Updated 26/11/25 by Ben_OVO
I’m so sorry to hear your gas meter battery failed, @gareth, particularly as this left you off-supply.
All gas meters (Smart and traditional) have an internal battery that power them. This is designed to last for up to 20 years, with a meter recertification (exchanging the meter to replace it with a new one) scheduled every 10 years, so it’s unusual for this issue to crop up so soon. If your gas smart meter is making a beeping sound, it indicates that the battery is low and the meter will need replacing. If the battery fails this can affect the supply, as in your case, so it’s important to reach out to our Support Team if you do ever notice that your meter is beeping.
It’s really distressing to hear that this happened out-of-hours and you were unable to give us a call. For electricity, the Distribution Network Operator in your region can be contacted directly when an energy supplier is closed, and the electricity meter is off supply due to fault. They should be able to replace that meter and get the property back on supply. This safeguard is in place as electricity is considered an essential service with medical equipment and even medicines in fridges requiring a continuous electricity supply. With that in mind, we always advise anyone in such a situation to register for the priority services register.
In a scenario where the gas meter is faulty and off supply and the energy supplier is closed, the National Grid will be unable to replace the meter. In the case of OVO Energy, our Support Team are on hand 6 days a week to help arrange a short notice engineer visit to replace that meter.
Emergency and contact details can be found here:
I’m hoping you’ve managed to get through to the team to arrange a same-day emergency appointment already. Keep us posted if you need any extra help.
What to do in an emergency
