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We moved into our house in October and the boiler needs replacing. We got quotes but were informed by the gas engineers that we have a commercial gas meter and this needs to be changed in order for them to do the work and to get the boiler guarantee. We contacted our energy supplier who have been less than helpful and sent out 2 sets of engineers to change it to a domestic one and on both occasions weren't qualified to do so and just left without doing anything. I spoke to EDF again and now they say our gas consumption is estimated to be 60kW and that after 64kW a domestic meter wouldn't handle the capacity. We have a 5 bed house and no gas appliances apart from the central heating. A gas fire is present but not in use and needs replacing. They are now saying we need to consider whether changing the meter is the right thing to do but equally no engineers are happy to install a new system boiler and unvented cylinder on this supply. If anyone could give some advice and clarity it'd be much appreciated, thanks.
 
Can you take a pic of the gas meter ?
 
We moved into our house in October and the boiler needs replacing. We got quotes but were informed by the gas engineers that we have a commercial gas meter and this needs to be changed in order for them to do the work and to get the boiler guarantee. We contacted our energy supplier who have been less than helpful and sent out 2 sets of engineers to change it to a domestic one and on both occasions weren't qualified to do so and just left without doing anything. I spoke to EDF again and now they say our gas consumption is estimated to be 60kW and that after 64kW a domestic meter wouldn't handle the capacity. We have a 5 bed house and no gas appliances apart from the central heating. A gas fire is present but not in use and needs replacing. They are now saying we need to consider whether changing the meter is the right thing to do but equally no engineers are happy to install a new system boiler and unvented cylinder on this supply. If anyone could give some advice and clarity it'd be much appreciated, thanks.
To work on a commercial installation you do need the right qualifications. Either have the meter changed for a 6 or 16 cubic meter one or ask an Engineer with commercial qualifications to do the work.
Some Engineers are qualified for both so it shouldn't be an issue.

I do have to ask, why is there a commercial meter in your property?
What size is it? (the meter).
 
Commercial Gas Meter.jpg
It's a 5 bed house but not a mansion certainly (5th is tiny)! I have no idea why it was installed in the first place, it was here when we moved in back in October. We have 17 radiators and a the boiler has been on the blink over the last few months so we're desperate to get it replaced with a new heating system but am now worried that getting it switched to domestic would cause even more problems.
 
Looks like a imperial u16 so under domestic scope
 
That is a U16 meter.

It falls within domestic scope of IGE/UP1B.

As long as the whole installation volume including that meter is less than 0.035 M3, the installation pipework is under 35mm and the outlet pressure is 21 mbar or less, a domestic Engineer can work on it.
 
Thanks, so what would be the issue with boiler guarantees then? Doesn't seem to make sense but a few of them mentioned it.
 
My guess they haven’t seen a meter that big and just assumed it’s commercial
 
Thanks, so what would be the issue with boiler guarantees then? Doesn't seem to make sense but a few of them mentioned it.
There is no issue at all.
Maybe as Shaun said, they haven't seen one before?
Begs the question eh?
 
Many thanks to all of you for such prompt and helpful advice. I think a whole new set of quotes are now needed but I'll have a little more confidence and knowledge behind me now.

Cheers
 
That Imperial meter is badged as 565 cuft/hr.
That's 15.999 cu mtr /hr so under 16 as above posts.

When you contact engineers for quotes mention the meter is an Imperial U16, save them wasting yours and their time coming out to refuse to touch it.
And as above also test their knowledge and confidence.

It's be interesting to hear of a Smart Meter fitters reaction to the meter.
 
There will be an updated version don’t know if it’s truly smart yet eg self reading
 
Can you replace this with a smart version?
If you do not require a 16 cube meter, you could down grade to a 6?

The 16 or 6 is the number of cubic meters per hour that will pass through it safely and accurately.
If you know the gross input of your appliances you can work out what size meter you need.

