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Why do I get estimated readings in my bill when I have a smart meter?

  • 13 February 2017
  • 83 replies
  • 26466 views
J
Rank

Hi,

 

I have a smart meter why do I get estimated readings on my Bill? I thought a smart meter would know my correct readings.

 

Jonboy.

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Best answer by Darran_OVO 14 February 2017, 10:55

Update on 29/09/20: Estimated readings when you have a smart meter indicate that we’re not getting sent your readings remotely from your smart meter. You can check this in the meter readings section of your online account. We’ve made a ‘smart meter health check’ guide that will let you work out the issue:

If you have a Secure Liberty 100/110 smart meter, see the guide here

If you have a Acara, Honeywell or Flonidan smart meter, see the guide here


 

Hi Jonboy

Thanks for being the first customer to post a question on our new forum! Great to have you on board.

We are still new so I'm stepping in to help while our other users get up to speed. Hopefully, this is useful.

This is odd, you usually wouldn't get an estimated bill, so there's a couple of things we'll need you to check for us to ensure your smart meter is connecting with us as it should be. The quickest way to do this is to check a few details on each of the meters.

On the electricity meter, can you see the WAN light? This will be either flashing (in cycles of up to 5), or solid. If it’s a solid light, it means we don’t have a connection with the smart meter. We’ll then need to determine the next course of action to get this fixed.

The next thing to check is on the gas meter. On the display, there will be a HAN symbol. This measures the connection between the gas meter and electricity meter. Because the gas meter doesn’t communicate with us directly, instead it connects with us via the electricity meter, it’s important that there’s a strong connection between the two meters. If the HAN symbol is flashing, it suggests there is a connection issue, and we’d need to look at getting you a relay, which will increase the signal strength between the two meters.

The last thing to check is that the meters have been set up correctly. Pressing 0 on each of the meters should show you the date and time. If they don't just let us know so we can help you further.

Thanks and keep us posted!

Darran_OVO

 

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Darran_OVO
Userlevel 7

Update on 29/09/20: Estimated readings when you have a smart meter indicate that we’re not getting sent your readings remotely from your smart meter. You can check this in the meter readings section of your online account. We’ve made a ‘smart meter health check’ guide that will let you work out the issue:

If you have a Secure Liberty 100/110 smart meter, see the guide here

If you have a Acara, Honeywell or Flonidan smart meter, see the guide here


 

Hi Jonboy

Thanks for being the first customer to post a question on our new forum! Great to have you on board.

We are still new so I'm stepping in to help while our other users get up to speed. Hopefully, this is useful.

This is odd, you usually wouldn't get an estimated bill, so there's a couple of things we'll need you to check for us to ensure your smart meter is connecting with us as it should be. The quickest way to do this is to check a few details on each of the meters.

On the electricity meter, can you see the WAN light? This will be either flashing (in cycles of up to 5), or solid. If it’s a solid light, it means we don’t have a connection with the smart meter. We’ll then need to determine the next course of action to get this fixed.

The next thing to check is on the gas meter. On the display, there will be a HAN symbol. This measures the connection between the gas meter and electricity meter. Because the gas meter doesn’t communicate with us directly, instead it connects with us via the electricity meter, it’s important that there’s a strong connection between the two meters. If the HAN symbol is flashing, it suggests there is a connection issue, and we’d need to look at getting you a relay, which will increase the signal strength between the two meters.

The last thing to check is that the meters have been set up correctly. Pressing 0 on each of the meters should show you the date and time. If they don't just let us know so we can help you further.

Thanks and keep us posted!

Darran_OVO

 

Did a reply solve your question? Then mark it as the correct answer!
Emma_G
Rank
Userlevel 5
Am not sure exactly how long you have had a smart meter Jonboy, but I experienced the same just after my smart meter was installed.
A phone call to the helpful OVO team helped set my mind at ease as they explained this may happen in the weeks after an installation whilst the system switches over to that of the smart meter. Sure enough, estimated readings did not last long.

I hope this helps, and apologise if it does not
Lucy_OVO
Userlevel 5
Hey Jonboy and Emma_G,

Thanks for both your comments.

As your topic will be really helpful to other users Jonboy, I’ve updated the title and added a few tags to make it more searchable. I hope that this will increase the chances of more users joining the conversation and sharing their experience with us!

It’s also really good to have users like yourself, Emma_G, sharing your experience as it’s good to get a feel for what our customers are thinking.

It’s really great to have you engaging with us and I look forward to seeing some more comments and topics from you both soon.

