To homepage To homepage
Solved

Smart meter monthly costs - how is this calculated?

  • 30 March 2017
  • 17 replies
  • 12646 views
D
I had your smart meter fitted in December and it was great to see how much the gas and electricity was going to cost me on my January bill but after the January Bill the daily cost for the electricity and gas just carried on increasing so now 3 months down the line I'm no wiser on how much my next bill is going to be??? I would have thought that after a bill has been calculated,the meter readings of the daily cost for the usage would have been reset to zero!! Or am I missing something here???
icon

Best answer by Tim_OVO 27 June 2017, 16:07

Updated on 10/02/21: 


That smart meter and In Home Display (IHD) estimated bill won't be a total for each month. It'll provide a running total of your usage costs since they were installed, or since your last tariff change.

 

The ‘estimated bill’ figure doesn't reflect what’s on your online account.

 

The smart meter and IHD communicate with each other, giving you live usage info and historic comparisons. The smart meter also sends us a load of readings, which our billing platform and your online account gobbles up, turning them into great usage info. If your smart meter sends us your readings every 30 minutes, the online usage section is great. See our guide on this here. We also have a guide on monthly charges here. 

View original

17 replies

Darran_OVO
Userlevel 7
Hey @Rosco

@Eva_OVO has replied above. This forum is for customers to support and help each other, and when needed a moderator will step in and offer some help.

I hope the info above helps understand the reason why you may have experienced higher costs over the winter.
Did a reply solve your question? Then mark it as the correct answer!
Eva_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 6
Take a look at this topic for more info, @Rosco.

Another thing to consider is if you weren't regularly submitting readings before the smart meter were installed, we would've estimated your readings. They may have been underestimated.

Your smart meters will send us daily readings, which we'll use to bill you. These readings are incredible accurate and you'll only be charged for the energy you've used.
My friend told me how electricity is measured and I was like Watt!
R
Rank
I’m pretty unsure of the point of an OVO Forum if OVO don’t answer your questions!! Why after 3 days have I still had no response from OVO? A great company until the smart meters were installed now I’m being done over! Ready to find a new supplier I think. I can see now why they were so keen to get the smart meters installed! It’s so they can rip you off! There is now no way to read any of the dials on my meters as they are covered by Ovo equipment! I want to go back to the old system and deliver my readings myself at least it’s transparent then. Anyone know how to actually speak to someone that works for Ovo????
R
Rank
I have just had a huge bill for electricity since the Smart Meter was fitted last November for my gas and electricity. The bills carried on at around the same price each month then Today I looked more closely to see that until today I had only been billed for gas since the Meter was fitted. The amounts were around the same price as the joint bills previously. Very suspicious! So, suddenly today I get the bill with six months electricity back billed on it! Both fuel bills have risen hugely, I live alone and can't possibly see how the consumption has changed so much despite the seasonal changes in useage as this is a newly and completely renovated property with excellent insulation and low cost lighting. I have been here 7 months so have no comparisons of any previous consumption except the previous owners told me theirs was low but just a little bit more than my first six months, and those were with a young family and heavier usage than mine.
Of course I expected a rise in gas costs for central heating over the colder months but not this much for electricity which is £30 more per month when I still only have small side lights on in one room at a time most days and I live alone. I have a porch light on all night and of course cook a meal most days and wash and dry my clothes and vacuum the house twice a week but none of these are done excessively! The heating is gas and on an efficient thermostat and it has not been a cold winter in this house with the efficient insulation.
I've been in touch with Ovo today and I am going to monitor usage by pressing 9 on the Smart Meter and report back with results after a week of checking. If they come out to check the Meter I have to pay the call out charge. If there is a fault they refund that charge. I am concerned but will have to wait and see... what a worry to find the extra money of £200 as of today! If anyone else has experienced such a sudden increase I would be pleased to know, and what if anything they and Ovo have done about it. Thank you.
R
Rank
Since having my smart meters installed, my dual fuel bill has gone from roughly £60 per month for both in October 2018 to £160 per month for both in November, December, January and February. I can appreciate the season change. However I live alone in 3 bed house and have kept the gas usage the same, 3 hours per day for gas central heating. Lights being on for an extra 3-4 hours a day shouldn’t cost an extra £100 per month!! My smart meter reads £0.50p - £0.60p at 1 minute past midnight!! Is this right??
Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7
Hi, Why is it the smart meters cannot be used as a monthly collection figure instead of or as well as the ongoing amount , i thought this was one of the points of them !, would be good to be able to reset amount every month as a stand alone hence people would know exactly how much they are using without having to deduct figures, just my idea :)).

