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Updated on 17/08/23 by Abby_OVO

 

​​​​​​Your guide to checking the accuracy of your meter: How to carry out a Creep Test, a circuit check and book a Meter Accuracy Test (MAT)

 

Have you noticed an unexpected change in the amount of energy your meter’s clocking? Are you worried that it might not reflect what you’re actually using? We’ve made this guide to help outline all of your options so you can be confident that everything’s working as it should, and you’re only being charged for what you’re actually using. 

 

My bill is higher than usual


First things first, it’s always worth checking that your charges are based on actual readings rather than estimated readings.

 

You can view the latest statement on the ‘Billing history’ page of your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS).

 

Exact appearance may vary

 

‘Download this bill’ or ‘View details’ to see if the reading is estimated (hint: it will say estimated next to the reading if this is the case). By checking the reading on the meter and submitting it on the ‘meter readings’ page you can correct any over-estimated readings.

 

It’s also worth checking that you’ve been charged the correct unit rates and standing charges. These might have changed recently if your fixed plan came to an end or if there’s been a price change to your variable plan. We’ll always get in touch before this happens to let you know but you can also check the prices on your current plan (and whether you could switch to a cheaper plan) on the ‘Plan’ page.

 

The details on the bill are correct but I’m sure I didn’t use this much

 

Higher than normal usage is normally due to changes in your usage patterns (which aren’t always easily spotted). Can you think of any reason why you might have used more than you expected recently? Common factors might be a colder than usual season, buying a new appliance or a change in circumstances (extra householders or working from home for example). It’s best to take these factors into consideration when trying to explain a sudden increase in usage. 

 

If you haven’t already got a smart meter then this might be a good time to get one installed. Get your free smart meter installation booked here.  Not only are new meters more accurate, they also allow you to monitor your usage over a half-hourly, daily or monthly view with some handy usage graphs on the usage page of your online account or OVO app. Using these you can pinpoint when exactly your usage peaks which can really help get to the bottom of what might be causing the increase. Notice a spike at exactly the time your immersion heater is set to come on? This might explain things! 

 

I’ve got high gas usage, should I check my boiler?

 

The most likely cause of an unexplained increase in how much gas you’re using (and it’s always worth checking your usage against the same period last year, as it’s very seasonal!) could be down to a faulty gas boiler. A boiler which is older or potentially faulty can use more gas to achieve the same heat output. If you’ve got the OVO Homeplan, an annual boiler check is included to make sure your boiler health is checked regularly. If you don’t have this, it might be worth considering contacting a gas safe engineer to make sure your boiler’s in tiptop condition.

 

What’s the best way to locate an energy guzzling appliance?

 

Worried that your electricity usage seems high? By checking the usage of each circuit you might be able to find out the particular appliance which is the culprit. The meter will need to have decimals showing in the reading for this test to be useful:

  1. Leave the main breaker in.
  2. Turn off all individual circuits (on the fuse board, for example).
  3. The electricity meter should stop clocking usage. If not, there could be a short in the fuse/breaker panel box or an appliance connected without fuse/breaker protection. An electrician will be needed to investigate this.
  4. Turn on one individual circuit.
  5. Watch to see if the electric meter starts to clock usage.
  6. Turn off that individual circuit and turn on another one. Again, watch to see if the electric meter is clocking.
  7. Repeat step 6 until all individual circuits have been checked.

You’re looking for a circuit that causes the meter to clock a lot of usage, compared to the other circuits. There could be a problem with an appliance or a connection on that circuit. We’d recommend contacting an electrician to check the appliances on this circuit, particularly if there are any old or potentially faulty appliances plugged in.  Find out the average usage for each appliances on this great guide and some great energy saving advice on the Centre for Sustainable Energy.


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.

 

Exact appearance may vary

 

Even if the meter serial number matches, there is a chance that your meter details have been mis-registered. If you suspect this might be the case, contact our Support Team who can arrange a ‘fuse finder’ to confirm which meter is clocking your usage.

 

How do I book a Meter Accuracy Test (MAT)?


Completed a ‘Creep Test’ and seen a possible fault? The next step would be to book in a ‘Meter Accuracy Test’ (MAT), by contacting our Support Team.

 

As the MAT involves an engineer visit, there’s an upfront charge to get this arranged, which will be reimbursed if a meter fault is confirmed. A meter is considered faulty if it’s clocking at least 2.5% faster or 3.5% slower than it should. It’s worth considering all other possible causes for a usage spike before booking in this appointment as we can’t guarantee the results, and the cost of this test won’t be refunded if the meter is clocking within the above tolerances. If the meter is found to be faulty, we’ll replace it and re-calculate all the statements issued since the meter fault began. These statements will be based on your average usage, or your usage clocked by the new meter. 

 

Hope this helps get to the bottom of your meter accuracy concerns. Have you noticed a recent spike in your usage and need help working out why? Comment below as we love to help you investigate! :relaxed:

 

Hiya!

