Gas Connection at Home - ridiculous usage

chillybags on 05/04/2017 - 20:23
Last edited 05/04/2017 - 21:32

Just moved into a new building which has gas connected for the stove tops. We never signed up for gas but it was working when we moved in, and have only used it a couple of times to cook over the past 2 weeks. I just discovered that there is a gas metre in the hall and it was showing 850m^3 of gas on Sunday and checked again today and its now at 1000m^3. Upon googling this its like over $600 in gas or something ridiculous.

So my question is A. if we havent signed up for gas but have been using it (even in small quantity) can the gas company slap us with a bill? B. Maybe im calculating it wrong and 1000m^3 of gas isnt much?

Ive never had gas, dont really know much about it so just wanted to grab some opinions before calling the gas company.

Here is a photo of the current reading - http://imgur.com/a/r0L7Z

Home & Garden

Comments

  • holdenmg on 05/04/2017 - 21:12

    How many MJ or c/MJ is that?

    You can protect yourself by ensuring the previous tenant has had a final reading done prior to your moving in.

    This eliminates doubts about who used what and when and allows you to continue with the provider knowing what tariff you are on, payment terms and due dates etc.

    • chillybags on 05/04/2017 - 21:19

      There was no previous tenant - brand new building/apartment.

  • supnigs super skids on 05/04/2017 - 21:16

    Wow. You used up $600 worth of gas! I would use up that in a year

    • chillybags on 05/04/2017 - 21:21

      No idea how - as i said used the gas twice or three times to cook some pasta/sauce. There is centralised gas hot water system for the building which has a seperatea meter for our apartment.

      Possible that there is a leak?

      • John Kimble on 05/04/2017 - 21:22

        Should smell a leak?

        • chillybags on 05/04/2017 - 21:23

          Potentially externally, somewhere between the metre and our apartment?

      • Diji1 on 05/04/2017 - 21:22

        Leak or faulty meter, that's off the planet in terms of usage.

        More likely a faulty meter since you can smell gas.

        I'd deny using it at all.

        However now you have to work out why you were investigating the gas meter if you "weren't using it".

    • holdenmg on 05/04/2017 - 21:22
      +2

      You would need to be cooking something 24/7 and selling it at more than $600 and distrib… oh, wait… lol

  • Stewardo on 05/04/2017 - 21:21

    What sort of hot water system do you have?
    It's probably more like $6

    • chillybags on 05/04/2017 - 21:22

      There is centralised gas hot water system for the building which has a seperate meter for our apartment.

      I can see the metres for other apartments whilst ours was 850m^3 theirs were between 100 and 150m^3

  • kywst on 05/04/2017 - 21:25

    Maybe im calculating it wrong and 1000m^3 of gas isnt much?

    You're probably calculating it wrong and 1000m^3 of gas is much.

    How many apartments on each floor? Perhaps the meter is the combined total floor usage.

    • chillybags on 05/04/2017 - 21:26

      First thing i checked was for decimal places. Theres 5 apartments on our side of the building on our level - 5 seperate metres.

  • Stewardo on 05/04/2017 - 21:31

    It might be faulty or leaking

    • chillybags on 05/04/2017 - 21:35

      This is the current reading http://imgur.com/a/r0L7Z

      The comma isnt meant to be a decimal point is it?

      • Diji1 on 05/04/2017 - 22:16

        Comma is used as a decimal point in some countries, mainly Europe, so it could be.

        • Emli on 06/04/2017 - 08:56

          Australia stopped using the comma in large numbers in 1974 when teaching numbers to children. There was to be a fifty year period where the comma was not to be used because we were going to adopt the European system. We would then use the comma as the decimal mark.
          BUT it has never been kept track of and I suspect it has fallen by the wayside. You still see commas in numbers in newspapers and university punctuation conventions.

  • ChillBro on 05/04/2017 - 21:39
    +1

    Re-enacting a world war?

  • [Deactivated] on 05/04/2017 - 21:41
    +1

    Ignore the stuff in the red box they are increments (says Google)
    https://alintaenergy.com.au/energise/natural-gas/how-do-i-re…

    Cost=(38MJ/m3 x 0.15m3) *0.03 $/MJ
    0.15 $ (ish) or around 5 MJ which is around 1.4 kWh.

    • John Kimble on 05/04/2017 - 22:15

      1 would make more sense on a brand new building haha

  • eatwell365 on 06/04/2017 - 00:53

    Hi OP, not sure if yours are the same as the new apartments I have come across.

    Two possibilities:

    1. Quite common I have seen gas leak around the meter. Contractors cut corners and did not put any tapes to seal between pipes. Hence gas leak. Open the cupboard and check if there is strong odour. If yes, let the property manager knows.
    2. Does your apartment use gas for hot water? If you do not cook often and the bill is astronomical. It can be leaking hot water pipe behind the wall. Again contractor did a sh*t a$$ job. If the section of leakage is after the hot water meter, its gas usage will be counted towards you.

    Or see if someone has been using hot water to wash dishes a lot. To test it, do not cook for a few days and see if the gas meter keeps running. If yes, turn off the main (if you go away for one or two days) and check again.

  • snook on 06/04/2017 - 10:39

    I got a new gas meter and i could smell gas around it. The bill for next to no usage for 2 weeks was 180ish. I knew this was WRONG. Got up installer plumber. Gas smell is now completely gone and gas is 160 for whole period.

    You've got some major leak somewhere.

  • Cliche Guevara on 06/04/2017 - 16:30
    +2

    From AGL website: "When taking a reading from the gas meter, read left to right. For gas meters, you only need to read the black or white digits. The red numbers are used for testing purposes only."

    https://www.agl.com.au/residential/help-and-support/how-to-r…

    So you're reading your meter incorrectly.

    • chillybags on 06/04/2017 - 18:01
      +1

      Yep worked it out now - thanks for that. Common sense says read whats highlighted in red box, its important and that a comma would be thousand - obviously the people who design these metres are not familiar with common sense

      • iand on 06/04/2017 - 20:11
        +1

        experience has shown common sense is neither common or sensible

  • lainey13 on 06/04/2017 - 19:28

    If you call up a gas company they will tell you if your apartment is being separately metered. It's entirely possible that is the gas for the entire building, and you won't get a gas bill.

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