Thanks,
Lucy
You guys know what’s watt
stateofit
Rank
Userlevel 3
Economy 7 meters worked well with Storage Heaters, but when many folk had their storage heaters taken out for being inefficient and a bit ugly, the meters carry on working the same way, and it can be hard to make enough use of the off-peak register. It's worth finding out exactly what your timings are : Most of them are Midnight til 7am off-peak, but not all, some have some weird and wonderful settings; There's even economy 10 : 0000 - 0500, 1300 - 1600 and 2000 - 2200 kinda thing... If you know When your energy is cheaper you can arrange to run the washing machine and other thirsty appliances during those hours... You'd be surprised how much money you can save...

If your smart meters have been installed for at least 6 - 8 weeks, and you're Still getting estimated bills, it may be that your meters are set to send reads once a month, which is practically useless. Ask OVO to amend the settings to Half-Hourly. It sounds mental, but with half-hourly reads your bills will never miss a read, and your usage graph will show you how much energy you were using all throughout the day. If something you're using, or doing, uses more power then you thought, you can Actually see it, and do something about it...
You can't have everything. Where would you put it...?
Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7
Economy 7 meters worked well with Storage Heaters, but when many folk had their storage heaters taken out for being inefficient and a bit ugly, the meters carry on working the same way, and it can be hard to make enough use of the off-peak register. It's worth finding out exactly what your timings are : Most of them are Midnight til 7am off-peak, but not all, some have some weird and wonderful settings; There's even economy 10 : 0000 - 0500, 1300 - 1600 and 2000 - 2200 kinda thing... If you know When your energy is cheaper you can arrange to run the washing machine and other thirsty appliances during those hours... You'd be surprised how much money you can save...

If your smart meters have been installed for at least 6 - 8 weeks, and you're Still getting estimated bills, it may be that your meters are set to send reads once a month, which is practically useless. Ask OVO to amend the settings to Half-Hourly. It sounds mental, but with half-hourly reads your bills will never miss a read, and your usage graph will show you how much energy you were using all throughout the day. If something you're using, or doing, uses more power then you thought, you can Actually see it, and do something about it...

That's superb advice, stateofit - thanks for sharing this!

You might consider creating a new OVO Forum topic, outlining your advice on an Economy 7 set up. I recon a lot of users will find this helpful in getting their costs down, and they might not see it here, as a comment.

Keep up the great work,
Tim
Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there!
stateofit
Rank
Userlevel 3

That's superb advice, stateofit - thanks for sharing this!

You might consider creating a new OVO Forum topic, outlining your advice on an Economy 7 set up. I recon a lot of users will find this helpful in getting their costs down, and they might not see it here, as a comment.

Keep up the great work,
Tim


A fine idea Tim. New Forum thread started on Economy 7 timings, as suggested.

ThanX
You can't have everything. Where would you put it...?
M
Rank
Hi,
Further to my question about my smart meters and not getting a gas statement since last November.....
I have just checked both of my meters to see if they are working in tandem as per the advice given to jonboy.
Both meters seem to be in order and working correctly.
I am expecting a statement in the next few days and i hope it will be for dual fuel this time but i won`t hold my breath.
M
Rank
Have just looked at the latest statement and have only been charged for electric!!
Will have to get on the telephone later today 😞
stateofit
Rank
Userlevel 3
Have just looked at the latest statement and have only been charged for electric!!
Will have to get on the telephone later today :(

It can be a little frustrating, especially if you need to know what your winter usage has been, but it does take many weeks for the meter details to be updated on your energy account, and I gather that OVO carefully and deliberately put a hold on billing until all the information is in from the engineer and the energy industry. This makes sense as otherwise you might get an estimated bill based on estimated reads from a meter that's no longer there, and they'd only have to re-do it anyway...

I just remind myself that everything in the energy industry takes longer than everyone would like, it's a complicated business...

I'm certain that your gas billing will kick back in fairly soon, from what you've said, but I'm also fairly sure that an OVO advisor would be happy to look into it for you. If everything's in they'll have you billed up to date once they check with the smart team. If you really can't wait any longer they won't mind if you give 'em a call... (Can I say that?) 🙂
You can't have everything. Where would you put it...?
MartinC
Rank
Mine was installed in October, It is now March. Hoping a year will be long enough for this issue to resolve itself.

As above, DD payments going out, but no statements being produced.

I cannot call to discuss as I will lose my online only discount.

So what else can I do?
F
Rank
I have exactly the same issue. The meters are both connected and I can see daily usage figures on the Ovo site but no readings are showing in the 'Meter Readings' section and I am getting no bills.

Overall not a great experience so far when its meant to be simpler 😞
Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7
Thanks for chipping in, MartinC & fergusga.

It's not great to hear about your smart meter experience - hopefully I can help get this sorted for you!

After the meters are fitted, we'll need a bit of time (up to 6 weeks) to update your account. From then, we should be billing you as usual, with all features of My OVO available to you. The only thing you won't be able to do is submit a meter reading, as the meter does this for you.