A smaller meter will also help to stop you frightening away nervous gas installers lol.
 
If you do not require a 16 cube meter, you could down grade to a 6?

The 16 or 6 is the number of cubic meters per hour that will pass through it safely and accurately.
If you know the gross input of your appliances you can work out what size meter you need.

A smaller meter will also help to stop you frightening away nervous gas installers lol.
Thanks, how would I work this out?
 
Heat loss / boiler size u16 will do upto 170kw

u6 will do upto 64kw

approx
 
Thanks, how would I work this out?
You can normally find the gas rate of an appliance in the manufacturers instructions.

Failing that you can work it out off the Gross heat input whether that be in Btu's/hr or Kw/hr.

If you don't have manufacturers instructions they will be online or there may be a visible data badge on the appliance.

I use a calculation from my head but it is round the houses and one I have used since God knows when. It is accurate but I dare say there are more modern ways even if they do get you to the same answer.

If you google Kw to M3/hr gas, there are a few dotted about that will work.
 
You can normally find the gas rate of an appliance in the manufacturers instructions.

Failing that you can work it out off the Gross heat input whether that be in Btu's/hr or Kw/hr.

If you don't have manufacturers instructions they will be online or there may be a visible data badge on the appliance.

I use a calculation from my head but it is round the houses and one I have used since God knows when. It is accurate but I dare say there are more modern ways even if they do get you to the same answer.

If you google Kw to M3/hr gas, there are a few dotted about that will work.
I have used the 100,000 BTUS IS 100 cu ft since i Started and to convert 1 kw is a 1000 BTUS, it’s simple and pretty accurate which would make 64 kwatt is 640 cu ft
 
there is ~ 0.293 kwh in a cu ft gas or ~10.35 kwh in a cu meter
64 kwh = 64/0.293 or 218 cu ft . (6 cu meters)
there are 3412 btus in a kw.
 
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I have used the 100,000 BTUS IS 100 cu ft since i Started and to convert 1 kw is a 1000 BTUS, it’s simple and pretty accurate which would make 64 kwatt is 640 cu ft
1 kw is 3412 BTUS as pointed out below I wasn’t fully awake when I wrote this
 
1 kw is 3412 BTUS as pointed out below I wasn’t fully awake when I wrote this
Mine goes like this, Kw x 3412 = Btu's /1040 (1037 at the mo calorific value of one cubic foot) = Ft3 /35.32 (near enough) = M3
Or My quickest method is Kw / 10.77 = M3 (really rough but good enough for small stuff).
 
Just read the full thread and the requirement is for 2 x 30 kw boilers, so to be on the safe side assume boiler efficiencies of 85% the requirement is 60/0.9 or 67 kw net, assuming "wet gas" loss of 10% then requirement is for 67/0.9 or 75 kw gross. Don't know what the average gross CV of UK gas is but (I don't have gas) the last bill I saw (here) showed 11 kwh/M3 so meter requirement is, 75/11 or 6.8M3.
There is probably a published regional gas gross CV for the UK?.
 
Kw/h divided by 10.65 gives you m3/h
 
That Imperial meter is badged as 565 cuft/hr.
That's 15.999 cu mtr /hr so under 16 as above posts.

When you contact engineers for quotes mention the meter is an Imperial U16, save them wasting yours and their time coming out to refuse to touch it.
And as above also test their knowledge and confidence.



It's be interesting to hear of a Smart Meter fitters reaction to the meter.

Smart meter fitter here. I knew from the first post it would be a imperial u16 lp meter. That's a walk away for me personally, too big for my spanner ;D.

Very surprised that the op's gas engineer wouldnt know that or be able to provide a new boiler for the op. Definitely get some more quotes and avoid the first lot.

Funny how people think they only have tiny 5 bed houses with 17! rads. I very much only find those meters in big houses. When I roll up on mansions like that my first thought is usually U16/3phase!
 

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