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Incorrect Octopus Energy smart meter readings
Comments
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£11 in a day is preposterous just for a hob, my gas was £7 in the coldest day in January, with heating and hot water, in a 4 bed house. Are you sure the figures are just for gas . At the moment £3/week for dhw.
4.8kWp 12x400W Longhi 9.6 kWh battery Giv-hy 5.0 Inverter, WSW facing Essex . Aint no sunshine ☀️ Octopus gas fixed 5.07 + Octopus Intelligent Flux leccy
CEC Email energyclub@moneysavingexpert.com0 -
As suggested, need to get away from taking ££ from the IHD and focus on the actual readings from the gas meter, and do a check to see if the meter still increments when the supply is shut off….
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The meter is inside the property within a cupboard. He has performed a test by switching off the gas supply at the mains for 24 hours and the meter was still recording a reading whilst the supply was switched off. He has registered a formal complaint with Octopus and yes will be escalating this further if they do not resolve. He is taking the readings from the actual supply meter and then comparing to the Octopus online app which seem to match but cannot be correct if they are escalating and the mains supply was turned off? I will obtain and post actual online readings from his account also. If it was a minor leak as we cant smell gas anywhere then I would assume that the incorrect readings would be more consistent and not vary so erratically as they currently are? Thank you very much for the comments and help so far which is much appreciated!
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the meter was still recording a reading whilst the supply was switched off
Just for absolute clarity here, you mean that the meter reading was still increasing whilst the gas supply was turned off?
The gas valve is upstream of the gas meter so even if there was a leak, the readings should stop increasing when the gas valve is turned off. If that doesn't happen then the implication is that the gas meter is faulty.
Reed1 -
OP, are you able to get a photo of the meter from your son, or at least the model number?
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I would also look at setting up a timelapse recording or even regular video to show both that the valve is turned off and that in spite of that the meter is still recording use - he may need to allow space between camera and meter to ensure he can get in an push any necessary buttons to bring the reading up on screen. That may be extremely useful evidence down the line!
when he looks at the screen on the meter with the readings - does it have any other symbols shown on it? Maybe anything that could indicate a failing battery?
🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
A gas meter can be affected by a problem with the mains supply. There is an example somewhere on here of a meter failing because of a problem streets away.
And make sure that your son insists that his bills are wrong and does not talk about the meter. It is up to the supplier to decide why the bills are wrong.
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Do you have a link?
Seems very unlikely that a gas meter could be affected by a problem with the mains electricity supply streets away: gas meters do not have any connection to mains electricity.
Traditional gas meters are entirely mechanical, smart ones have an internal long-life battery.
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I think we had a poster here a while ago with an problem that they were convinced was as a result of an issue several streets away - a fair few people very patiently tried to explain to them why that couldn't be the case. I can't recall whether they were ever convinced though!
🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her1 -
He has performed a test by switching off the gas supply at the mains for 24 hours and the meter was still recording a reading whilst the supply was switched off.
If the meter reading is still increasing when the supply is isolated, there's a meter fault.
the latest response is that they are trying to arrange for an engineer to call and check his gas meter but if this is not faulty then they will charge him an additional £190 for the visit and he will be back to square one!!
It is normal for suppliers to charge for a meter test if no faults are found. This should not deter you from requesting the check.
The meter should be removed and sent to SGS for a laboratory test, per this post from 2023. If they try to test it in-situ, they're doing the wrong test and you should complain vigorously.
N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec / Fuse gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Kirk Hill Co-op member.Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Ecoflow Stream, Best kettle :-)
2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 37 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.1
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