On the 7th October my Gas CH boiler was serviced. The engineer found it to be dangerous and disconnected my gas supply. On the 18th October we had a new boiler fitted and the gas supply was reconnected. My usage for the 11 full days when we had no gas was above average according to the usage chart on OVO. Tried to get an answer from Livechat. After 1hr 24 minutes was disconnected and no answer. Do they just make the numbers up? What is the point of having a smart meter?

Hi @Davidfr and thanks for asking this. It’s good to hear that faulty boiler is out. 

If the smart meter isn’t sending your gas readings to us remotely, we will estimate your usage. You can see if the reading on the account is a smart reading or an estimate here: https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings . If we’ve not had a reading for 5 days or more, you can manually submit a reading using that same link. That will correct any over-estimation and your live billing charges will be updated after a number of minutes. 

You can diagnose a smart meter communication issue yourself by following the steps outlined here:

Rather than the usage chart can you show us what the meter readings have been over that period ?

Hello, my enquiry is about the metered volume of Gas  I’ve used during the last three months –  I live alone in a bungalow, haven’t changed any way of being, nothing new here -  except that I had a smart meter for gas and electricity installed in January 2022.  My metered volume of gas is showing this year:

 7th Sept – 6th Oct : 130.399 : about 3x more usage than the same time last year (40.753)

7th Oct – 6th Nov  185.225 : about 4.5 more usage than the same time last year (43.617)

7th Nov – 6th December 267.239 : about 6.5  more usage than the same time last year (42.244).

I do understand that weather might impact usage, and that I can arrange for my meter to be tested by an OVO engineer at £105 per visit, and that if my meter is incorrect that this fee will be refunded and any monies due returned to me.  However, there’s a little bit of conflict of interest in having an engineer from the supplier testing his own kit, where is the incentive for the engineer to find that OVO could possibly be at fault?  I do not wish to cast aspertions on any OVO persons, I’m sure that they are all top notch engineers, but can you see my point?  Wouldn’t many people have the same concerns?

Does anyone have any ideas as to why the increasingly large numbers in metered volume?  A last query, is that since my smart meter was installed on my gas meter under the stairs the box attached to the meter has no digital display, nothing at all showing just a blank screen (whereas the box attached to the electricity meter is showing full display of figures).

Hi @KarenBB my gas usage has increased a fair bit in the recent cold spell so that might have an impact. It will depend on your situation of course and differences from last year. 
You can also ‘wake up’ the smart meter by pressing a button. It normally is blank to conserve power as it has a battery to provide power for the display and electronics. 
You can check your meter readings compared to what is logged on your account. The gas meters can sometimes drop their connection so it’s worth checking if your usage was from actual or estimated readings. 
Incidentally the meters are all calibrated and certified for accuracy - this is separate to any energy company checks

Thanks BPLightlog will follow your suggestions,  I’ve woken up the smart meter and made notes, but  now my online OVO account isn’t registering my logon details, and despite numerous password resets its still not playing ball, so I’ve raised a query with them.  On my bills for both gas and electricity, the meter readings have an ‘estimated’ written before the number, when I queried this with OVO, they said that everyone’s bills say ‘estimated’ next to their bill readings, regardless of whether or not they have a smart meter.  Strange state of affairs. K

That doesn’t sound right @KarenBB . Hopefully you can get back on the app or online at least. If your smart meter doesn’t send readings for more than 5 days (I think it is), you can send a manual reading which might help to correct any high estimates for you. If you need any help with taking a manual reading, post back here and someone will help

Nice post, @KarenBB - a perfectly reasonable set of observations and concerns clearly outlined. 

Very interesting to hear about the estimated meter readings. This is suspect number 1 in my book. Before we can bring them in for questioning, you need to get into that online account. We’ve made a guide to help here:

Once you get access, have a look at the meter reading section: https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings

If it’s been 5 days or more since your smart meters sent us a reading, you’ll be able to submit a reading. I’d be curious to see the impact.