Eon just capped (cut off) our gas when installing smart meter

[jennylamb1]

Just had Eon in to fit gas and electric smart meters. The engineer advised that there was a sooty residue in the gas boiler cupboard so they have capped (cut off) the gas for safety. Fortunately I have been able to book our usual gas engineer in for tomorrow to reconnect it (£60 + vat). The engineer says that 9 times out of 10 it's fine but they have to follow safety protocols. Our gas engineer is incensed and says that gas companies do this a lot for no good reason. Meanwhile we have no heating or hot water. Anyone else had this?

the smart meter guy isn't even a gas registered engineer, they are a nuisance!!!!

Yes - we had someone do the same to us and had to get a gas engineer out, because they said the gas was iirc too close to the electric circuit board or something . Engineer sighed and said it was fine because it was clearly in regs when installed 🤷🏻‍♀️

They are highly trained for the specific job they do. No, they can’t rewire a house or fit a gas fire but they most certainly are qualified.
OP, if your gas engineer is incensed that a qualified installer has followed the protocol for capping a gas supply when they are made aware of signs of danger, then you need to find a different engineer.

Regs change and become more strict over time for a reason.

Probably a better option than dying. They don't cap a supply for shits and giggles.

Would you rather they let your house blow up?

As they should?

My supply was capped after a week of me BEGGING the guy to look at it properly and not using the boiler.

It's annoying, but entirely necessary sometimes, even if it's a just in case. Could take half the terrace out if it went.

It's a hassle for them to do it. They don't want to cap it, they only do it if they have to. There should be no soot so something is wrong.

I'd be looking for a new gas engineer personally.

Sooty residue sounds as though the boiler isn't working properly and you risk carbon monoxide poisoning - which can be fatal.
I think I would be glad someone has brought this to my attention.

We had the same done to us by the person installing the smart meter. Luckily it was the summer so heating wasn't a problem.

I'm sorry they are not highly trained or qualified! they are referred to as meter maids in the industry. I work for a team of gas engineers and the meter installers are just a nuisance!! its October and getting cold, with the influx of breakdowns the industry certainly does not need these idiots going around capping appliances off, leaving people without heating of hot water until their gas engineer can get to them, which will have to be paid for.

Once the engineer has been and has found that there is no fault I would forward the invoice on to Eon and they can pick the cost!!!!

I get the safety aspect of it, it is the sudden nature of having no heating or hot water which is a problem. I don't know what happens if people are elderly or if it it colder.

They have to go elsewhere because using their gas could blow up their house!

Lessons learnt by this is don't have a smart meter fitted in winter

Surely you can cope for one night?

Boots to get your boiler serviced regularly and well in advance of winter.

*nope it's, not boots 🤦🏼‍♀️

We we always have the boiler service in the summer and I would only have meters changed in the summer, gas is always capped off if any safety concerns which could happen on a service or meter change

I didn't think anyone was allowed to conduct work on gas supply lines without them being appropriately qualified to work with gas ?

So anyone who is capping a supply must be a qualified gas engineer.

Happy to be corrected.

My guess is the number of people whose supplies get capped is more indicative of the generally poor state that gas equipment such as boilers is maintained to by the public in general. With many going years without proper servicing.

I would also guess that any engineer capping a supply has a valid reason to do so, and any safety issues with gas are normally taken extremely seriously.

Why would they cap if it wasn't necessary? It takes them extra time and they don't get to charge extra for it. They would only do it for safety reasons.

Definitely

I am resisting a smart meter as long as I can (EDF are very persistent). I see on the BBC today they have discovered Northern areas use a different system and a doctor in Glasgow has had SIX installed and none yet works! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq52382zd1no

Yes. It happened to us. And we did have a gas leak, albeit was leaking outside the house, rather than inside.

The person who fitted our smart meter put an old washer in it and it caused a gas leak. So we had to call the emergency gas people to fix it. It could have been a costly mistake had my nose not been on form that day.