W4SIM

Opening a new business in the Bradford area, West Yorkshire. When we took over the building it hadnt been used in well over 10 years, then we found out it only has the electricity meter in the basement, the gas one is missing. The gas pipe is coming in through the basement aswell, but theres no meter at the end of it.

Have had it checked out by Northern Gas who have confirmed the Gas Meter Reference Number and the fact that the feed is "LIVE", however i need to have a meter installed before i can get gas to the property.

Iv approached N-Power and they say they will get the meter on, for a fee, on the condition that i sign a 2 year contract with them. I wouldnt have too much of a problem with this if it wasnt the fact that they're giving me sky high rates. Pretty much the same story with British Gas and E-On.

So i was wondering if i can get someone else altogether to install the gas meter, THEN approach the gas company's without the fear of getting locked into 2 and 3 year contracts.

Is there any company that can do JUST the gas meter install?

Thanks.

RickyLee53

You can just buy them and get a plumber install them. There ony about Ł40 to buy...

I think i'd stay how you are though

L33 BYT

Im sure its only a Provider who can install it, Other wise you could install uncalibrated units that say you have only used 2pence worth of gas a month.

Trade the companies off from each other, say to EON british gas are offering free install or the likes.

bad boy rs

iTrader: (7)

same as above, when a metres fitted a plumber can only work from the output side

rsfido_1989

just pipe up direct. . .no problem but shhh i said nothing

W4SIM

hahaha, cheers for the suggestions chaps (not like i hadnt thought of it). But the gas pipe is coming into the property, just dont know where the OFF valve is for it, otherwise . . . . . lol.

Anyhoo, i think it might only be the providers who can install these, cant seem to find anyone who will just do the install. I spoke to Transco and they confirmed that its on the system that theres no meter installed at that property, so i think they're gona be asking some questions if a meter turns up out of nowhere.

But i think best bet is going to be like L33BYT says, trade the gas companies off against each other and see what they say.

I think a lot of calling around is going to be required tomorrow.

Cheers lads.

rsfido_1989

has no off valve as it needs to be fitted, if you fit the off valve and a bit of pipe joins them together then hushhush lol

focusv8

It's definitely the Gas supplier that is responsible for the meter, although they may sub it back to Transco to fit as Transco will also have to fit a shut off valve and Govenor.

There's a few Business gas suppliers listed at the bottom of the page in this link, no numbers but they shouldn't be hard to find;

http://www.catalyst-commercial.co.uk...ss_gas_quotes/

.

W4SIM

Honestly, u lot are making a bad lad out of me!!!!

And i dont think it'll be too long before they realised there must a severe gas leak somewhere on the road for all the gas thats not accounted for (unless they're like water companies and dont realise shit).

rsfido_1989

like the water company, fuckin useless lol anyhooo some useful help now, i had no meter when i got my property but a live feed, phoned n power, they fitted a meter told me 125notes if the feed was not live. They came out and it was so fitted for free and no con contrack.

RickyLee53

They want to charge you for something so they can charge you? Eh. Surely its in their best interest to fit the meter!

And you can buy the meters so you should be able to get it fitted.

W4SIM

N power did say it was different prices for different types of meters. Yours seems to have been a residential one, mine is a business one. Apparently it requires more gas so hence a bigger meter.

Maybe coz its a business they wont fit it for free, same reason why they're trying to trap me into a 2 year contract at sky high prices.

W4SIM

Just had a quick look on ebay, as for EVEYTHING else in the known universe lol, and iv found a few gas meters, which comes to your point that i should be able to get it fitted.

BUT, that then comes back to the whole original question . . . WHO can i get to just do the fitting?

Steve the Plumber

iTrader: (11)

Any GasSafe registered engineer.

focusv8

See above.

What are you using the gas for?

Heating only, how big an area and what appliances?

Or a process of some sort?

The amount you use will determine the price you pay.

Do you know from a previous business how much gas you used?

.

155lee

iTrader: (10)

transco will have to come and do a live or dead test to establish if the feed is live,this may cost,1 way to avoid the cost is to call the national emegency helpline and report a smell of gas from around the area of the pipe,they will probably test to see if the pipe is live.to actually get a meter you have to pick a supplier,again transco will likely fit the meter.maybe you could get 1 who will do electric and gas for cheaper.

raymond dobbie

there is no such a compony as transco anymore its scotland gas networks for up here national grid for middle and southern gas networks for south of london down to get the meter in you have pick a compony you want to buy your gas from then they will send the gas board out to fit the meter for you bud

W4SIM

Dont know if iv mentioned this above or not, but iv checked with Transco (or what ever they're called now), and the feed is showing as LIVE on their system.

