversion figure that is only used for older metres that read in 100s of cubic feet.

Our gas meter was changed in the summer, and because consumption was low - I thought the bills were a bit high, but not enormously so, however the winter bill is just ridiculous! So - I am currently challenging this with BG - but my figures are confirmed by 'EnergyLinx' and 'NPower' where they both demonstrate how to convert M3 to KWh correctly - without the 2.83 conversion factor that BG are wrongly applying...

So - if you are with BG and have a M3 meter - check your Bills and start complaining now !

[M25VAN]

I think this has been on some of the consumer watchdog programs. Some poor chap had been paying over the odds for years because of this error. Harrass them Roy, you are being charged for something you didn't get! Have 'em.
As an aside I just checked my bill and does anyone know what the 'volume correction' multiplier is all about? It says
"Gas expands with heat and contracts with the cold which means the volume may be the same but may contain more or less actual gas.We apply a correction to right this" The figure never changes though and is always 1.02264, does this imply that the amount of gas stays the same and if so why are they bothering to apply a correction!

[bmcecosse]

After they completely ignored my several emails - and then sent a reply assuring me THEY were correct and I was wrong, a very helpful lady sorted it all out without any fuss on the phone. She spoke English too - which was nice.......... Now waiting for a refund of several hundred pounds. I was going to accept the cost as being due to the v cold weather - it was my dear wife who insisted it must be wrong. She seems to think the refund will be all hers , for some reason.
As for the 'factor' - no idea, and as you say - it never seems to vary. So don't really see the point of it.
And if you are with BG - consider swapping to their websaver 10 tariff to maximise savings........... They won't tell you if your tariff is the 'best available' - you need to keep on top of it yourself!

[katy]

Gas expands with heat and contracts with the cold which means the volume may be the same but may contain more or less actual gas.We apply a correction to right this

What a line of BS.
The temperature shouldn't be a factor as the pressure in the mains is controlled and held at an even pressure.

[Matt]

using PV = nRT (perfect gas law)

Pressure and volume remain constant, n is the number of "moles" of gas (ie. how much there is in that volume)
R is the universal gas constant.

Therefore It can be assumed that C = nT therefore n is proportional to 1/T. So as temperature increases you get less gas per given volume - even with the pressure remaining constant.

(the equation used is not strictly speaking correct because it wont be a perfect gas, however the correct equation only applies correction factors the fundamental theory remains the same....)

So as it gets warmer you get less gas coming through the meter

[bmcecosse]

Same with petrol...........you get less on a hot day. The point being made here I think is that the 'factor' never seems to vary - so they aren't using it to offset temp changes. Fortunately - 90% of my gas consumption is in dead of winter - when the gas is nice and dense..........

[Stig]

I remember hearing that gas was diluted with varying amounts nitrogen to keep the mass of gas roughly constant with temperature.

[bmcecosse]

Update - when I finally got to the accounts department, they couldn't have been more helpful. All sorted out and overpayment refunded without a quibble. But it is a hassle to get to the accounts section.......
I do advise every one to check their bills if they have had the meter changed recently.......

[d_harris]

I'd read about this before actually but this post prompted me to check a friends gas meter as she's been complaining about the high bills for ages.

Anyways, I opened the gas cupboard to be hit by a massive smell of gas. Turns out her meter has been leaking for about 10 months. The really scary bit is that she stands underneath the gas cupboard (often with a ciggie) to do her makeup....

[bmcecosse]

And is it a Metric meter ??

[d_harris]

nope