We also had a leaking gas hob in our last house, the engineer said it does happen sometimes. Got picked up by the engineer when he was servicing our gas boiler in the kitchen. 

Thanks

I decided that at most it will cost me about £7 over the course of a year and add about 13kg to my CO2 emissions so I’m going to take the hit and ask him to check it out next time he comes to service the boiler.

cheers

J

Good afternoon

I have had the smart meter for just over one month.

Unfortunately I have been quite ill. On discharge from hospital, I noticed I am being charged between 31 and 35p each night for gas. My gas hasn’t been used.

I emailed OVO I received this reply

Hi C, Thanks for getting in touch with us. My name is W…... I'm a account management team member here at OVO, and I'm happy to help you with this.

The 30p charge is standing charge. I have added a explanation of standing charge below.

I thought that was odd, as I remember reading the standing charge is added.

I went to my daughters for five days after discharge. I arrived home this week and queried again the monies taken overnight because it was bothering me. It’s only 30 odd pence but it mounts up over the year.

I received another response stating:

With regard to billing, unfortunately, standing charge is not included with your consumption. We bill you for your month's worth of consumption, add the charge and VAT

This amount is not billing you on the amount of units you use in a month. This means, even though you are not using gas, you will still be billed 31p a day. We will continue to bill you standing charge as long as OVO Energy is your supplier. The reason we require this is due to us servicing your meter. For example, if your meter breaks or is faulty, we will complete a free meter exchange.

Does this mean we are being charged nearly £115 a year to service the smart meter???

Money Saving Expert has a good general  article on Standing Charges. It is not just the cost of the actual meter as you will see

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2023/07/martin-lewis--why-are-energy-standing-charges-so-high--what-can-/

If you feel strongly you could lobby your MP for changes in the way Ofgem manage they price cap. 

Hi @C Bates , it’s worth noting that it’s not a charge for the smart meter as such but it’s levied for any meter. Virtually all energy companies have standing charges (actually maybe all these days)

Thank you for your replies, I appreciate you taking the time. It is this statement from OVO that is confusing me:

With regard to billing, unfortunately, standing charge is not included with your consumption. We bill you for your month's worth of consumption, add the charge and VAT. By that I think they mean the standing charge will be added at the end of the month

My meter reading is showing the 30 odd p as consumption. Reporting usage as 0.49kwh

I haven’t used any gas at all. I’m hoping you are all correct and this is the standing charge, but it isn’t clear to me from their email

Thanks again

I will wait for OVO to clarify

Hi @C Bates , yes that’s the IHD (in home display) rather than the meter itself and that does show the standing charge and vat along with any power usage. 
When I first saw that, early one morning, I was surprised but it is because the standing charge is added, usually early, each day

Thank you. Yes, it appears around 2am each day.

I thought is was a charge for gas. I’ll stop stressing now 

This reply from OVO is still confusing me: I am obviously missing something.

Their response is

As you have mentioned you are seeing you have been billed 32p per day for your usage, this is incorrect - the 32P that has been charged is showing as a monthly running total, what you have used from the start of the month. I can see your usage is very minimal for your Gas.

Please find below your meter read from the beginning of the month up to date:

02/07/23 - 1.040

29/07/23 - 6.134

As you can see you are not a big user, I do understand at the moment we are in the Summer months, so our usage will be less.

Your Daily Standing charge is: £0.2772 per day (excluding VAT) plus the usage you may have used. I know you have mentioned you were in hospital (I do hope you are feeling better), and that the property was empty for a week.

Your Gas meter will still clock around as there is still Gas being sent to your property. The only way to stop this from charging/clocking is by having your Gas meter capped - this stops gas being transported to you.

I am charged the 32p each day on top of my usage, it doesn’t appear to be one 32p as a running total because it is 32p plus my usage. I am only washing up once a day...heating is off. Charge is currently at £2 50 for this week 

I do appreciate your responses.  think it is best to call them

Chris

It might be worth discussing with customer support as no one here has access to your account. The IHD simply shows you your daily usage including the standing charge. It is not a bill. 
It sounds like they are explaining the usage so far which can also be seen via your account. 
https://account.ovoenergy.com/billing-details

They have a system which counts up each day towards you bill for the month

Some years ago, with an earlier Pipit IHD and associated smart meters we could see a regular use of very small amounts of gas at night and whilst on holiday etc.. We contacted Wales & West utilities who sent out an engineer to check the meter, our pipes and the boiler. He found a very small gas leak on the boiler associated with a valve - we hadn’t smelt anything as the gas was being taken up the flue pipe and out. We would have remained blissfully unaware if it hadn’t been for the IHD showing the flow of gas.

It’s always worth getting this checked if you think you can see an unexplained flow of gas, even if you can’t smell anything - your gas transporter won’t charge for a safety check.

Hey @Brizzles55,

That’s really helpful advice! 

For anyone that does believe they have a gas leak there is lots of advice on our website. 

Gas emergency

If you can smell gas or think you have a gas leak: 

• Do open doors and windows to let the gas escape
• Do check your gas appliances are switched off
• Do call the 24 hour National Gas Emergency hotline on 0800 111 999
• Do turn your gas off at the isolation switch (if you know where it is), then wait outside, and let your neighbours know.
• Don't switch lights on or off, use doorbells, mobile phones or use any electrical switches.
• Don't smoke, light a match or use any other kind of naked flame.
• Don't go back into your home until you’ve got the all-clear.

If you're worried fumes containing carbon monoxide are escaping from a gas appliance, call the 24 hour National Gas Emergency hotline on 0800 111 999. For further information about gas safety in the home check out our guide here.