Coming off the gas

I don't think so, from <https://octopus.energy/blog/disconnecting-your-gas-supply>

"Right now, because we get a fairly small number of these requests, we're shouldering these charges and removing the meters free of charge for customers. But as it becomes more common, we might need to start charging for the removal of gas meters, not just to cover the MAP's costs but also to cover the cost for the engineer's time"

Here's some paperwork from Octopus that I had to agree with. My impression is that the meter removal is free and that if I restart within one year, the refit is also free, errr, I think.

Gas meter removal

As you have indicated that you would like your gas meter removed, we first need to provide you with some further information so that you can make the most informed decision.

Firstly, please confirm that the following statement is true:

You are the homeowner or the landlord of the property for the meter removal request OR The homeowner or landlord has been notified of the meter removal request

Secondly, please confirm that at least one of the following statements is true:

Gas meter is no longer in use and you no longer want to pay standing charges.

Gas supply is no longer required.

Electric-only technology is used at the property (e.g. An Air source heat pump).

Renovations or home improvements are being undertaken at the property. The property is being demolished. Scheduling of the appointment is processed by our engineers, if your desired appointment date/time is unavailable, then they will contact you further with other appointment options. Once the appointment has been booked, should you need to alter o cancel the appointment, please contact us directly at your earliest opportunity. If the appointment is cancelled on the day there may be a cancellation charge applied to your account.

For the appointment to go ahead, you need to ensure that the engineer has ready access to the property. This includes the facility to park at or close to the address. Please advise of any restrictions that are in place.

The engineer will also need access to the meter. Please ensure that there is a clear path to and space around the meter or meter box to allow the engineer to carry out the work. With the above in mind, we would like to set your expectations of how the removal process will work on the day of the appointment.

Our engineers will call you on the day of the appointment, approximately

Once on-site, our engineer will begin by capping the incoming gas supply and removing the meter, this process usually takes around 1 hour to complete so please allow this time when agreeing to your appointment. Once complete, the engineer will relay the outcome of the appointment back to us and we will update your account to reflect the meter as being removed.

All of this is done for you free of charge

At this point, your gas meter has been removed, and your account with Octopus updated. The MPRN and Gas Transporter pipework that is associated with your address still exist. There is a 12-month period starting from the date of the removal in which you can choose to have a gas meter reinstalled to the property. If this period expires, the Gas Transporter will contact you directly to facilitate the permanent removal of the remaining pipework and termination of the MPRN.

Should you wish for a gas supply to be reinstated to the property at a future date, you will first have to liaise with the Gas Transporter in your area to arrange for a new MPRN and pipework to be installed. This work is chargeable directly between yourself and the Gas Transporter and must be completed before the installation of a new gas meter. To confirm that you are happy with all of the above, please inform our customer service team at the following:

E-mail: snipped-for-privacy@octopus.energy Phone: Our phone number is 0333 344 2268 or 0808 164 1088. Our phone lines are open Monday to Thursday, 9 am to 5 pm and Friday, 9 am to 4 pm. Yours sincerely, Octopus Energy

If you hade/have gas, presumably you used it for heating, what have you replaced it with? Hopefully you're not having to do it to avoid the standing charges and then see how it works out without gas?

Possibly not cost but removal and installation in their time scale and not yours.

I had this done 40 years ago (so a quite different era) and they simply locked off the Gas Isolation handle on the meter with a seal.

More recently (2019) I got South East Water to suspend my water account. Nothing physical happened, I just promised to let them know when I was going to start using water again. They simply suspended the Standing Charges

I suppose these days with a smart meter they could just cut you off remotely :)

Yes, only for heating - and that for less than 5 months a year. Before we had a gas feed and after this disconnection - Oil-filled electric heaters and an Electrical Immersion Heater. The difference is that with only me in the house, I plan to actively heat only the three rooms I live in.

