Updated on 13/02/25 by Ben_OVO:
Sometimes, your bill can increase even if your unit rates & standing charges haven’t gone up. This could be because of changes to your energy use – for example, if you've had visitors to stay, you've made changes to your lifestyle, or you've got new appliances.
Appliance use or faulty appliances
Sometimes, the change might be down to an appliance in your home, not the meter itself. Before thinking about a meter test, let’s talk about your appliances.
Energy-inefficient and high-use products can increase your energy use. For example, if you regularly use a washing machine or electric heaters, your usage will be high. New appliances like a hot tub or AGA can also add to your usage.
If you’d like to know more about the cost of running specific appliances, you can use this calculator.
If you have smart meters, we also recommend that you use the ‘Usage’ section of your OVO App or online account as you’ll be able to see usage spikes at particular times of the day. Note - you’ll need your smart meter reading schedule set up to provide half-hourly meter readings. You can request this via our Support Team.
Here are a few questions to help work out why your energy use might be higher:
What’s type of home do you live in, and how many bedrooms does it have?
This question will give you an average use compared to similar sized homes. This is especially helpful if you’ve just moved into a new home.
How many people live in your home?
Every home is different, but knowing how many people live in the home can give more of an idea of how much might be used in a day.
Is anyone at home during the day?
This can increase energy use, as more appliances may be used during the day. Are you retired? Do you work from home?
How do you heat your home?
Whether you use a thermostat, a timer, or you heat your home entirely using electricity can all impact your energy use. Any of these can affect the amount of energy your home uses.
Do you use any top up heating?
Using any additional heating like electric blankets or plug in heaters can increase how much energy your home uses. It doesn’t necessarily need to be heat, this could include cooling fans.
What home appliances do you have?
Do you use appliances like tumble driers, washing machines, dehumidifiers or hot tubs? Is there anything causing a seasonal increase in energy use like outdoor lighting or ponds that use heat pumps.
Meter readings and payments
Sometimes, you might get a large catch-up bill if you haven't sent us meter readings for a while. Please make sure you submit regular meter readings, as this could be why your energy use appears to have gone up. It's also important to check if you're up to date with your payments. If you've missed any payments, or your direct debit isn’t covering your usage, an arrears balance might not be down to a change in energy use, but instead that the payments aren't enough to cover your usage.
Or, you can get a smart meter installed. That way your meter readings will be sent across automatically. Find out more about the benefits of going smart & how to book a smart meter appointment here:
If you have a smart meter, is it communicating as it should?
If not please complete a smart meter health check:
The time of year
It's important to consider the time of year when looking at your energy use. In winter, you’re likely to use more heating and lighting, and spend more time indoors using appliances. This increased usage is likely to result in higher bills.
Concerned about your bills? Find out how we can help:
Faulty Meters
Sometimes, your usage increase might be caused by meter faults. These could include:
- Blank Meter: The display can become faulty and go blank, meaning it can't be read or turned back on by pressing buttons.
- Meter Not Clocking Usage: Sometimes the meter may stop recording usage. If we don’t receive a reading, the system will estimate the usage. We’ll need to replace your meter to sort this issue.
- Inaccurate Meter: It’s rare for a meter to record energy use inaccurately. It’s best to rule out all other options before considering this. If you still want to have your meter’s accuracy tested, we can arrange that for you.
Think your meter may be faulty? This forum topic might be helpful:
Why is there an unexpectedly high charge on my bill?
There are several reasons why there might be an unexpectedly high charge on your bill. These could include:
- An incorrect meter reading:
- You might have sent us an incorrect meter reading by mistake. Check that the reading on your meter matches the reading on your statement. If it looks like your reading was off by a digit or two, just submit another reading, and we’ll create a new bill within 48 hours.
- Estimated bills:
- If we haven't received real readings from you for 3 months, we create your bill based on an estimated meter reading using your property's previous data. If the estimate wasn't quite right, it can cause billing issues. To correct this, submit a new meter reading, and we’ll adjust your bill.
- Higher estimated readings:
- If an estimated reading was higher than your actual usage, you might see a higher charge. Submit a meter reading or email us a photo of your meter, and we can create a new bill based on your actual energy use, typically within 48 hours.
- Lower estimated readings:
- If you've been billed using lower estimated readings and then submit a new reading, you might get a higher charge on your recent bill. This means your account is now up to date. Regularly submitting meter readings makes sure charges are accurate and up to date, avoiding surprise bills.
- Increased energy use:
- Consider if there have been any changes in your home that might increase energy use – like spending more time at home, having a new roommate, or using heating more often in winter.
- Faulty meter:
- It's rare, but if you suspect your meter is faulty and not recording correctly, please get in touch with us. We’ll look into it and make sure you're not overcharged.
- Calculation errors:
- Although extremely rare, we might have made an error in our calculations. If you've ruled out the other possibilities, please contact us so we can look into it for you.
If you need any help, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
What does ‘annual usage’ mean?
Your estimated annual use is calculated by averaging all the meter readings from your home over the course of a year.
This estimate may differ slightly from your actual usage, as it’s an average, but it is based on your readings. We use this figure to set your DirectDdebit payments, aiming to build up credit during the summer to cover higher usage in the winter.
It’s been a little while since I’ve received a statement, what should I do?
Simply submit a reading, and you'll receive a bill, typically within 48 hours. If you haven’t received a bill for a while, try submitting a meter reading online, and we’ll create one for you.
If you have a smart meter that we’re connected to, we’ll send you a bill automatically each month on your chosen day.
If you have a connected smart meter or have submitted a reading but still haven’t received your bill, please get in touch, and we’ll look into it.
I think my electricity meter isn’t recording usage, what can I do?
If you think your electricity meter isn’t recording usage when you’re using it, you can do a ‘Creep test’. It’s not as creepy as it sounds!
To complete the test, please follow these steps:
- Turn off all appliances in your home, including the boiler.
- Turn off the power at the fuse box.
Make sure all appliances, including the boiler, are turned off at the wall before switching off the power at the mains to avoid any damage
- Take a meter reading.
- Wait for 10 minutes.
- Take another reading and check if there’s any difference.
If there was a difference in the meter readings
If the meter clocks when there’s no power, then it's either faulty, or recording another property's energy.
If there was no difference in readings
It is unlikely that there’s a fault with the meter.
Anything we’ve missed? Comment below & we’ll do our best to advise 🙂