It sounds like this hasn't happened with either of you. If this is correct, our team would be happy to help you, whether you've got an online discount or not. With that in mind, drop us a message via Facebook or Twitter, or reach out to our Care team: http://ovoener.gy/contact.

Best of luck,
Tim
Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there!
F
Rank

I did send an e-mail before posting here but have had no reply 😞

Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

I did send an e-mail  before posting here but have had no reply :-(

 


This should be answered within 48 hours of it being sent, Fergusga. It will need to be from the registered email address though. If you're in any doubt, our Social team are ready and waiting via Facebook and Twitter!

Tim

 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there!
T
I've just had a smart meter installed after having a more efficient bolier fitted. Direct debit set up based on estimates. However after less than two days it looks like the smart readings will be almost double the estimates. Being new to all this i find this worrying to say the least. Any tips as to what might be going wrong please?
mjcharlton71
Rank
Userlevel 1
I'm getting a similar issue too... Smart meter fitted last year, and both meters are showing "smart usage" on my online account, but whereas Electricity is showing billing readings regularly, Gas shows nothing since the last physical reading before the smart meter was fitted and doesn't seem to update... so one part of my online account sees both meters and is showing activity, but the reading system only seems to be seeing one of them.

I've rang a couple of times and may have emailed as well, but the issue's still ocurring, so "help!!
Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7
I've just had a smart meter installed after having a more efficient bolier fitted. Direct debit set up based on estimates. However after less than two days it looks like the smart readings will be almost double the estimates. Being new to all this i find this worrying to say the least. Any tips as to what might be going wrong please?

Hi Tom,

I'm not sure what estimated readings you're seeing after two days of getting the smart meter fitted. What I would say is it's early days, and the smart meter certainly shouldn't be causing an increase in your usage. I'd suggest having a look at your first bill following the meter exchange via your My OVO page here: http://ovoener.gy/myovo. If your usage is much higher then expected, this OVO Answers page might hold the answers: https://www.ovoenergy.com/ovo-answers/topics/payg/traditional-payg/why-am-i-paying-more-than-i-expected-for-my-energy.html.

Tim
Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there!
K
Rank
Smart meters are absolutely useless if the indoor gadget doesn't receive any information from the meters! Our installer failed to set it up or advise us how to! Now find he didn't complete the setup of the new gas meter and it will be well into May before that can be done. I'm mighty unimpressed. Anyone else had such dreadful service?
Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7
Smart meters are absolutely useless if the indoor gadget doesn't receive any information from the meters! Our installer failed to set it up or advise us how to! Now find he didn't complete the setup of the new gas meter and it will be well into May before that can be done. I'm mighty unimpressed. Anyone else had such dreadful service?

Hi Kimmy,

I’ve replied to this query via your other comment. Check this out here .

Tim
Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there!
Darran_OVO
Userlevel 7
Great to see so many of you joining in on this discussion. It looks like its a hot topic given the number of people that have viewed this conversation and taken the time to comment.

Our forum is growing so there are a lot of new topics and questions being posted everyday, so make sure you check back in and share your views and opinions.

Many thanks to all for your support.

Darran
Did a reply solve your question? Then mark it as the correct answer!
A
Rank
Hello,
We had a smart meter installed last month (March) and have logged on to be asked to submit meter readings. We have pressed 9 and had meter reading for gas - submitted that and it said this seems high?
Then went to submit the electricity but asking for day and night meter readings, however, the meter only shows one reading? Help please.

Thanks in advance
Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7
Hello,
We had a smart meter installed last month (March) and have logged on to be asked to submit meter readings. We have pressed 9 and had meter reading for gas - submitted that and it said this seems high?
Then went to submit the electricity but asking for day and night meter readings, however, the meter only shows one reading? Help please.

Thanks in advance

Hi Amy,

I've replied to your PM about this, and I've popped this query over into another smart meter topic - I'm keen to see if anyone else has had a similar experience...........?

Tim
Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there!
B
Rank
Had a smart meter installed January useage for last month seems to have gone through roof
bill nearly 150 for dual useage never paid that much with last supplier😠😠😠😠
DmB71
Rank
April 17 still says estimated usage and I have already paid Mays DD. Why isn't it showing the actual usage for April as it's nearly time for the next (May) bill. I thought the smart metre meant this wouldn't happen?
Mattj3135
Rank
Userlevel 6
April 17 still says estimated usage and I have already paid Mays DD. Why isn't it showing the actual usage for April as it's nearly time for the next (May) bill. I thought the smart metre meant this wouldn't happen?

Welcome to the forum @DmB71 and thanks for posting.


Mm this doesn't sound right, I can only speculate that the network isn't communicating with your meters properly.

*text deleted as no longer relevant

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