Why is my smart meter saying I’ve used £19 in gas today?

Do you have an online account, or do you log in to your account via the app? What kind of meter do you have? Is it PAYG or a credit meter?

If you have a credit meter and you log into your account tomorrow, you will be able to see exactly when and how this usage might have happened.

However, I cannot think of a situation where I could possibly use £19 of gas in one day. I am home 24/7 and our heating is timed to come on from 6.30am - 11pm each day (controlled by Hive thermostatic valves on each radiator where each room has a set target temperature). In January, we used an average of £2.54 per day for gas. I have a gas hob and use gas for heating and hot water.

Have you ever had, unexplained, high usage reported on your smart meter in the past?

​@danielbailey106 

Just to be sure; when you say ‘smart meter’ do you actually mean the meter, (the big white box fixed to a backboard), or do you mean the In Home Display?

Hey ​@danielbailey106 

I’m glad to see a couple of our community members have already stopped by with some helpful advice and questions.

It would be good to know if it’s the actual meter you’re talking about or the IHD? Does the online account state the same usage for this period? 

If you could answer some of the questions asked here and above, we should be able to help further.

Thanks for the replies! 

It was the in-home display (I wouldn’t know how to read the main meter unfortunately).

The online account isn’t yet showing any usage for yesterday. 

I’ve never had any unusual readings on it before 

331 kWh of gas would cost about that much.

Are you sure that it's not showing you your usage so far this month rather than just a days worth?

ie. Have you set the IHD to show a monthly budget?

For a comparison I've used 285 kWh of gas since the start of this month in  my 1-bed flat; so 331 kWh for the month so far may not be too bad for your household.

no, unfortunately that is a daily reading, as my online account has now updated 😞

OVO said there was no problem with my meter, and if I wanted an engineer to come out there’d be a £198 charge which I’d only get back if it turned out there was a problem 😕

That usage spike is quite alarming.

It must be an error of some kind; although another question has to be asked:

Is there possibly a gas leak? Can you smell gas either inside or outside your property?

https://www.ovoenergy.com/help/article/emergencies

No, no smell of gas, but also no hot water! So I’m going to have to phone the out of hours helpline

​@danielbailey106 Have you got hot water now? How’s the Usage section of your online account / app looking today?

The half-hourly usage data you’re seeing on the app is based upon the readings we have and, if you haven’t used that amount of gas, it could be that an incorrect reading has been logged on your account. It could also be the case that the meter hasn’t been sending us correct reads, and has now sent one which is above what we were estimating, which would create a jump in the usage data, which is only accurate when the readings are coming through.

We can only speculate on the Forum as to what the issue is, and you may need to contact our Support Team, so that they can look into this further.

I hope this is something that can be fixed easily for you, and I hope you’re hot water issue is now solved, and isn’t related. We look forward to hearing your update.

no, unfortunately that is a daily reading, as my online account has now updated 😞

OVO said there was no problem with my meter, and if I wanted an engineer to come out there’d be a £198 charge which I’d only get back if it turned out there was a problem 😕

This image shows your daily TOTAL usage, not just your daily GAS usage. That data would be more useful to see what appears to have happened in this strange usage jump. 

Have you got your hot water problem sorted? What was the problem?

Hey ​@danielbailey106 

Bendog made a good point about the screenshot showing the overall, while it still looks odd, it would be helpful to see what it shows just for gas. 

It would also be handy to see what the meter readings are showing for gas and if there’s something there that might point to an accurate, but out of line reading. If you’d be able to share a screenshot of the meter readings that’d be really helpful.

There is the gas usage. There was a leak somewhere outside the property, which I was able to provide evidence of. But OVO have refused to help me with the charge, even though I provided the proof that I hadn’t actually used the gas.
 

Customer service has been really disappointing all round, which is not my usual experience, I have to say. 

There is the gas usage. There was a leak somewhere outside the property, which I was able to provide evidence of. But OVO have refused to help me with the charge, even though I provided the proof that I hadn’t actually used the gas.
 

Customer service has been really disappointing all round, which is not my usual experience, I have to say. 

If it’s showing up on your usage, surely the leak must have been after the meter, which would mean it’s in the house? When you say there ‘was’ a leak, is it fixed now?

Did someone leave the hob on?

 

 

This image shows your total gas usage for the month and you said, much earlier, that you use hot water for showering. The image like this one that shows your actual daily usage would have been more helpful.

However, as woodstok2000 pointed out: ONLY gas that actually goes through your meter is measured and counted towards your usage. A gas leak in the street, before your meter, would not be measured by your meter. A leak between your meter and your boiler (or anything else in your house that uses gas) would be measured and charged for. I assume that someone has fixed the leak and that you now have hot water again. As far as OVO are concerned, your meter recorded gas usage. It may be worth asking if they could treat this as a special case and ask for a discount. I have never known anyone do this but, if you don’t ask, you don’t get! I am also not sure if a household insurance claim would be worth it as, in my experience of any insurance, a claim means a higher premium next year.

I have to say that it seems unlikey that you could have a gas leak after the meter but not smell gas.

“Somewhere outside” also seem vague, how did you provide evidence?

We would like to help you work out what has happened here.

Hey ​@danielbailey106,

I’ve shared some details about who is in charge of each area of the supply chain. If you could share a bit more about your situation, it would really help us give you the best advice to tackle the challenges you’re experiencing.

I hope this helps!