Monitoring gas usage, do I have a meter pulse output?

[Ra]

I want to get more in touch with when and how much gas I am using. Monitoring electrical use is fairly easy but gas seems to be in a different world. I am wondering if the yellow cover on top of my gas meter hides a socket for meter pulses. I could simply remove it and connect to a pulse conting device that I have.

I know it's not my meter. I can always call the gas company and ask if I can connect to it.

Any advice?

[dinitro]

This has been touched on before....

A simpler way is to see if there is a silver tab when the red dial rotates

a front mounted photodiode can be 'attached' and you should be able to 'count' the
revolutions.

this would mean you do not 'interfere' with the meter and do not have to call the meter company.

dinitro

[peewee]

Ra
looking at your meter it would seem to me it does not have the correct lable on it, you local gas provider may be able to give you a new meter NO CHARGE, there are loggers you can get for gas meters I used one when working at BSI.
Peewee

[Paulh_Boats]

All,

Our meter was replaced a few years ago with a new model that has an LCD display (I'll post a pic tonight). If we can get a logger it would be useful.

Check out this link. Apparently smart meters are available:
http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Metering/smart_metering/get_it/

I contacted our gas supplier nPower but they had no information about smart meters.

Google for "smart gas meter" - there are loads of links.

cheers
Paul

[KenB]

Ra,

Unfortunately the old Parkinson Cowan meters have no pulse output - there is nothing of any use under the yellow plug - do not try to remove it.

The Schlumberger R5 meters have a reedswitch internally and an RJ11 socket (telephone style jack) underneath the plastic index box to which you can connect a pulse counter - provided that it is intrinsically safe (cannot cause spark or temperature that could ignite a gas air mixture). 

It is unlikely that you will be able to find a BASEEFA Ex approved pulsecounter for under £500, so any pulsecounter you might fit is entirely at your own risk - and the Meter man might take a dim view of it.  I spent most of  a year back in 1998 getting BASEEFA Ex approvals for a gas meter pulse counting device.

In a cost cutting move, some firms removed the pulsecounting reedswitch and just silvered the centre of the zero digit, so that it could be read with an opto-reflective photo-diode.  The Actaris meter is like this - and I have successfully read pulses from it with a opto reflective photoemitter/diode pair.

One idea is to get a cheap USB webcam, and if the meter is within 6m of  your PC, use the cam on a USB extension cable to read it. 

Alternatively if you have a SCART input into a telly or PC TV/video capature card  possibly consider  Black & White security cameras have a IR ring of LEDs to allow them to illuminate their subjects in the dark - and these will run on up to 100m of 4 way telephone cable.


Ken

[dinitro]

just seen this;

http://phk.freebsd.dk/Gasdims/

a circuit diagram and hints for a gas useage device

dinitro

[wyleu]

It is a very interesting issue as far as the ownership of data is concerned. Perhaps if the company claims the information is theirs, in that they can use it for data analysis, you could insist on access to the pulse output via Freedom of Information.

That would keep the Company lawyers busy for five years or so.

[DJBlack]

The Schlumberger R5 meters have a reedswitch internally and an RJ11 socket (telephone style jack) underneath the plastic index box to which you can connect a pulse counter - provided that it is intrinsically safe (cannot cause spark or temperature that could ignite a gas air mixture). 

Hi Ken

I have been looking around for a few months to find the pinouts for the RJ11, and your posting (and hence my joining this forum!) is the first time I have read anything about this meter!

I have searched all over the place and could not find any reference to the RJ11....

Can you point me in the direction of a PDF for the R5?

Any help is very much appreciated.

DJ

[roscoe]

just wondering if you managed to get details on this RJ11 connection ?

[derek]

Just looked at my Slumberger R5 gas meter. Can confirm that the underside of the unit that encloses the 'digits' does indeed have an RJ11 socket fitted. Only two of the six pins are installed on the RJ11 socket. I'm reckoning that these are tied to either end of a reed switch. Once I test this theory, i'll be looking to build a small microcontroller circuit to count the pulses.

Then, I can hook the circuit up to my Home Automation Hub (http://www.dbzoo.com/livebox/hah) and publish the graph of gas use to pachube in a similar way that I already do for electricity with the CurrentCost unit.

[roscoe]

I think the RJ-11 contact is pins 3-4 others not used.
I never managed to find a data sheet or PDF.