money to burn

We’ve been in the Royal Train Shed almost 3 months now.  The gas meter has hardly moved.  Well, the three red numbers on the end have, but the four that count - the ones used to estimate our bill have not.

The energy company is not happy:  

“You’re reading the meter incorrectly.”  No we’re not.  
“You must be” they say.  We supply photos to prove we’re not.

Now we’re not happy.  The standing charge is £6 a month and the gas consumed is less than £1.

“The meter must be faulty” they say.  No it’s not, we say.  It moves when we consume gas.  We just don’t use very much.

“You must do,” they say; “what about your hot water?”  Electric we say.

“What about central heating?” Electric we say.

“Are you sure?” they say.  Yes we say.  

The label on the boiler saying ‘electric boiler’ is the give-away.   The only gas appliance in the house is the hob.  

Now we could have an interesting conversation as to why this should be the case.  But it’s not our house - we just rent it.  Someone else made that decision a long time ago.

The energy company still don’t believe us and insist on changing the meter.  

So at about 8.00am this morning a young man arrives from Sunderland (having stayed overnight in a hotel…)  to fit a new meter.

When he’s finished he turns on all four burners to test them. We’ve never had all four burners on at once before, we say.

He looks round the house; “is this the only gas appliance?”  Yes we say.  “There’s nothing wrong with the old meter”, he says.  We know, we say.  Have a nice trip home.