Hi ​@NidaSheikh ,

You need to check what Meter Readings were submitted during that time as those are what OVO uses to bill you rather than the Usage Data.

Please show us the Meter Readings for that timespan.

Hi,

Here they are. From Jan 3rd to Jan 4th there is still a 41kW jump. 
 

Hmm… 12kWh of consumption…

I don’t suppose you accidentally left a heater on a timer by any chance? Your usage appears to be fairly consistent across all of those days.

​@NidaSheikh Have left your keys to someone “just in case”? If yes, could it be them?

Hey ​@NidaSheikh 

Welcome to the OVO Online Community 
 

Is there anything set on a timer? I know some heating systems are set to go on whenever the property reaches a certain temperature. For example I have a smart thermostat which automatically turns the heating on at a low temperature if the flat goes below a certain temperature to make sure the pipes don’t freeze.

This topic might have some helpful advice:
​​​​​

Those readings and usage figures look very strange. It appears that the readings hardly changed at all from 31 December to 3 January and then suddenly did a catch-up, and I didn’t think that was possible. So long as the latest reading is accurate, your average consumption over this period has been 7 kWh/day - does that seem normal? It seems rather a lot for an empty house. Is there an immersion heater for hot water? If this was left on, it could be gobbling up power to no useful purpose.

If you access your account in a browser rather than in the app, you will see the meter readings with greater precision (two or three decimals), which will reveal whether any of the ‘13712’ readings are identical, or show a small increase each day reflecting the base consumption by fridges and freezers etc. Identical ones would suggest a meter fault.

There’s probably not much you can do before you get home and investigate. Keep an eye on the situation meanwhile.

Early January did have some rather cold days. Perhaps a frost sensor was triggered during that time as Emmanuelle suggested

I just looked at the energy breakdown in the app from December 30th - 5th January, I have been away this whole week and no one has keys to my flat. Is it possible I am paying for someone else’s bill?

Nope. I have 2 electric radiators both of which aren’t plugged in right now. 

Here are the readings from the website. I do say this a lot for an empty house. I think I might be paying someone else’s bill. 

 

OK, that’s more like it. The meter’s just ticking over as if no-one’s home, except when something kicks in. That looks like a heater (“while the radiator is on it only automatically turns on if it is less than 18C”) and perhaps a water heater’s thermostat reacting to falling temperature. 

I did some sums: if as you say the radiator is ‘normally’ only on for three hours a day, then that’s presumably what we’re seeing on days like 6, 10, 14 and 21 December, when you used about 15 kWh. That suggests a load of about 4 kW for heating. If the heating had kicked in on 4 January (when the temperature dropped to -4°C for the second night running in London), the usage chart suggests that it could have been on all day, or perhaps less but the water heater fired up as well. You’ll just have to check when you get back. Systems like this often have some sort of frost protection to avoid problems like frozen water pipes.

There’s usually a rational explanation for the sort of behaviour you’re seeing.

Okay, I’ll check when I get back but I just got a breakdown of usage for the week of 30th December - 5th January and it does show the majority of my usage is on heating but you can also see usage for entertainment, lighting, and cooking which doesn’t make any sense since I have been gone this whole week. 
 

I’m afraid you can’t really gain anything from those estimates. They’re really just guesses at which equipment is in use at any particular time, based on what is known about how they draw power. If you really wanted them to be a bit more accurate, you could have altered your profile to take out the appliances you know wouldn’t be in use while you were away (like cookers), but it still would have assumed that some of the load was for lighting, say.

Quite frankly, you can’t draw any conclusions from them at all while the house is empty. When you’re back, they should give a guide to how consumption has changed from one week to the next, but again, the figures just aren’t to be relied upon.

Hey ​@NidaSheikh 
 

The below topic may helpful:
 

How do I perform a Creep Test on my electricity meter?

If you’ve been unable to get to the bottom of an increase in our usage by locating a greedy appliance, the next step would be to carry out an initial check on the accuracy of the meter with a ‘Creep Test’. To carry this out: turn off the power to your fuse box and check if the meter continues to clock. If the meter clocks (more than 1 - 2 units which could be down to residual power in the wires)  then it's either faulty, or clocking someone else’s usage.

If your meter is in a communal meter cupboard, sometimes the meter details can get mixed up. Firstly it’s worth checking the meter serial number on the meter matches the serial number registered on your account. You can see this on the ‘Meter readings’ page of your online account.