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KKillen
Rank 1
February 28, 2026
Solved

Can someone help with the gas conversion to KWH

  • February 28, 2026
  • 13 replies
  • 145 views

On my recent bill I used 37.320 cubic meters of gas.  My house is unoccupied at the moment so only using minimal gas.

 

I followed the conversion calculation ;

 

37.32 x 43 x 1.02264 divided by 3.6  =  455.8588  kwh

 

However, on my bill it says energy use 1167.073  kwh and I was charged for 1167.073 kwh.

 

I don’t know where I am going wrong with my calculation.

Can anyone help me please.  I have tried to email OVO customer services but have not received a reply.

 

Thank you

Best answer by Firedog

Hi, that looks like they are using the calculation for an imperial meter. The x43 is towards the high end of the scale for calorific value …
    

Gas transporters are required to maintain the CV between 38 and 41 MJ/m³.

If you reverse engineer ​@KKillen‘s figures, assuming as you have done that Billing have made the common error of confusing readings in metric (m³) and Imperial (100 ft³) units, we can see that the average CV used for the period covered by the bill is:
  

            1167.073   x 3.6 kWh/MJ
____________________________________     = 38.9 MJ/m³
37.320 m³ x 1.02264 x 2.83 m³/100 ft³

  
The correct usage calculation is thus:

37.320 x 1.02264 x 38.9 ÷ 3.6 = 412.393 kWh.

[And, of course, just to be sure, 412.393 x 2.83 = 1167.073 
 

It may be better to use webchat (Mon-Sat) or messaging, e.g. on X (also on Sundays) rather than email to contact support: Methods for contacting OVO - (February/March 2026) | The OVO Forum

13 replies

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C
Rank 2
costeek
Rank 2
March 1, 2026

On the different post regarding the same issue they wrote: “Sorry, just worked it out. I have a ft3 meter and realised I have to multiply unit by 2.83 to get m3. Having a bad day!!!”

Firedog
Super User
FiredogSuper User
Super User
March 1, 2026

“Sorry, just worked it out. I have a ft3 meter and realised I have to multiply unit by 2.83 to get m3. Having a bad day!!!”
 

It’s a good job you can’t see all the corrections I had to make to my post after submission! You need a brain much more agile than my old one to get this sort of stuff properly transcribed from the calculator and formatted to make the best sense first time. Many people have difficulty distinguishing between kW and kWh, so it’s not surprising that things go wrong when you need to apply the right factor in the right place to convert megajoules to kilowatt hours, even though you remember from ‘O’ level physics that one Watt equals one Joule per second. 

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. |
    Abby_OVO
    Community Manager
    Abby_OVO
    Community Manager
    March 2, 2026

    Hey ​@KKillen 

     

    I’m glad to see our community were able to help clear that up for you!

     

    Feel free to pop back anytime if you’ve ever got any other questions.😊

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