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Rank 2
August 31, 2022
Solved

My gas supply is solely for hot water/heating - how is my gas usage so high even when boiler is off?

  • August 31, 2022
  • 62 replies
  • 11142 views

I have a Vaillant ecoTEC Plus 630 boiler paired with a megaflo eco systemfit unvented cylinder.  My gas usage is nearly 3 times my colleagues who has a combi boiler (they have a much larger house, more occupants and has a gas hob and oven). My gas usage is solely for hot water/heating.  My system is managed through the nest app and my water is heating for a total of 4.5 hours a day (I don’t have hot water whenever I want). I went on holiday for a week, turned my system off and it still charged me for all but 2 days of the 7 I was away.  We’ve had no heating on and only the hot water scheduled for the times mentioned above. My usage is around 800-850kWh per month.  I live with my boyfriend and two year old.  I’ve spoken to so many people who can’t find the issue - can anyone help?! Picture of my usage for the week I was away.

Best answer by Jeffus

Updated on 08/09/25 by Chris_OVO:

 

Hi @Anders95 I think i would start by getting a boiler engineer to look at your setup. Particularly your controls. 

On first inspection it doesn't look like the issue is related to your smart meter given the usage pattern when you are away. 

 

1. We need to see the daily usage page for the gas readings so we can see the 30min readings. Just to check when the gas boiler is firing up. For a day when you were at home, and a day when you think the boiler was off, but it still looks like you used some gas. I think your boiler may be firing up every other day when you are away. It will also help check your boiler isn't on for more than 4.5 hours normally. 

2. You have your water on for quite a long time 4.5 hrs. This seems a lot for the size of your household. It obviously depends on usage e..g  use of showers and baths., but still that seems high. Especially as you have a modern tank. Do you know the size of the tank? Have you tried reducing the time? 

3. I would check the thermostat on the tank to see if it is set at a too higher temperature.

4. I am not convinced the boiler is actually off when you are away. On first inspection it looks like it is still on and firing up every other day for a short time as the water in the tank has cooled down a bit naturally perhaps . 

5. It doesn’t look like you have a gas leak as you have a zero reading every other day when you are away. Unless it is something in the boiler when it is turned on. But you would certainly smell the gas leak then if it was happening. So i don't think it is that.

6. Unfortunately with a tank you will end up heating water you don't actually use. You have a modern tank so this will help, but some of the water will cool before you use it. That is not the larger issue you are seeing though i think. 

7. There is a small chance you have a leak on one of your hot water pipes from your boiler so you are heating water you are then loosing somewhere. But that doesn't explain the usage pattern when you are away. 

8. You could try downloading this app and seeing what is says for your gas readings, especially to see if the app can see your 30min readings. 

https://www.glowmarkt.com/

9. You are right, there is no way you should be using 800kWh of gas just for water heating. That would be 9600 kWh a year. A typical house only uses 12000kWh for heating and water according to the ofgem figures and most of that is for heating and not hot water. 

Does that help? 

62 replies

Newcomer
May 7, 2023

@Jeffus Thanks for that, that is helpful. Before April 15th I was on monthly smart meter recordings so I imagine this is why there were no meter readings between April 5th and 15th. However I’m not sure where this leaves me in interpreting my usage graph - where did they get those usage figures from?

BPLightlog
Super User
Super User
May 8, 2023

Hi @SarahLock , what the graph would show is an ‘averaged’ use over those days but as Jeffus says, the graph is purely indicative. It is only the meter readings that count towards your bill. 
A visual representation which in this case is a little misleading unfortunately 

Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
Newcomer
October 18, 2023

Sure, picture attached. I also had the same problem in September last year. 

We have turned our combi boiler off so there's no pilot light , only charge is the standing charge which is crazy amount, the pilot light costs £10 a week!!! So that's why I turned it off

Newcomer
October 31, 2023

I have a solar-powered infrared heating system with an oil-fired boiler as backup. With the change in the weather in mid-October, the water was not heating adequately so I switched the boiler on, timed for a couple of hours morning and night. Since then, my daily electricity usage has gone from £3-4 a day to £7-8 a day. I can’t think of any other changes. Surely this can’t be enough to explain such a huge jump? Any guidance gratefully received!

juliamc
Rank 20
Rank 20
October 31, 2023

Do you have a hot water cylinder with an immersion heater ? Might this have been switched on by the boiler system somehow ?

Newcomer
January 15, 2024

Hi All,

Recently moved to a 3bed house, 3 adults usually not home during the day, but  I am being charged £400 a month just for Gas.

Ovo claims we use 5837.90 kwh of gas monthly, which is ridiculous since we only use Gas for heating , which hasn't been on, heating up water and hob, which its not used everyday. 

Is this normal?  We’ve been charged equivalent to a years usage in the past 4 months, apparently we used 16,843kwh of gas  since the third week of October till now. 

I have contacted them, waiting to hear back from a billing specialist and rather anxious with whole situation, just wanted some views from other users.  

Also can someone explain how they calculate the live usage, because it changes a lot and sometimes the £ is higher on days no ones home. 

Thank you in advance. 

BPLightlog
Super User
Super User
January 15, 2024

Hi @Anocas , do you have a smart meter at all? If not or if the readings are not being received regularly, your usage will be estimated. 
You can check on your account if readings are actual or estimated 

Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
Jeffus
Rank 20
Rank 20
January 15, 2024

Hi @Anocas 

Check on this page for gas

https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings/history/gas

You should see something like this

Ideally with a daily reading with the word Smart next to it.

 

Firedog
Super User
Super User
January 15, 2024

We’ve been charged equivalent to a years usage in the past 4 months,

 

Sadly, this sounds familiar. If your reported consumption in kWh appears to be three times what it should be, can you please check that the conversion from m³ to kWh is being done properly on your bill? We’ve seen several cases where the m³ figures were being treated as if they were ft³ (actually x 100). Unless your gas meter is more than about 20 years old, it’s unlikely to be measuring in cu.ft, and if this mistake has indeed been made on your bills, the kWh figure will be 2.8 times higher than it should be.

The calculation is explained in detail here: Gas meter readings and bill calculation - www.gov.uk 

 

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA | It may look as if I know what I’m talking about, but don’t let that fool you. |
Newcomer
January 15, 2024

Hi, 

Thank you for your reply.

I do have a smart meter, which wasn't “communicating” with OVO but somehow my account still  shows the readings as “Smart”, so i don't believe is estimated .