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Using gas whilst away, how is this possible?

  • 4 November 2017
  • 9 replies
  • 13930 views
T
So whilst i was away the My OVO app showed i was burning 30p a day of gas. Now i use NEST so i turned the thermostat to off before going

I have no other gas appliance so unsure what to-do, i have OVO smart meters so could they be sending false data?
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Best answer by Mw2870 5 November 2017, 17:59

Updated 17/09/2020 - See the info below on possible reasons for usage when the house is empty. See this guide for how to test for a fault meter. 

I was interested in your post as I have also been looking at my gas consumption when I am not at home since my Smart Meter was installed.

On days I am not in the house for a whole 24hour period, MyOVO shows that the Gas cost for the day was £0.33. This seems to be consistent across the month.

This is made up of 28.77p standing charge and then 1.4 kwh of use @ 2.66p per kWH.
So 32.494p in total (I guess My OVO always rounds up in the graph).

So I was curious as to what is using the 1.4 kwh of Gas.... I have two Gas Appliances, a Vaillant Combi Boiler which does hot water and heating and a gas hob.

Now I know for sure the hob wasn't turned on, and I too have a Nest system so I know that the heating wasn't turned on at all (from the history in Nest).

So I have three theories
1) The Boiler occasionally uses a tiny bit of gas? Some sort of maintenance safety feature...
2) I have the worlds smallest gas leak
3) The meter is creeping when no gas is being used

I plan to test these theories by switching the boiler off completely and seeing if I get the same result next time I go away.

 

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9 replies

Dantheman
Rank
I have an oldish boiler, so assume that excess over standing charge will be pilot light use?.? Not too many ghosts ‘round here!
NinjaGeek
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +2
I think it depends if you are looking at the kWh graph or the price graph.

Price graph shows the standing charge on both the bar and if you hover over:



The kWh graph includes it in the price if you hover over, but the usage bar is purely kWh used:



I still think it's a ghost in your homes 😛
Renewable energy + EV enthusiast
Mw2870
Rank
Userlevel 5
I think it depends if you are looking at the kWh graph or the price graph.

Price graph shows the standing charge on both the bar and if you hover over:



The kWh graph includes it in the price if you hover over, but the usage bar is purely kWh used:

2 Attachments
Dantheman
Rank
What has not been made clear, is whether standing charges ARE included in usage graphs. If they are, this would explain 30p usage per day when no gas is on. OVO are you able to confirm one way or another??
Mw2870
Rank
Userlevel 5
So just an update on this now that the summer is here!

The conclusion, my meter is definitely not creeping forwards on its own and it is the boiler that is using gas, even when it is not being used!

So this is what my usage looks like when I am away and there is no-one at home and I can double check the heating is not being used through the nest app:



This is what my usage looks like when I switch it off the boiler completely before I go away:



So even though I have a combi boiler, with no hot water tank and I know the heating is not being used, it still seems to used around 1kWh of Gas per day. Next time the annual service is due I will ask the plumber to see if he knows why.

So in the summer I can turn it off completely before I go away (no pilot light so easy to switch off and on), but in the Winter I will probably leave on when away as the thermostat will cut in if the temperature drops to prevent the pipes freezing and it is nice to turn the heating on when you are on your way home!
2 Attachments
Lucy_OVO
Userlevel 5

Looking at my daily u sage graph I see that a small amount of gas shows as being used during 3 days when I was away & ALL gas appliances were shut down, how is this or does it indicate that there is a small gas leak somewhere ? The amounts were 0-03kWh, 0-09kWh & 0-10kWh for each of the 3 days.

 


Hey radarman,

We might need to look into this for you. 
Lucy

 

You guys know what’s watt
R
Rank
Looking at my daily u sage graph I see that a small amount of gas shows as being used during 3 days when I was away & ALL gas appliances were shut down, how is this or does it indicate that there is a small gas leak somewhere ? The amounts were 0-03kWh, 0-09kWh & 0-10kWh for each of the 3 days.
Mw2870
Rank
Userlevel 5

Updated 17/09/2020 - See the info below on possible reasons for usage when the house is empty. See this guide for how to test for a fault meter. 

I was interested in your post as I have also been looking at my gas consumption when I am not at home since my Smart Meter was installed.

On days I am not in the house for a whole 24hour period, MyOVO shows that the Gas cost for the day was £0.33. This seems to be consistent across the month.

This is made up of 28.77p standing charge and then 1.4 kwh of use @ 2.66p per kWH.
So 32.494p in total (I guess My OVO always rounds up in the graph).

So I was curious as to what is using the 1.4 kwh of Gas.... I have two Gas Appliances, a Vaillant Combi Boiler which does hot water and heating and a gas hob.

Now I know for sure the hob wasn't turned on, and I too have a Nest system so I know that the heating wasn't turned on at all (from the history in Nest).

So I have three theories
1) The Boiler occasionally uses a tiny bit of gas? Some sort of maintenance safety feature...
2) I have the worlds smallest gas leak
3) The meter is creeping when no gas is being used

I plan to test these theories by switching the boiler off completely and seeing if I get the same result next time I go away.

 

B
Rank
Same happened to me suspect, in fact I'm fairly certain it's the standing charge being levied. Its alerted me to the true cost of standing charges and something I'll look at more deeply when my current contract expires. It amounts to approximately £200 per year for joint fuel customers and that's a very significant chunk of my annual bill :@:@

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