Hi @Toto

I've popped your query onto an older topic related to the same thing. Check out the best answer to this topic (at the top) and let me know if this doesn't answer your question.

Thanks,
Tim
Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there!
Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Updated on 10/02/21: 


That smart meter and In Home Display (IHD) estimated bill won't be a total for each month. It'll provide a running total of your usage costs since they were installed, or since your last tariff change.

 

The ‘estimated bill’ figure doesn't reflect what’s on your online account.

 

The smart meter and IHD communicate with each other, giving you live usage info and historic comparisons. The smart meter also sends us a load of readings, which our billing platform and your online account gobbles up, turning them into great usage info. If your smart meter sends us your readings every 30 minutes, the online usage section is great. See our guide on this here. We also have a guide on monthly charges here. 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there!
T
Rank
Hi, Why is it the smart meters cannot be used as a monthly collection figure instead of or as well as the ongoing amount , i thought this was one of the points of them !, would be good to be able to reset amount every month as a stand alone hence people would know exactly how much they are using without having to deduct figures, just my idea :)).
Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7
I am also confused - should the gas smart meter count at the same rate as the old meter? What were the units of measure on the old and new meters? I too am exceedingly suspicious of the readings and frankly there is absolutely no way I can verify the accuracy.

That smart meter will be calculated in meters cubed (m3), Kimmy, which is then converted into kWh’s. Your old meter would have be the same, or it was measured in feet cubed (the old fashioned way). Check out your bills to view your usage in both m3 and kWh’s here.

Tim
Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there!
K
Rank
I am also confused - should the gas smart meter count at the same rate as the old meter? What were the units of measure on the old and new meters? I too am exceedingly suspicious of the readings and frankly there is absolutely no way I can verify the accuracy.
Emma_G
Rank
Userlevel 5
I have to admit, I wondered whether I had done something wrong, as my IHD displays the total cost since having the smart meter installed in Oct/Nov.
Whilst it is frustrating, I am aware of the history tab and how it can be broken down.
Would it be possible in the future to display the total cost somewhere else and a running total on display?
Lucy_OVO
Userlevel 5
The usage meter that came with the installation of my smart meters is a load of rubbish!
It has no reset options, so totals just keep adding up. All it's good for is showing current usage. I suggest that either OVO arrange for a major software update to it or dump it!

Interesting comment, RTFishall and I know what you mean. The estimated bill section doesn’t reset but you’ll still be able to see a breakdown of your usage on the ‘History’ tab. You’ll be able to see the breakdown by day, week or month and even over the full year.

Lucy
You guys know what’s watt
R
Rank
Userlevel 1
The usage meter that came with the installation of my smart meters is a load of rubbish!
It has no reset options, so totals just keep adding up. All it's good for is showing current usage. I suggest that either OVO arrange for a major software update to it or dump it!
Darran_OVO
Userlevel 7
Hi both

Thanks for your comments, REAvirgo, I've moved your comment to join Drewm9991's comments so that they are in the same place as they are about a similar issue.

Hopefully others will be able to share their experiences with you on this, but my moderators will also check in and provide any assistance that they can shortly.

I have also updated the title and added some tags to make this easier for other users to find.

Darran
Did a reply solve your question? Then mark it as the correct answer!
R
I have just had a huge bill for electricity since the Smart Meter was fitted last November for my gas and electricity. The bills carried on at around the same price each month then Today I looked more closely to see that until today I had only been billed for gas since the Meter was fitted. The amounts were around the same price as the joint bills previously. Very suspicious! So, suddenly today I get the bill with six months electricity back billed on it! Both fuel bills have risen hugely, I live alone and can't possibly see how the consumption has changed so much despite the seasonal changes in useage as this is a newly and completely renovated property with excellent insulation and low cost lighting. I have been here 7 months so have no comparisons of any previous consumption except the previous owners told me theirs was low but just a little bit more than my first six months, and those were with a young family and heavier usage than mine.
Of course I expected a rise in gas costs for central heating over the colder months but not this much for electricity which is £30 more per month when I still only have small side lights on in one room at a time most days and I live alone. I have a porch light on all night and of course cook a meal most days and wash and dry my clothes and vacuum the house twice a week but none of these are done excessively! The heating is gas and on an efficient thermostat and it has not been a cold winter in this house with the efficient insulation.
I've been in touch with Ovo today and I am going to monitor usage by pressing 9 on the Smart Meter and report back with results after a week of checking. If they come out to check the Meter I have to pay the call out charge. If there is a fault they refund that charge. I am concerned but will have to wait and see... what a worry to find the extra money of £200 as of today! If anyone else has experienced such a sudden increase I would be pleased to know, and what if anything they and Ovo have done about it. Thank you.

Reply


@OVOEnergy latest: