# Forum Home Renovation Plumbing  gas meter replacement

## HaydnG

I am renovating and I want to install new gas heating, gas cooking and gas hw and apparenty I  need to upgrade my gas meter to increase the amount of gas coming in the house. 
AGL have told me I need to pay the nearly 3K to upgrade the existing meter!! 
Why do I have to pay that when I will be paying them for the extra gas anyway? Seems crazy to me. 
The existing one is an old unit and I am wondering if I should loosen something and say its faulty. I might be able to get a larger replacment one for free?? 
Any help would be appreciated

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## Bloss

> I am renovating and I want to install new gas heating, gas cooking and gas hw and apparenty I  need to upgrade my gas meter to increase the amount of gas coming in the house. 
> AGL have told me I need to pay the nearly 3K to upgrade the existing meter!! 
> The existing one is an old unit and I am wondering if I should loosen something and say its faulty. I might be able to get a larger replacment one for free?? 
> Any help would be appreciated

  Sounds a lot, but probably means you need a new line from the main not simply a new meter. Maybe AGL varies, but that is around 3 times what it cost for a new meter connection in the ACT recently.  A little over two years ago it cost me only $2K for a new connection to a house where the line had to come from an adjacent cul de sac along a reserve and then into a battle axe block - 400m of new line. 
In any case trying to do a 'dodgy brothers' will end in tears one way or another. Not only is it potentially dangerous it is a criminal offence and has that added risk of gaol fines or both - so save your effort and save money so you can do it legally.  :2thumbsup:

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## nev25

Could it be possible that they have quoted you the cost of plumbing to the appliances which I think there hourly rate is a lot more than a private plumber.
I had my meter replaced around 6 months ago because it was leaking and it cost me nothing. 
I would talk to a plumber as see what he says

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## Smurf

Sounds like a lot just for a meter. Maybe it includes some new pipes etc as well? 
Some other options you could look at would be to not have the gas instant HWS at all since they use huge amounts of gas. You probably wouldn't need a new meter without that. 
Gas storage HWS heats in a tank and has a much lower hourly gas consumption so may not need a meter upgrade. 
Electric off-peak HWS on the cheapest off-peak rate is similar cost to run as gas in most areas and doesn't use gas at all. 
Solar or heat pump hot water also doesn't need gas except for gas-boosted solar systems. 
Reverse cycle air-conditioning instead of the gas room heating. Not sure how the cost compares in other parts of the country, but in Tas at least it's half the running cost of gas anyway with the added benefit of cooling in summer. 
An LPG cylinder to run the cooking. It's more expensive to run but cooking doesn't use much gas in total - it just uses a lot in a short period (the issue with the meter). $3000 will buy you a few decades' worth of LPG (check the local cost before going ahead to be sure). 
So there's a few options there. A plumber will be able to work out if they would or would not avoid the cost of a new meter. If you knew the maximum flow rating of the meter and how much each appliance uses then you could work it out yourself.

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## Peeeeda

Mate, it's the GAS NETWORK OPERATOR that's responsible for upgrading your meter or reg to a larger size (subject to the pressure/volume being available).  Not the gas retailer.  I don't know if AGL own the gas mains in Geelong.  Here in QLD they are just a retailer and the mains are owned by Envestra or Australian Pipeline Trust. 
If the network operator tells you that you are on low pressure and that you can only have x amount of megajoules then that is usually it.  It's then up to your gas fitter to size the outlet pipe from the meter correctly.   
A standard 6m3 domestic gas meter is rated for 240mj but can pass more.  The exact same meter but rated for commercial will pass 10m3 (400mj)plus.  It's normally free to upgrade a meter or reg.  The more gas you use the more the retailer and operator get paid.

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## jatt

Not sure how things work gas wise in Geelong. 
If u have an Origin Energy shop down in Geelong I would try them. 
When I bought a joint in Bendigo all I had was a pipe poking out the ground which was capped off. 
It was 3 years ago but it cost me about $1900 from memory.  This got me a meter, roughly 10 metres of 3/4 copper line, a wall furness heater.  Included install.  Another $100 for a sparky to install a powerpoint for the fan. 
The plumber that did the job told me if u go above 3/4 line, then u need fittings instead of simply bending the copper line.  Obviously that adds $ to the final price.   
Mentioned to him that in the future I may replace the oven (which I have done since) and the hot water svc.  He said he put a meter in that would happily cope with extra demand from the above mentioned extras.

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