Like i said, mines a small business, a Pizza Bar, so approx. 100 KW per hour or an annual usage of about 130,000 KWh's. So not exactly your average central heating system.

Iv been quoted prices between Ł387 and Ł457 to fit the meter. This then entails a contract and also determines the unit price. It all seems to be offset against each other. For example N-Power had said Ł387 to fit the meter, the unit charge is 3.8p per unit and this is in a 2 year contract. Whilst British Gas have said Ł457 to fit the meter, the unit charge is 3.2p per unit and this is in a 1 year contract.

i know to some people theres no difference between 3.2p and 3.8p, but when your using Gas on this scale it makes a massive difference to your annual gas bill.

155lee

iTrader: (10)

it will save any messing about if its tested 1st,when i worked for them in scotland it was transco,they have changed to sgn since then.
if you go with what they say and arrange an installation date and they come and the feed is dead then they cant fit the meter till the gas is on,this may hold you up from opening etc.what the syatem says and whats actually tehre are 2 diff things,since the meter was removed there may have been a leak outside and since there is no gas being used in the building it may be cut off outside.you never know.

W4SIM

True, i hear what your saying.

This is also something British Gas told me, which i thought was a little strange at the time, but they did mention that the system isnt always 100% accurate. So they tend to send out an engineer first to make sure everything is in order. Im sure one of the things he does is to make sure there actually IS gas coming from the pipe.

Zetecfiesta

i work for British Gas and unfortunatly you cant just get your own meter and fit it your self, neither can you just ring a gas safety engineer to fit a meter as they arent allowed.

national grid own the pipework up to your meter and the meter itself. you do need to pick a supplier ie BG, EON, Npower and they then liase with National Grid to get you a meter, national grid just dont speak to the ordinary people unless youve got a job that they can charge you for lol yeah they will normally send out an engineer to check if the supply is live, where is your meter though? do you know if its been removed because the property was empty? because of debt? was it nicked?

and yeah your right there isnt much in it once youve paid for it and i dont think they will play against each other as its the supplier ie BG/Npower that has to pay National grid to actualy go out and do the job.

just go with who you think will look after you the best!

W4SIM

The property's been empty for about 10 years now, when we took over the gas meter was simply missing, thats all i know on that.

This might sound abit daft, but can i just not approach National grid and pay them to install a meter, THEN choose a supplier after that?

I ask coz both British Gas and N-power confirmed that im getting charged higher prices because they are having to fit the meter. So im guessing that if its already fitted then i might qualify for the lower prices?

This is a quote from an email sent to me by British Gas after i asked them why they quoted me 3.2p per unit over the phone when they're online price came back with 2.2p per unit. I asked if the price on the website was correct:-

"The prices you saw on the web site are correct, if you had a meter already in position and it was a simply acquisition. As this is a Fit Meter job, the unit rates I gave you over the phone are the best we can offer."


hhhmmmmmmm . . . . . .

foreigneRS

the gas meters that you can buy are so that you can separately record usage in different ares of a building/business after the main incoming meter.

Zetecfiesta

you cant buy direct from National Grid either, as you in theory could get free gas if they let you do that as you wouldnt have a nominated supplier.

dojj

iTrader: (3)

siemens are coming to fit mine later in the month

Paul Eggleton

I'm the energy manager for O2 and I've just had one fitted for a site we've taken over.

Our gas supplier is Corona and they supplied and fitted the meter (about Ł250-Ł300 from memory). HOWEVER, they will only connect it on the supply side. As stated you will need a Gas Safe workman (their not fucking engineers unless they're BEng/MEng/CEng grrrrr ) to connect it up to your end.

Transco will do a live or dead check FOC but as you've already said, thats been checked.

Go to USwitch to see who's the cheapest supplier in your area and use them.

W4SIM

Iv already compared on U-Switch but the problem is that the prices they give are for switching suppliers. When you got to the cheapest supplier and tell them theres no meter in the property then its a different ball game, all of a sudden the prices go up quite abit.