DTE came out and checked around our meter and informed me there was a leak. The guy parked in our driveway so he was here to check our residence, not going house to house reading meters.
How did they know to come out and check for a leak?

The reason I ask is our furnace had not been working reliably and the new part installed did not fix it so we are schedule for a new furnace.
Is it possible these two events are related?

Sadly, I did not think to ask the gentlemen who came out to fix the leak and so, called the office which told me it was a small leak and not likely the problem. So naturally I think to myself they might be trying avoid liability rather than this being coincidence.

We're due for a new furnace anyway but the timing of events seems suspect.

Initially gas odor investigation report called in by a neighbor?

I have no idea… Purely speculating here

I would imagine that they saw a difference in the delivered amount of gas versus the metered amount of gas to your house. If you saw more gas delivered versus what was metered, you might assume a leak.

If the leak was small enough that you didn't even notice it, I seriously doubt it could in any way affect the operation of your furnace.

A 'bubbler' would be unlikely to cause issues with appliances. We had a small leak (like 1 small bubble in 4-5seconds) on a tee that went from at least Sept 2010 (bought house) to Oct 2019 -contractor smelled gas & checked. When I moved in, I could catch a faint whiff of gas if the house had sat empty/no HVAC for a while. Never found it and I sprayed that tee, just didn't see it bubble.

They probably had a discrepancy between meters & actual usage & narrowed it down to a branch, then went house-to-house. Maybe he pulled in driveway & got it 1st try.

You guys are probably right.

I was hoping I wouldn't get, "It most definitely would be the problem. Throw that old part back into the furnace and save yourself $4500!"
That would mean they pulled one over one me.

A couple years ago our gas meter converted from analog to digital with the information sent continuously to the gas company.

It is possible that in your case, if digital, that the hourly usage did not correspond with normal day time usage.

Maybe, I don't know. Just sayin'.

Does your gas meter report data back to the gas company OTA? I know ours does, I guess it's considered a smart meter? They may have gotten some data that looked off and indicated a leak.

quote:

Originally posted by old dino:
A couple years ago our gas meter converted from analog to digital with the information sent continuously to the gas company.

It is possible that in your case, if digital, that the hourly usage did not correspond with normal day time usage.

Maybe, I don't know. Just sayin'.

Now that you mention it, I think they installed one of those 3 or so yrs. ago.
That has to be it.

It's sounding less and less like a conspiracy.

Had the water company show up at 11:30pm one night at our house for a leak we did not know we had.

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:

quote:

Originally posted by old dino:
A couple years ago our gas meter converted from analog to digital with the information sent continuously to the gas company.

It is possible that in your case, if digital, that the hourly usage did not correspond with normal day time usage.

Maybe, I don't know. Just sayin'.

Now that you mention it, I think they installed one of those 3 or so yrs. ago.
That has to be it.

It's sounding less and less like a conspiracy.

It would have to have been a leak so large, that you would have smelled it instantly, just before your house blew up, before anyone at DTE would have noticed your gas usage being so high!
More than likely, as shovelhead pointed out, your neighbor or a passerby noticed it and phoned it in. More than likely it was picked up by a gas company employee performing what is called a "leak survey", every two years using very sensitive leak detectors they perform this service, crews go out and walk the gas mains, service lines to the house, and around the meter assembly. If they find minor leaks it gets referred to the service shop, and they in turn send someone out to make repairs.

Of course this is based on my assumption that the leak was outside.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Warhorse,

You can take that to the bank!


WH is known in some circles as, "the Gas Man" (ret.)

I'm on the Board of Directors for a small community water system. Over the past few years we've been swappign out the traditional meters for smart meters. The meters measure usage in 1 minute increments, then uses the cell towers to transmit usage once per day, just after midnight. We even have "alerts" set up on them to monitor for continuous usage. For example, a leaky toilet may use 1 gallon per minute for 24 hours per day. We've notified homeowners when they've had a leak and they didn't even know it.

My guess is your meter was flagged as one that had continuous usage over a period of time.

Pilot lights might also indicate continuous usage,but they could probably figure that out by looking at your usage history.

Gas companies do a walk around with gas sniffing equipment to check for leaks in the under/above ground piping.
So it could have been a routine check.

Leaks as such are not going to effect your furnace.
However, it sounds like since the tech doesn't know how to fix your furnace, that means you need a new one.

That's the MO for several companies who lack a quality service department.

Im curious as to the make, model and serial of said furnace.
What was the initial problem and what part did they guess was causing your problem.

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
I'm on the Board of Directors for a small community water system. Over the past few years we've been swappign out the traditional meters for smart meters. The meters measure usage in 1 minute increments, then uses the cell towers to transmit usage once per day, just after midnight. We even have "alerts" set up on them to monitor for continuous usage. For example, a leaky toilet may use 1 gallon per minute for 24 hours per day. We've notified homeowners when they've had a leak and they didn't even know it.

My guess is your meter was flagged as one that had continuous usage over a period of time.

Pilot lights might also indicate continuous usage,but they could probably figure that out by looking at your usage history.

Along the same lines as your post, I just had a man from our rural water system come out yesterday and replace the smart meter transmitter on my water service. Apparently the transmitter was a 3G transmitter and AT&T, the wireless service for the transmitter, is swapping everything over to 4 and 5G. I would suspect the gas company's have a similar setup.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Im curious as to the make, model and serial of said furnace.
What was the initial problem and what part did they guess was causing your problem.

It's an Amana Model #GUD115X50B.
The problem was a condenser motor? That the bearings were shot. But behind that where it mounted there was a crack in a plate which was keeping it from forming a vacuum which wasn't discovered until the next day, so before throwing another part and more labor at the old thing, I elected to put it down and order a new one. It served for 27 yrs.