Using gas whilst away, how is this possible?

We've given up, got precisely nowhere when trying to sort this all out. Have deleted the app & will no longer check online account. Ovo can do whatever they like (they do anyway!), we'll just hang on until the end of our contract & leave. Dreadful company to deal with, unfortunately we have another year that we're stuck with them.

It is on that page, @Jeffus. 

Suppliers can offer free gas safety checks every 12 months. You can request a safety check if you get a means-tested benefit and either:

• live with a child under five years old
• live alone or with others and have reached state pension age
• live alone or with others and are disabled or chronically ill
• live with others who have reached state pension age or are disabled, chronically ill or under 18 years old. 

@MrsSB there’s an interesting topic here where another forum member helped someone else who had usage around midnight (electricity not gas):

Could we hear a bit more detail about your home’s set up? What is your night time appliance use? 

Unless it’s something odd on the meter itself or with the data we’re getting, it’s very likely to be something beyond that meter and related to an actual appliance. The Centre of Sustainable Energy can offer you free and impartial advice. Or as Jeffus advised you may consider a gas safe engineer visits. 

You asked for info re appliance set up. We have just 3 gas appliances, a hob (definitely not used overnight), a gas fire (hasn't been used for probably a year or more), and a combi boiler for heating & water. Heating goes off at 9pm, comes on again at 7am. While there may be a pilot light, this has never registered as being used overnight before, ie when heatíng/water is not being used usage has shown as 0.00. Very rare for hot water to be used overnight as we generally use cold water to wash hands overnight so as not to use boiler.

There is no way any of our 3 appliances have been used overnight, and, strangely enough, since a phone conversation with a member of your Resolutions Team last week, during which she insisted everything was " normal" and "just being averaged out", overnight usage appears to have returned to what it has previously been, ie 0.00 between the hours of 9pm and 7am!

All very odd, obviously not a gas leak or appliance problem as nothing has been done to rectify either (should they have existed) and things have gone back to what we consider to be "normal". It's a pity Ovo can't be honest with us and admit that there was something very strange going on with our meter and/or account.

Thanks for getting back to me, @MrsSB.

The usage section itself can show estimated usage if we don’t get sent that data from the meters. But the daily readings, which your charges are based on, should be spot on or it needs closer attention. 

If you have any concerns that your meter readings aren’t accurately recording your usage, I’d encourage you to check out this guide: 

• I think my meter is clocking too fast - How can I test if my high usage is due to a faulty meter?

We are having a problem whereby our half hourly gas meter readings online and on the app are showing gas being used when in fact no appliances are in use, eg when we are in bed with no heating on, so no use at all (it has been suggested that this overnight usage might be a pilot light on our combi boiler, but we have had the boiler for over 5 years and all previous overnight readings have been 0.00 all through the night) This is happening intermittently, some days there is no use shown but other times up to 2kWh in any given half hour period when we know for certain that no gas is being used.

I have had various conversations with Ovo customer services and each time they tell me that they are not able to see the detail of my account, and I am getting precisely nowhere. For example, on 2 consecutive days our gas usage was identical apart from an extra boiling of a kettle on the second day. However, according to our account, on the first day we used 4.84kWh of gas and on the 2nd it was 22.92kWh with considerable overnight usage included in the 2nd day.

Surely someone at Ovo must be able to see the same detail that we are able to see, both on the online account and on the app? This has been going on now for a number of weeks, I have spoken to at least 4 people in different departments, yet each of them insists that they can't see the details I can see and that it's just our meter " catching up"???????

Has anyone else had a similar problem or have any idea what could be going on, as it appears that Ovo haven't a clue or, indeed, any interest in finding out. We are in our 70s and this is becoming very stressful for us but it appears that no-one at Ovo is interested in helping us.

Tim_OVO wrote:

Thanks for getting back to me, @MrsSB.

 

The usage section itself can show estimated usage if we don’t get sent that data from the meters. But the daily readings, which your charges are based on, should be spot on or it needs closer attention. 

 

If you have any concerns that your meter readings aren’t accurately recording your usage, I’d encourage you to check out this guide: 

 

• I think my meter is clocking too fast - How can I test if my high usage is due to a faulty meter?

 

There have been regular meter readings sent by our smart meter. We believe that the meter readings are not accurate as they went from 4.84kwh one day to 22.92kwh the next and the only difference in our actual usage was one kettle boiling. The rest of the additional "usage" was recordings overnight when no gas was actually being used.  The guide you have mentioned is useless as it refers to electricity usage testing, not gas. We have had enough now, this situation is becoming extremely stressful and no-one at Ovo is interested in trying to find out what is happening. We are just being fobbed off as stupid old people. What's new about that???????

Hey @MrsSB,

Sorry to hear of the trouble you’re having.