Might seem a bit OTT just to save £11 a month - but it is just an experiment which seems to be, currently, free of charge. (Well, free for now: Your Octopus Blog post noted)

Watch out. My brother tried that and found mildew on everything in all the unused rooms.

There are 'zero standing charge' tariffs coming 'ready for winter 2025/26':

Requires a smart meter, but if you don't want one of those presumably other tariffs will come along towards the autumn.

You can then 'virtually' disconnect your gas but still have it there if you need it. If it turns out you don't actually use it over the winter then you can go ahead and get it disconnected.

If you turn off the gas at the meter, do you need to purge gas lines when turning it back on? You'll have to relight any pilot lights. Depending on the age of the boiler it may suffice not to turn off at the meter and just to not turn the heating on which means the gas valve at the boiler never opens.

Theo

Indeed, it's a recipe for trouble. Either you need heating or ventilation, if you have neither then with moist things in there (like breathing humans) then you get damp and then mould.

Sealing doors to unused rooms and opening windows to turn them into ventilated outdoor spaces is an option, but that makes the uninsulated internal walls be at outdoor temperature - so inside your living area they get condensation and so mould.

You'd also need to be obsessive about indoor moisture - cooking, showers, laundry. Good extractor fans are a must.

But if you can keep everything above the dew point you may be ok. Would be an interesting experiment to have a heater controlled by humidity sensors (indoor and out). When it's a snowy day the air is dry and you don't need much heat, when it's a rainy day it's moist and you do.

Theo

I'm aware of all these points - and have been testing for the last two years. No sign of mildew or of aspergillus in the "passive" rooms. The only closed door within the house is the kitchen door - when cooking. I do very little "steamy" cooking and the little laundry is double-spun then hung either outside or in the conservatory.

My lifestyle is hardcore ascetic. Bugger all water, gas and electric. Two to three wheely-bins-worth of refuse per annum.

I'm aware of the zero-standing-charge issues - and don't expect them to make any sense. The Utilita one has a break-even, compared to Octopus, of about 0.3 cubic metre per day. So it is really meant for truly zero users, IMHO.

This house had no gas when we moved in, so is primarily electric. I converted the oil CH to gas when gas became available in the street. The gas meter is on the outer house wall and the boiler is just the other side of the wall, so a purge will not be an issue - and it has an electronic pilot igniter.

My main concern is that the assurances I have received from Octopus as to the costs to me of disconnecting then, maybe, reconnecting will be reneged upon.

Now that’s impressive! So bloody hard to avoid excess plastic packaging etc these days. Mind you, even if I eschewed all superfluous packaging, my bottle bin would still need emptying monthly. ;-)

Tim

I had a similar situation some thirty-odd years ago. No cost to remove, no cost if I wanted it replaced. However, it was pointed out to me that if, in the intervening period, they replaced the gas main, then my property would not be connected and any subsequent reconnection would involve laying a new pipe with associated charges.

Just something to bear in mind.

I'm often surprised how much more rubbish and recycling neighbours put out each week - around 3x per person more than myself, and I don't go out of the way cut down on packaging with what I buy and I don't tend to crush cans or collapse plastic bottles. It's not just one neighbour, many seem to put out mountains of sacks.

I used to compost a lot of card packaging but these days too much of it is plastic coated so that suppliers can claim to be going green by removing plastic bags inside their boxes :)

Gave up alcohol about ten years ago. Now, mostly water!

Bugger-all water means about 66L per day.

Thank you for all of the interest shown. I've decided to keep connected

- at least for now! I believe that my latest Wizard Prang needs another winter of tests.

Just for now - and this is a long-term experiment - I attach to a graph of kilowatt-hours per annum from when I installed the current gas boiler.

Struggling to follow your graph. Did you really use the best part of 4,000 kWhr in January 2025 for electric and 20,000 kWhr for gas?

Are you growing cannabis indoors?

Tim

I think it means 4,000 kWhr for electricity and 20,000 kWh for gas for the year up to January 2025.

In which case, no, but still 'high'.