smart meter

OVO policy at the moment is that everyone should have at least one months direct debit of credit on 31st March, so DDs can sometimes be inflated for a year to achieve that figure.

Then of course even DDs for actual use are averaged over a year, so in summer you pay for more than your actual use, in winter you pay less than your actual use.

OVO don't do a “pay what you have used this month” DD. Some other suppliers do but that means that your DD will change every month, which isn't great for budgeting.

As for smart metering then yes go for it, especially if you keep having estimated readings.

Just having accurate readings rather than estimates can often reduce your DDs.

(It can take up to 12 months but I reckon that my overall DD has now reduced by about 30% fom what it would have been, simply by having accurate readings sent in everyday by the smart meter).

As for reducing your usage it's a case of each to their own, but with a smart meter recording half hourly usage then you can see from the timings where you are using a lot and work out what appliance is using it.

Eg. My main electric oven/hob only gets used verry occasionally now I've seen just how much power it uses, it's much cheaper to cook the same meal using Air Fryer and Microwave.

Thanks, that helps clarify things a bit.

I think my confusion is that I’m currently paying around £49/month by Direct Debit, but my actual usage seems closer to about £26/month. I originally thought that getting a smart meter would mean I’d simply pay exactly what I use each month automatically.

A couple of years ago with previous suppliers, my monthly payments used to vary depending on actual usage, so I’m trying to understand whether OVO’s system is different.

If I get a smart meter, would I still stay on a fixed averaged Direct Debit, or is there an option to pay based purely on actual monthly usage from the smart meter readings?

I’m basically trying to work out whether:

• keeping the traditional meter + current DD,
• getting a smart meter + fixed DD,
• or getting a smart meter + paying on receipt of bill
  would make most sense for my situation.

You can choose to pay on receipt of bill but that makes it more expensive, both for standing charge and unit rates. OVO does not offer a “variable Direct Debit option” which is when the exact amount of your bill is taken from your account, automatically via Direct Debit, each month.

Personally, as someone on a fixed income, I would not choose either of these. I much prefer the Direct Debit that I have been paying for a few years now of £100 per month for gas and electricity. I also, deliberately, choose to keep a certain amount in credit throughout the year as it allows us to choose to keep warm in winter and to use our electric oven or tumble dryer if, absolutely, necessary. I also have a glass fusing kiln that I do not use as often as I used to use it, but again, my Direct Debit allows me to be able to choose to do so whenever I want to.

OVO do review our usage and Direct Debit payments every three months. Every day on my online account, there is a box (see attached graphic) that advises what my minimum payment could be. Personally, I ignore this. When my DD is added to my account tomorrow, this amount is likely to change to a lower amount. If I made the change, the amount I would be paying I know would not cover my winter usage. Whenever OVO tell me, via email, that they intend to lower my Direct Debit, I ask them not to do so.

One of the things that our change from a traditional meter to a smart meter sending readings every half hour that we could see the next day was to highlight how energy hungry some of our appliances were. We now use our air fryer and/or the microwave instead of the main oven. Since we use electricity for almost everything except heating and hot water, even during the summer, this gave us instant savings that we could actually see from real, personal data rather than product promotions.

At the moment, there are a couple of current OVO promotions available to those with smart meters that do give small, extra savings: Power Move and the 2 hours of free electricity. In my view, every saving is worth having! 

Hey ​@bee91 

I’m glad to see a few of our community member have already stopped by with some helpful advice on this one, I hope you’ve found it useful.

As mentioned, variable Direct Debit isn’t something we’ve offered for quite some time. Pay on demand is available if you’d prefer to only pay the exact amount each month, where as our Direct Debits are set up to spread out the cost more evenly throughout the year.

We’ve got a few handy topics dedicated to Direct Debits and how they work which might also be helpful here:

If you’ve still got any questions, do let us know.😊