Can someone help me understand my gas usage?

Hi ​@Christine1983 ,

Welcome to the OVO Forum, my name is Blastoise186 and I’m one of the Forum Volunteers around here. Our Forum Engineer is currently online too, so I can ask him to swing by if needed.

I need a little more info to get things started as we can’t see your account from here:

1. Please tell us what Tariff you’re on and whether you’ve got stuff like Economy 7/10
2. Please show us photos of your meters and everything around them
3. Please show us photos of your heating and hot water setup

Thanks!

Hi.  Thanks for replying.   I've constantly tried and it is not accepting uploads. 

I am on variable if that helps.  

Gotcha. Feel free to email any images over to forum@ovoenergy.com for now and let me know once that’s done. I’ll then get ​@Chris_OVO to try and upload them for you.

Ahh sorry.   Seems I was uploading too many and one at a time.    But thank you 😊 

My recent bill was £88 including the £9 standing charge.   Crazy, I'm as tight as they come and don't use alot of energy.   I'm baffled 

Did you receive them sir ?

That's what I was told !   But my electric is around £40  and I' use the airfryer and steamer everyday at least twice as I steam up my dogs food as well as my own plus all other normal household appliances.   I don't think so, I pay £65 then whatever the balance over I transfer straightaway.     I'm getting robbed aren't I?   What should I do in your opinion? 

You will need to check your last bill to see if the gas and electricity readings used to calculate your bill were “smart”, manual or estimated.

Are we talking about your last bill or are you paying by monthly direct debit and this is your direct debit amount?

My bills are on the app and I can't find anywhere that says either of those three words 

And yes £65 is my monthly pay via direct debit that's the plan they put me on and if more I simply make an extra payment on the app 

Thanks for the snapshot, but it doesn’t tell me how the bill was calculated. Did the bill use actual (smart or manual) readings or were the readings estimated. If you have only recently moved in then any estimated readings may use the previous occupants usage patterns.

Sorry.  Found it.   Yes it says smart next to the  reading history on the electricity but says manual next to the gas which I did on November 14th for the first time since moving here in June as I was playing with app and saw I can enter it whereas I was always getting a bill so I didn't known had to.    Is that the issue do you think?   Perhaps I'll call them to morrow and also ask about the 'dumb' meter haha.   Thqnkyou x

That is the day I moved in and 14th I just randomly did it, but I've always been billed since I moved in so I assume they don't need the reading ?    I've not a clue :(

Try to submit your gas meter reading just before your billing date. That way your bills will be based on what you have used rather than an estimate. You can submit them via the app using the “usage” tab, and about half way down you will see “Meter Readings, View and submit reading. >”

You could also check to see how your current reading compares with the estimate. Hopefully the estimate is greater than the actual.

Yes it said smart on the electricity bill but manual next to the gas bill 

yes perhaps thats what ive done wrong but no one told me this just told me id get billed...      but Brilliant thank you so so much for you're help, 

I'm not sure how to compare the current reading with the estimate ?

The Gas MSN format/syntax matches those installed in 2006, so it can only be a Traditional Meter.

I'll give them a call tomorrow and see what's what and enquire about this old meter also.   Thanks again for all your help and advice.. bless you x

Oh so that meter is OK then ?    I can see ya it says on the picture 2006 'old meter' haha.     I think my boiler might be quite old too..   but as I said, I've not a clue what I'm talking about all I know is these bungalows are quite old from before the war ll.  I believe 

from a different thread: 

…[give] a reading on the day after your billing period finishes, not on the day itself.

It’s probably “OK” if recording gas usage is what you mean. However, at 18 years old it’s likely nearly at End of Service Life so could do with being replaced soon. OVO Support might be able to arrange that if you ask them.