What's the equation to convert gas meter readings into kWh?

Hi @MaryH 

What you have described sounds logical.

Are you able to post a photo of the dial part of the meter so we can see what the readings look like?

I have the photo can’t seem to attach it 🙄 I select it and add but it disappears 

Managed to attach , thanks for replying 

Perfect. 

So for this type of meter you would ignore the numbers in red. This reading would be 5341.

Does this order of magnitude correspond with the readings shown on your bills?

More info on reading various types of meters is here:

www.ovoenergy.com/help/meter-readings

Hi thanks for offering I g back to me, yes that is what we use to submit readings eg I submitted a reading last week it was for 71 days of which we were on holiday for 15 of those so gas actually used for 56 days. The units used were 103 and when the supplier used the 3.8 calculation that equated to 3278 KWh for the 56 days and that’s only shower’s no heating. I believe when heating is on KWh is around double. I have spoken to people who have readings of around 3000 KWh in winter for two months with heating running hence why we are so concerned at using approx 30000 per year. We are fortunate right now we are on a fixed rate until 31st October but then our cost will increase dramatically and if this calculation of 3.8 continues we will be charged in excess of £5500 per year for gas alone surely this can’t be correct.

Hi @MaryH 

I don’t have gas any more myself, but hopefully someone else can check the thought process.

@Blastoise186 who’s best to talk gas here?

I’d suggest getting in touch with your supplier to confirm what units they are using. Or if you are happy to post part of your bill with the calculations on and any personal information removed then we can see if there is anything obviously wrong.

I just ran your meter reading in that photo through a calculator. It came out with 1565.29kWh. However, I’m almost certain that your gas meter has gone round the clock at least once, so it came out at 4495.71kWh if I calculate based on 15,340 Cubic Feet.

However, there is another problem. Your gas meter appears to have an expired certification and has therefore reached the end of its service life. It’s long overdue for replacement - Schlumberger hasn’t even made any gas meters for over a decade by the looks of things!

I’d recommend getting your gas and probably electric meters booked in for replacement, which will have to be for smart meters. Not only does this mean you’ll be billed based on a gas meter running in Cubic Metres rather than Cubic Feet (which is way easier to calculate!) but you won’t have any of this confusion anymore.

I think there may well be an issue with the meter. If your readings have gone from around 5238 to 5341 (using your photo for the latest read) then that is indeed a lot of gas in such a short time over summer. As @Blastoise186 says, if you are able to get it replaced with a new meter I’d do this and also highlight the potential anomaly to see if this can be investigated. 

Thanks again. I have been in touch with them and a complaint is logged but they refuse to even consider that my findings are correct and won’t budge I am waiting on a formal response from them as I need that before I can go to ombudsman. They have no other reason why it may be so high they have been so unhelpful. I will try and upload a bill

mary