Have you sent any photos or screenshots to the Support Team so that they can see what you can see? The view is different online from the internal system, so it may be difficult sometimes to see the same thing as yourself. You can submit these through our Support Webchat here. 

This way they can get a better understanding of what you can see and what may be the issue.

It may be that we aren’t receiving readings on each day, and those days where the usage seems a bit odd, may be that we have estimated the reading instead. You can check here for any missing daily readings: https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings

The usage page online is a guide, and if we haven’t received the readings from the meters we will estimate this instead. You will not be overcharged as long as your daily meter reading is sent to us and used in your billing.

Hey @MrsSB,

I’ve linked my response to your post on another topic. 

To answer your question, yes, I have sent many screenshots, I have had numerous phone conversations, meter readings are being shown on my account daily (we have a smart meter). I am being overcharged as my online account is showing usage in the middle of the night when no gas is being used, in fact higher usage overnight than during the day sometimes, and this "usage" is apparently included in the meter readings and is being billed on my account each day, and then each month. It appears no-one is taking this seriously and I am continually being fobbed off because OVO customer services staff "can't see the usage showing on my account" regardless of the many screenshots I've sent.

Hey @MrsSB 

Sorry you’re still experiencing issues with this.

Do you know if the meter reading schedule is set up at once daily, or is it set to send them every half an hour? It may be that the reading only comes to us once a day and so the system may be estimating the usage in between those actual readings each day. Our Support Team can check this for you, and if it’s not already set to half hourly, they can get that changed for you.

We also have this forum idea, which is focused on making this sort of action, something that customer would be able to change themselves: 

• Self service ability to change smart meter reading frequency Completed
• 34 Votes

I know it must be frustrating trying to get this resolved, but as we have no access to accounts here at the Forum, we won’t be able to provide you any specifics on your account & usage.

There is a test called the meter accuracy test, this is when the gas meter is removed for testing. They would replace it for a new one when they remove the meter, if they found that the meter wasn’t faulty there would be a charge for the appointment, so it’s always worth ruling out all of the gas appliances first to be sure it’s not one of those. 

Please do get back in touch with the Support Team about this so that they can look into it.

Abby_OVO wrote:

Hey @MrsSB 

Sorry you’re still experiencing issues with this.

 

Do you know if the meter reading schedule is set up at once daily, or is it set to send them every half an hour? It may be that the reading only comes to us once a day and so the system may be estimating the usage in between those actual readings each day. Our Support Team can check this for you, and if it’s not already set to half hourly, they can get that changed for you.

 

We also have this forum idea, which is focused on making this sort of action, something that customer would be able to change themselves: 

• Self service ability to change smart meter reading frequency Completed
• 34 Votes

 

I know it must be frustrating trying to get this resolved, but as we have no access to accounts here at the Forum, we won’t be able to provide you any specifics on your account & usage.

 

There is a test called the meter accuracy test, this is when the gas meter is removed for testing. They would replace it for a new one when they remove the meter, if they found that the meter wasn’t faulty there would be a charge for the appointment, so it’s always worth ruling out all of the gas appliances first to be sure it’s not one of those. 

 

Please do get back in touch with the Support Team about this so that they can look into it.

Our meter sends readings half hourly, it appears to be sending readings when no gas is being used, eg when we are in bed and everything is switched off, but also recently during the day when we are in the house and know nothing is being used.

So if our meter is faulty we have to pay to have a new one fitted? Really? Why?  We haven't caused the fault!!!!

As for ruling out gas appliances there are only 3:

a gas fire which has not been turned on for over a year - I think we'd notice if that suddenly switched itself on and we certainly haven't smelt any gas leak from it.

A hob, which is around a year old - again, I think we'd notice if that to was switching itself on, our if it was leaning gas, and finally

The combi boiler - again, we'd hear if that was switching itself on, we've checked the settings and it isn't set to heat water apart from on demand, heating is set very low and has never come on overnight, even in winter. No smell of gas in the cupboard where boiler is located. 

So unless there is some other way to "rule out appliances" we've pretty much done that already. As this problem is intermittent, ie happens every day for a few days, and then not at all for a further few days, and so on and so on, a leak is unlikely as, presumably, a leak would be continuous until it was located and repaired, I assume it wouldn't just have a few days of and then return??? We are getting absolutely nowhere with Ovo, no-one wants to help or even suggest any way for us to get help, we've resorted to turning our gas off at the meter as we're so concerned about charges being made for gas we are not using. 

Hi @MrsSB 

Thank you for all of that information. 

The test in question requires the meter to be removed in order to test it. If they find that the meter is faulty during this, you wouldn’t be charged, but if they found that the meter wasn’t faulty, this is the only reason you’d be charged, only of the meter wasn’t faulty.

When they remove it to be tested, they would fit a new one anyway as they can’t refit the same meter. 

The best thing to do will be to contact the Support Team to discuss this as we don’t have access to your account here at the Forum.

