Why has my usage doubled since my smart meter was installed?

Hey ​@MrSleepless 

Sorry to hear about this, one of our volunteers has already left some really helpful advice here about checking the meter/supply details are correct and you’re being charged for the correct meter.

Are you able to see the readings used to create this bill? If so, is that similar to that of what the gas meter reading might have been? It’s tricky to tell exactly what’s happened so we can only make best guesses. I’ve linked below to a couple of other topics which may also be helpful if the details are all correct:

If you could double check the meter/supply number details are all correct, that would be my first suggestion. Keep us updated with how you get on.

This is one of the many reasons I don’t want one!!! I’ve been hearing people get a new smart meter and then the bills increase, and you have no recourse, they’ll just say you haven’t been paying enough with your old meter, which I know isn’t true.

I’m really angry that people are being bullied into getting one when they don’t want one. Yes, they’ll say their is no obligation to have one it isn’t law (yet), but if you want better tariffs in the future it’s going to be forced upon the customer and it’s not fair. The other thing I don’t like is, if they are so great why are they now going to be changed every ten years now, it’s ridiculous!!!

My old meter is over 3 decades old, and my bills have only gone up since they used the war in Ukraine as an excuse to bump all the prices up. If it’s not accurate, then why are my bills  (especially at this time of year when I’m not using heating), always near enough the same, like within a pound or less, a month?

I don’t like all the variables with changing, plus I don’t need the hassle of getting someone out to change them, and then either cancelling on me, or saying it can’t be done (both at the same time) or some nonsense. Lots of them stop working and then it’s impossible to get someone out to repair it. The whole system is a total mess, and since I already have “dumb” meters, what is the point in my getting new meters and then they don’t give readings like they are supposed to? I also live in a semi rural area where the mobile signal has a tendency to not be strong, so there is another problem to deal with, right there.

I’d rather stay as I am and give readings every week as I do know to keep things as accurate as possible. I’m getting old now, I don’t need any more unnecessary hassle in my life!! Leaving it up to the tech that doesn’t work properly and then not checking is a recipe for disaster, this is how people getting into massive debt. For the sake of 30 seconds to take a reading I’d rather not take a chance.

This is change, for changes sake, and it’s not for the customers benefit, it’s just to keep an eye on how much energy someone is using, especially at peak times, and it’s not on. They can see I’m a low user already, why do I have to even contemplate  having to have a smart meter when it’s not even worth my while, my bills won’t be any cheaper, that’s for sure!!

If your current meter is 30 years old, it’ll be due for mandatory replacement sooner or later. The maximum known lifespan is 45 years and even that only ever applied to a couple of ancient meter models - which have recently hit End of Life themselves.

If you leave the current one in place, it will eventually become more and more inaccurate, thus slowly impacting your bills more than having a Smart Meter would.

Signal issues are not as bad as you think - OVO has several tricks to get around that one.

Living in Scotland I arranged my meter to be changed over in January.  I took a day off work and nobody from OVO turned up . Fast forward a few months and someone from OVO appeared then refused to do the job because of asbestos . Third time lucky and 3rd day off work and an engineer arrived an eventually changed my meter . A few days later a meter reader arrives and takes a reading . Just through chance I happen to go online and find that I am £3000+ in debt and my next monthly bill we be over £400 . I have never had a monthly bill over £240 before . Also looking back over all the bills I had paid they were coming up as £700 £800 £600 etc  . Now luckily enough I have all my bank statements and it turns out that my meter had someone else's number in it and obviously their details . My wife is absolutely stressed out by all this and it has caused her severe anxiety.  Absolutely disgusted with OVO . There is no way they should be allowed to treat customers like this . I am awaiting their response .

This doesn’t make much sense. Do you mean that the meter serial number (MSN) on the bills you’ve received is different from the number on the meter itself? The engineer who installed the new meter should have left a card beside it giving the MSNs of both the removed and the installed meters, along with their readings on installation day. Do these match with what you’re seeing online? 

When was the new meter installed? It can take a few weeks for everything to fall into place after a meter exchange - the usual advice is to hold off for six weeks before complaining about something not looking right. 

I'm on nights at the moment so can't check but the installer did leave a card . I'm surethe meter reader typed in the wrong details . I have lodged a complaint and am waiting on a call back . My last 12 bills online were all in the region of 200-220 quid but when I go and check them now it says I paid anything between 500 to 700 a month . It's like I have someone else's details . Either a football stadiums floodlights or a cannabis farm by the looks of things . 

Hey ​@DundeeUnited, 

Welcome to the community! 

As ​@Firedog correctly pointed out, the engineer who replaced the meter should have provided a card with the new meter's details and installation date. Since we cannot access your account via the Forum, we can only make assumptions based on the information available.

It seems there might have been an out-of-line reading during the new meter's installation, or the installation itself disrupted the billing system. These issues often resolve themselves as the meter collects more data, typically over a few weeks. If, after a few weeks, your bills remain higher than usual, please contact our Support Team to raise a dispute.

Please keep us updated on your progress 😊

Weird - although probably me just not getting how things are working with 

my smart meter!


On E10 - until last week was using roughly £4 a day, now I’ve noticed that’s increased to £7 a day and I’m not doing anything different with what I use.. Did submit a reading fairly recently..

When was your smart meter installed? Last we heard, you were stalling … If it’s less than six weeks ago, your account may not have settled down completely yet. There is usually no need to submit meter readings manually if the smart meter is working as intended. On Economy 10, there will be two readings each day, peak and offpeak.

Where are you seeing the figures of £4 and £7 a day?

Where are you at?

I'm in Cumbria - the temperature has dropped dramatically this week, my boiler is firing up more often to keep the flat warm,  and that's almost doubled my heating cost to compensate for the temperature drop.