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Original poster

Indoor gas meter?

25 replies

Yorky · 07/02/2013 19:32

We are about to have an extension built which will mean that the wall that the meters (gas and electric) are on (currently external) will become internal.

I have managed to design the kitchen so that they fit in the back of a cupboard, after ringing my gas supplier and enquiring about the cost of resiting them to a new external wall and being quoted £1500!

Now there seems to be a question over whether they are allowed to be inside at all? Is there any reason, other than the convenience of the meter reader (and we do our own readings online) for them to be outside?

Thank you

OP posts:

ByTheWay1 · 07/02/2013 19:36

Ours are inside - in a cupboard under the stairs - always have been, always will be.....

SwedishEdith · 07/02/2013 19:44

Oh, we had this and had to move it. It's because the pipe supplying the gas to the meter belongs to Transco (or whatever they're called now) so they need access to it. Fine when it's outside and under your drive, no good when there's a room on top of it now. I'm sure someone will say they did similar extension and never moved it but that was teh reasoning we got (probably from here!). Ours cost about £650 to move AND there's a waiting list for it as well so book it now if you need it doing. PITA

ArbitraryUsername · 07/02/2013 19:46

Ours is in the (integral) garage.

SwedishEdith · 07/02/2013 19:52

I think a garage was a "grey area" according to the Transco man i.e. he didn't really know the answer when I asked him

ArbitraryUsername · 07/02/2013 20:18

All the houses round here seem to have them in the garages as far as I can tell. It wouldn't be much of a problem if transco needed access; we'd just open up the door and they can drill into the (lumpy) concrete floor. Wouldn't be any worse than them taking up bits of the drive (which I assume they'd have to do anyway).

Lozislovely · 07/02/2013 20:42

You can site a meter pretty much anywhere except a bathroom so indoor or outdoor is fine.

The caveat to this is that there must be adequate ventilation and easy access to the control valve and as near as possible to the service pipe (gas pipe) running to your property.

The meter must also back onto an outside wall.

usualsuspect · 07/02/2013 20:43

Ive always lived in houses with indoor gas meters. Is that unusual?

ArbitraryUsername · 07/02/2013 20:44

Ours doesn't back on to an external wall. (We didn't put it in; it was there long before we bought the place).

SwedishEdith · 07/02/2013 20:46

In indorr gas meter isn't unusual but one not on an external wall (or in a garage) is, I think

Lozislovely · 07/02/2013 20:46

Should also add that the siting of the meter has to comply with the Gas Safety Regulations so if National Grid say no, it's not because they're trying to be awkward!

Lozislovely · 07/02/2013 20:47

Meters in garages are very common where the garage has been an 'add on' to the house.

SwedishEdith · 07/02/2013 20:50

Yes (I'm a complete bore on this subject) because internal floors of new extensions are usually concrete. Concrete is porous so if the gas pipe was leaking you wouldn't know for quite some time as the gas would be being absorbed into floor.

Original poster

Yorky · 08/02/2013 06:34

Bytheway, thank you for your quick and reassuring response, I felt better till I read the rest of the thread

SwedishEdith - are you an educated bore on the subject? as I am getting nervous waiting for an official reply.
Other questions include - if it HAS to be moved (ie not our choice as such) do we have to pay, or is it transco's problem to keep their pipe accessible? (clutching at straws emoticon!) And how long is the waiting list likely to be - that has the potential for a few sleepless nights as the builders start in a fortnight!
Yes, the new floor (and the current downstairs floors are) will be concrete

Would any of you have a problem with a gas meter in the back of a cupboard which had food stored in it?

OP posts:

CabbageLeaves · 08/02/2013 06:38

We converted our garage to a bedroom and gas meter stayed where it was and we put a cupboard around it. Wouldn't have been my choice tbh but needed a bedroom and moving it was far too expensive

Lozislovely · 08/02/2013 07:36

Have you asked for a quotation to move the meter? There are official forms to fill in and you're likely to have to wait 6 to 8 weeks for the work to start.

Personally I wouldn't want the meter in the same cupboard as food but that's my preference.

You can call the National Grid enquiries line for more info; 0845 835 1111.

noisytoys · 09/02/2013 14:37

I am in a house which has been converted into flats and both gas meters and electric meters are under the stairs in the communal entrance hall

janek · 09/02/2013 15:01

My electricity meter is in the cupboard under the stairs and the gas meter would be too, if some previous owner hadn't neglected to have gas put in when the rest of the street did . And it's not an outside wall.

SwedishEdith · 09/02/2013 18:37

No, I'm not an educated bore, just a bore. But we did have to go through the same situation so I'm remembering all the stuff we found out at the time from National Grid

Original poster

Yorky · 10/02/2013 08:27

OK, here's the update.

I e-mailed our architect saying I'd had conflicting advice/opinons and he said yes, he'd heard lots of different things too. But after speaking to the gas safe register and national grid, both of whom agreed

Our problem is not having an indoor meter, but the fact that we're having to build over the supply pipe. The end result is the same - it has to be moved, and it costs £1542 :( And we have to wait for them, their current lead time is 6-8 weeks, and the builders start digging our foundations in a fortnight :(

To confuse things slightly I'm not even sure which direction our gas supply comes from - our house is at the end of a cul de sac backing onto a main road, and I think that the gas is a spur off the main road - which may mean the existing pipe already runs under the existing single storey extension.

SwedishEdith - to take blatant advantage of your experience did you have to move the electricity meter as well?

OP posts:

pooka · 10/02/2013 08:33

Our gas meter was in the old coal cellar, down some rickety stairs.

We moved it when we converted the cellar, to the front garden. It did cost about £1500.

The electricity meter is in the hall, in a cupboard next to the front door, by the fuse boxes.

So the gas man comes and knocks and I tell him the meter is outside (unusual in our street - Edwardian/Victorian houses, they always assume it is inside). The electricity guy just stands by front door to read the meter.

pooka · 10/02/2013 08:35

It also took about 5 weeks for the work to be done. We got in the queue as soon as possible and the builders got on with other stuff in the cellar (changing staircase and installing plumbing and so on).

wfrances · 10/02/2013 11:52

i didnt realise you had to pay??
ours was moved and we didnt pay a penny but dh just told me they did it because it was the easy option for them, as they had cracked our gas pipe and had to replace it.so it was easier than coming into our property and digging up our concrete floors then making good.

SwedishEdith · 10/02/2013 14:36

Yes, we had to wait about 5-6 weeks as well but builder just got on with other stuff. We "only" had to pay about £680 I think, £1500 is even more extortionate. And no, we didn't move the electricity meter. I used to keep getting letters about them wanting to update it but have ignore them to date.

Original poster

Yorky · 10/02/2013 20:45

Lucky you wfrances!

Our electricity meter is fairly recent, as they replaced it when we changed from economy7, and that didn't cost us :).
Moral dilemma now over whether to not ask the question and plead ignorance, or if thats just delaying another problem till a less convenient point in time!

OP posts:

grofamweb · 22/11/2014 20:07

Does anyone know if it's considered safe to have an unenclosed gas meter in a living space. In my case I have a room that houses gas end electricity meters and I am considering using this as an office with a telephone and computer.

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