Thank you. Your last response actually said "if they found that the meter was faulty there would be a charge"  which is why I queried it.

We have been in touch with Customer Services, and also have emailed Ovo's CEO. We have had numerous phone conversations, and numerous emails, none of which have been any help to resolve this matter. In fact yesterday our gas usage shows charges for mid morning when the boiler, hob and fire were all switched off, we were out of the house, and the gas was actually turned off at the meter!!!  To our simple minds this indicates a meter fault but I expect Ovo will try to wriggle out of it & say it's something we're doing.

@MrsSB I feel like some context on this meter accuracy process might be helpful to you. 

Most people who have higher than expected actual usage benefit from ruling out the most common causes: something to do with their appliances. Most meters tested for a fault are not faulty. For these two reasons we recommend anyone rules out other factors before booking a meter accuracy test. 

As you might imagine, a meter accuracy test that is free no matter what the results would not be scaleable for an energy supplier. After all, nothing to lose in getting it tested right? Instead OVO aims to give you as many ways to rule out alternative causes first, and helps you book in the test if you’re sure. If the meter is faulty, the test is free and your charges are recalculated. Otherwise you’ll be charged for the appointment. 

In your case I still think there’s a chance that your meter has intermittent communication with OVO. Even if we get a daily reading, perhaps we don’t always get half hourly usage data. If that’s true your half hourly graphs will be partly estimated, just like how you describe which sometimes shows the overnight usage and sometimes don’t. So I wouldn’t use the graphs as the only justification to book a meter accuracy test. It’s far better to look at the total kWhs your meters have clocked, shown in your monthly bill, having checked that you’ve had daily readings added for those dates. If the kWh’s are much bigger than you expect, that is something worth exploring. 

Hope this helps,

Tim

That hardly explains why on 2 consecutive days, where actual usage was identical apart from an extra boiling of a kettle on the hob on the 2nd day, the usage recorded on the 1st day was 4.84kWh and on the 2nd day 22.92kWh.  So the boiling of a kettle added 18kWh to our usage, when the 1st day's 4.84Kwh actually included 2 kettle boilings? 

It seems to me that Ovo representatives will suggest anything rather than about the just could possibly be a problem with their equipment. 

And @Tim_OVO  we're quite prepared to pay to get the meter tested/replaced as we are not stupid enough to believe that Ovo will admit to there being a fault and we won't expect to get our money refunded. Funnily enough, most old people have seen enough of life to realise that this is how things work.

Hey @MrsSB 

Would you be able to upload some screenshots on to the Forum, on this thread, so that we can look at the readings? As we don’t have access to accounts we can’t see any of that information, so if you could attach some photo’s we can see what you can and try to help you more where we can. 

Data has been posted on a few threads from @MrsSB , e.g.

My heating and hot water are currently turned off but there’s a charge for gas on my account. Does anyone know why this might be?

Your meter is showing some gas use in the evening. That pattern suggests it isn't a leak. Are you sure you don't have a gas appliance that's switching on at 7 or 8pm? Some combi boilers have a pre-heat function that runs even if you don't use any hot water. Could it be that?

I have a similar experience.  Back in February (2023) when my appliances were turned off for a full 24 hours my usage, as shown by the online graphs, was reading zero.   Now it reads betwen 0.19 and 0.23 kWh per day when no gas is being used.  OVO have so far failed to provide any explanation for this.

On days when I do use gas - at certain times only when the boiler is on (just heating water at this time of year) the meter continues to clock up usage at this rate during the times when no gas is being used.

Hi @JCPW 

It's possible that one of your appliances has started leaking a very small amount of gas. There is an allowable amount of gas leakage in a domestic environment and your readings appear to be within that limit, even if you're in a small property.

I discussed this possibility with my heating engineer, who thinks it’s highly improbable but not totally impossible.  The OVO chat person (who has presumably been trained not to alarm customers) was adamant that it couldn’t be a leak and one of my appliances must be using some gas.  I have eliminated that possibility by powering off the boiler for 8 hours and reading the meter directly to confirm 0.006 cu M (= 0.063 kWh) clocked up.  This equates to 0.19 kWh per day as expected.

Further study of my online usage data shows ths began on 29th March and has been happening consistently ever since.

We had our gas hob removed a couple of years ago. The engineer who removed it told us that it was leaking. Not enough for us to notice and within the permitted amount but enough for him to measure. He wasn't at all surprised so I'm not sure why your heating engineer thinks it's unlikely.

Your options at this point are to accept the small amount of leakage or ask OVO to test the meter. There is a charge for this which is refundable if the meter is found to be faulty. Be aware that meters have a permitted error. I don't know what that permitted error is but your discrepancy is very small so might fall within that error.

The tolerance is 10% either way. If the meter is well within that, you sacrifice the test fee.