Personally, I find it extremely unlikely that the Aclara meter is faulty. It’s factory calibrated and performs self-calibration tests at every reboot and every few seconds. If it isn’t happy with the results of any of those self-tests, it will either try to adapt itself to get back on track, or automatically flag the test failure up as a fault so that someone can take a look. It’s a very powerful meter and it’s well designed.

It’s more likely that your old meter was under recording your usage, was faulty, wasn’t Three-Phase or perhaps you really are using more energy than you thought you were?

I’ll see if @Jeffus and @M.isterW are around though. This sort of thing is what they specialise in.

@Mutsy of course it could be the meter but i agree with @Blastoise186 it is more likely to be something in your house, maybe a few things based on examples we have seen here. 

It sounds like you are already on the case. There are lots of things we could suggest so here are a couple in case you haven't already done them.

1. Can you post some screenshots of your 30 min usage from the OVO website ? This would help a bit to see if there were spikes or constant usage. 

2. Have you done a creep test? Turn everything off at the consumer unit and see if the meter ticks over? Then place relatively known load only on the electricity if possible. Perhaps an electric heater with the thermostat turned up. See if the usage looks reasonable?

3. Check you are getting daily smart readings. The word smart should appear next to every reading. 

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

 

Let us know how you get on with your investigations and what you have tried. Then we can usually make a few useful additionals suggestions 

Thanks Guys!

 

Really appreciate that, I hadn't seen the post re clocking too fast (wrong key words used on my search i think) so that's interesting, and good to know i can get a test if the creep test shows anything up.  As for as heaters etc I’ve got nothing like that on the go, as I’ve always been energy conscious so have made sure anything that's not efficient was banished a long time ago.  What i can't yet rule out though is things that have degraded, so it could be something like my fridge, tumble dryer or dishwasher, but they’d need to be pulling prodigious amounts on standby to account for the readings, as I’ve deliberately not used them since noticing that the consumption seemed abnormally high (aside from the fridge obviously, as its just always on).  As for the old meter, it was an old Landis & Gyr 3 phase 4 wire effort with a economy 7 timeclock contactor, I guess it could've been under-reading, but what made me sit up and take notice was the rate of consumption rather than the comparison, that just confirmed that it seems to have gone off the charts.

 

What doesn't help is I'm not actually with OVO (sorry!), its just you guys seemed to know your stuff so i figured this was a good forum to ask on!  I was with Green but following their collapse I’m now with Shell who installed the smart meter, but unfortunately that's where the smarts stopped, as despite it going in early Aug they still haven't managed to update their system to tell it I’m on a smart meter, so their system has been ignoring the readings it sends, and also has me on the wrong tariff.  I’m several phone calls in on that one and still waiting for somebody to sort it out.  Funnily enough as I’ve previously been a British and Scottish Gas customer, they’ve got a long way to go before they reach the levels of customer abuse that I’m used to from energy providers, so I’m finding myself surprisingly accepting of their incompetence at present.  I’m looking at KWh’s anyway though so the tariff isn't really the issue, its the usage, and obviously not being able to check the history on their platform doesn't help me in diagnosing the fault.  I do however have some tapo smart plugs, so i’m going to get these setup on my high power devices which are typically left on standby and see what they are actually pulling just in case there is a parasite somewhere that i’ve not noticed.  The creep test is on the cards too, but that needs to wait until the weekend when shutting down the house wont result in tears and tantrums!  From what i can see on you tube its not impossible that the meter has a parasitic drain, as others seem to have clocked theirs pulling 150-250w continually when everything else is off.  I still doubt that is the case, but guess i’m kind of hoping it is, as otherwise my usage is probably real and that's a much scarier prospect!  Even at those levels of parasitic drain though, it still wouldn't account for all of my ‘use’.

 

I’ve run today on my gas boiler so the ASHP hasn’t used a watt, interestingly £’s wise there isn't actually a lot of difference right now (bearing in mind tariff isn't quite right, but I’d still expected a larger discrepancy in favour of the boiler), but my elec consumption still seems totally disproportionate, I’m sitting at almost 17KW today and that's without the heat pump or the EV being plugged in, and the oven has only just gone on 5 mins ago for dinner.  Other than that its my laptop and monitors again, plus a couple of Hue LED lights, a few hrs of TV in the afternoon for the kids (TV is a 2.5 year old LED), and 4 rounds of boiling 1l in a kettle.  

 

I’ll continue to explore this and will hopefully be able to report back in a few days with something more conclusive, but thanks again for the pointers!  Meantime I’m keeping my fingers crossed there’s a smoking gun somewhere, but if any other suggestions spring to mind please do let me know...

 

 

Can you try the Bright or Loop apps to see your smart meter usage ?

Can you try the Bright or Loop apps to see your smart meter usage ?

https://loop.homes/

https://hugoenergyapp.co.uk/

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.hildebrand.brightionic

Yep fantastic advice above from our members. 

 

@Mutsy you have all the green tech - and now 4 forum badges to show. I know the Solar and EV charger isn’t in yet, but you’re well placed to talk about that stuff with the experience of finding and choosing your set up. 

 

Let’s hope you can narrow down your search for this phantom usage... Keep us updated on all fronts!

No worries about not being with OVO! This forum is open to everyone regardless of supplier. The only difference you telling us you’re with Shell makes, is that we won’t try to recommend OVO specific solutions. Otherwise, we always help you out the same way we would for anyone who stops by. :)

Ironically, this forum also gets the odd visit from people who actually work in the energy industry as well! We’ve had a few people like that and some of them help us out from time to time. :)

Just curious, but could you try running your meters through this tool? https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/

We don’t need to know your MPAN or Postcode here (we definitely don’t need that on the forum!), just what the results come back as. It’ll either say your meters couldn’t be found, that you don’t have a registered smart meter, you do have one but it’s not on DCC or that it is working in Smart mode and who the linked supplier is. That’s the bit I’m interested in.

This will help us figure out a bit more about what’s going on.

And yes, British Gas and Scottish Power are known for being absolutely terrible for customer service. Some people might disagree, but it’s been well known for many years at this point. Scottish Gas is basically a cheeky white label trick that British Gas uses, but it’s ultimately still British Gas once you peel back the fancy labels.

I have my gas central heating on for half a hour a day I am a recent widow and struggling.  I put my gas central heat  on for half a hour then turned it off.  My smart meter continues to increase in cost but apart from the pilot light there is nothing else on. It was 65p after quarter of a hour it’s off apart from pilot light it’s now £1.42 I don’t get it. I have arthritis I am froze to death sitting in a hat and coat this surely is not right. I do have a gas hon but that’s not bin used for over a year you can tell by the dust lol. Any solutions anywhere I am desperate thank you in advance x

What sort of boiler do you have? Is it a combi (that heats your hot water on demand) or a conventional boiler (heats a cylinder of hot water that's in a cupboard somewhere in your house)?

Hi it’s a 3 year old normal boiler that is serviced every year.  Was last serviced in August thank you. My electric seems fine but it’s the fact when gas off still uses money x

Your IHD (in home display) only updates from your gas meter every half hour (the electricity updates every 10 seconds). So it can increase if you've used gas in the last half hour.

Omg 1.42 for half a hour blooming hell I’m already only eating cornflakes if I want to be warm I’m not gonna be able to afford that. Any tips on how I can save money. I turned off all the radiators I don’t use don’t know what else to do. Any suggestions would be appreciated xx

Try this tool: https://ovoenergy.com/winter-support-delivery/sign-up .

Also, https://www.ovoenergy.com/register-for-priority-services

https://www.ovoenergy.com/help/debt-and-energy-assistance

https://www.ovoenergy.com/payment-support/sign-up

How much gas are you using each day, in kWh? This info is available on the OVO app or website. We can then try to work out if you're using a lot more than average.

 

Is your boiler the only gas appliance? How big is your property and how old is it?

Hello everyone - please could you try and help. My electricity usage seems a lot higher than last year and I cannot for the life of me work out why it’s so high. It’s above the national average, but also above what we used last year, and we’re not really doing anything differently. In fact, we try to use less this year because of the energy crisis. It seems quite expensive. We’re in a 1930’s semi and have a smart meter. We’re using about 13kwh this year compares to 6kwh last year

 

 

Also - further to the above - we have a new combi boiler so not water tank system

I would start by looking at the data coming out of your smart meter. If you get an app called Bright it will show how much electricity you're using each half-hour. You can then start looking for anything odd, such as spikes in use.

 

 

Thank you - ive downloaded the app so will give it a go!

@prm8312 you will find that it updates through the day just a few hours behind actual so can be quite useful. 
Incidentally do you have an IHD (in home display)? If so you can see if there’s anything using power when you believe most things should be off

No we haven’t actually, just a standard thermostat

The In Home Display IHD is linked to your smart meter - it shows you your energy usage on a little screen.  It’s plugged into a socket near your meters.

Ah okay, no we don’t have one of those, unless its built into the meter - i can see what energy we’re up to on the actual meter

had a Smart meter fitted in September, so far no problems. My usage of gas and electricity is quite low, modern 1 bedroom property, single occupant. Total daily cost has been rising as the weather gets colder but generally around £4 to £4.50 a day. yesterday saw a sudden rise, electric has remained as per previous days, but gas soared to £7! Today is a similar story, electric at 88p, gas at £7.63. So far I’ve run a shower and had the heating on for a couple of hours (heating is set at +19C) Anyone else noticed a rapid increase in gas costs? I’ve checked the app, shows usage to be as per normal days, something doesn’t seem right.

Does your account show an increase in gas usage? If my IHD was showing unusual figures the first thing I'd do is check what my meter is actually sending to my energy provider.

I've checked, usage is almost identical. Interestingly, the rate I'm paying between my account on the App and the IHD is slightly different. I'm calling OVO on Monday and will keep monitoring until then 

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