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Green tech & greener living

All the tech that’s powering your shift to zero carbon

1220 Topic threads
Emmanuelle_OVO
Community Manager
Emmanuelle_OVOCommunity Manager
Posted in Electric vehicles
Do you have Solar Panels & Charge Anytime? We’d love to hear your thoughts

It's an exciting time in the EV and Solar market for customers. We're looking to get some feedback from customers who have Charge Anytime and Solar on what they would like to see if we were able to offer both services at the same time. Currently customers with solar panels are not eligible for Charge Anytime. Charge Anytime works by crediting customers, for each kilowatt hour (kWh) of EV electric vehicle charging that occurs, from their grid imported home energy rate down to 7p. Currently, when customers with solar panels charge their EVs, we can’t tell the difference between imported and self-generated energy, leading to problems with getting credit and rendering them ineligible. We’re looking to solve this and we’d like you to take part in some research.  Are you eligible for this research? You’d need to either: Use Charge Anytime  Have an Electric Vehicle or use Charge Anytime and be considering installing solar panels  Or have an electric vehicle and solar panels  If you’re interes

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Abby_OVO
Community Manager
7 days ago
Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
Blastoise186Plan Zero Hero
Posted in Home and heating
RTS (Radio Teleswitch Service) Shutdown UpdateF.A.Q.

Updated on 14/11/24 by Abby_OVO Check out our dedicated RTS FAQs page for more information. RTS Shutdown Update July 2024 Hey! The name’s 186, Blastoise186 and I’m one of the Forum Volunteers who you’ve maybe seen helping around here. I’ve been working with OVO to get the most up to date information possible for you and they’ve passed over the following helpful updates and details.One of the recent hot questions we’ve seen on the Forum (for a while now) is what’s happening to RTS meters. The RTS (Radio Teleswitch Service) is shutting down soon, which especially affects complex ones like THTC (Total Heat Total Control). I’ve covered this before in one of my older posts linked below – so check that out if you’re interested in why this is happening. That post already has many questions covered, so this one will focus purely on the next steps.Radio teleswitch (RTS) shutdown sunset FAQIf you’re interested in what all the different meter types are/were - just ask below. Not sure if you’ve go

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Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
9 days ago
Abby_OVO
Community Manager
Abby_OVOCommunity Manager
Posted in Electric vehicles
Get up to 2,700 free miles, thanks to our partnership with Volvo Cars and Charge AnytimeNews

Thanks to our partnership with Volvo Cars, you can get up to 2,700 miles of free driving* when you switch to OVO if you have an eligible Volvo electric vehicle. Just add our free Charge Anytime add-on to your energy tariff. You’ll also receive £50 in charging credit once you’re on supply. Volvo drivers with fully electric specific models will be able to unlock up to 2,700 free Charge Anytime miles. Charge Anytime allows you to smart charge your Volvo at a super-low rate of 7p per kWh** – anytime, day or night with no restrictions.  Eligibility You'll need an eligible Volvo vehicle and a set-up that’s compatible with Charge Anytime.  This offer is only available to new Charge Anytime customers. Please see the offer terms and Charge Anytime terms. Eligible Volvo EVs include: Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric Volvo C40 Recharge Pure Electric Volvo EC40 Volvo EX40 For full details and to see if you are eligible, please visit our landing page or you can check your eligibility here by comple

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Carbon Cutter*
26 days ago
Shads_OVO
Retired Moderator
Shads_OVORetired Moderator
Posted in Home and heating
Upcoming Heat Pump Plus Trial

What is it?We’re launching the UK's first nationwide heat pump flexibility trial, where heat pumps automatically reduce energy use during peak demand without affecting your comfort or heating.  This trial will help us understand how we can use smart tech to improve the grid for a greener future. We'll be offering this trial from mid November throughout winter. We’ll be collecting data about energy consumption and how this level of flexibility impacts customers.  We’re working with Nesta, the UK’s social innovation agency. Nesta’s aim is to find new ways to tackle society's big problems in education, the environment and health. Customers who take part in the trial, which includes completing a few surveys and interviews, will receive a £100 shopping voucher from Nesta at the end of the trial period. Who is eligible? To take part in the trial customers will need to have a compatible Vaillant aroTHERM 3 post 2016 or an aroTHERM Plus heat pump with a connected myVAILLANT Connect internet ga

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Shads_OVO
Retired Moderator
1 month ago
BPLightlog
Plan Zero Hero
BPLightlogPlan Zero Hero
Posted in Home and heating
Dashboard for Home UsageBlog

With the raft of online apps and services now in everyday use, I had begun to get frustrated that for some simple things (like thermostats, energy usage and security cameras) it was necessary to open a whole array of different programs. I stumbled across the concept of gathering these together under one service and now have a very easy, comprehensive option via something called Home Assistant (HA). (available on mobile app and pc)Although it has been many years since I did any real programming, I decided to try out this system and have found it a lot easier to put together and operate than I expected.First of all, I need to say that it is often not totally without cost. The system can be run on an existing computer but as the service really needs to be running all the time, most people tend to use some sort of minicomputer. I used something called a Raspberry Pi. This is a small electronics board – which can be bought as a full system or piece by piece – which links to your broadband r

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BPLightlog
Plan Zero Hero
6 months ago
Peter E
Plan Zero Hero
Peter EPlan Zero Hero
Posted in Electric vehicles
A New Chaos - A Greener Future: Part OneBlog

 This was supposed to be a short piece. My apologies in advance to the part of your life you won’t get back after you have  read it but it does a condense a lot of thought and research into one article so I think it’s worth reading. To save time you  can skip the boxes.   This is an personal journal of how the use of energy in one household has evolved over the past few years with a  surprising setback but also an unexpected development and future possibilities for getting towards Net Zero. However,  this is not about how a typical migration might happen. This is about an experiment that was kick started out of the chaos  that was the result of Covid and then Russia invading Ukraine and how it influenced my thinking about how to reduce my  costs with very high energy prices.. What is being presented here is more of a journal of what happened over the past  few years to our household and it’s about provoking thoughts and discussions on the various pathways by which Net Zero  may be achi

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Nukecad
Plan Zero Hero
6 months ago
Peter E
Plan Zero Hero
Peter EPlan Zero Hero
Posted in Electric vehicles
A New Chaos - A Greener Future: Part TwoBlog

 ...ContinuedThe diagram is a crude illustration of how the various technologies compare in installation and running costs. The heat pump starts off at a minimum of £500 per year due to the initial cost and that is after the grant. It’s over a £1,000 a year without a grant. The AAHP is standalone, £800 over 10 years. The gas boiler starts off at £4,000 over 15 years but probably 20 as it’s very lightly loaded. It’s only really going to be used on the coldest of days or if the electricity prices are high for some reason. With TRVs (that you can’t use with a heat pump) the gas boiler will only be heating the other rooms in the house as required to balance the heating. You are only asking the AAHP and the gas boiler to do what they do best so the combination is saving both money and gas at the same time. The immersion heater is saving gas on the lowest priced days but it’s capable of storing a certain amount of extra heat (as a  battery) for later use so may save more than is initially es

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Peter E
Plan Zero Hero
8 months ago
Emmanuelle_OVO
Community Manager
Emmanuelle_OVOCommunity Manager
Posted in Home and heating
Solar installed by OVO? We’d love to hear from youBlog

Updated on 09/10/24 by Shads_OVOSolar power is a great way to generate your own renewable energy, and gain energy independence. We’re proud that we’re now offering solar, even if you’re not an OVO customer. If you’ve recently begun your solar journey and had your panels installed by OVO we’d love to hear more about your experience.  Not yet had solar installed but thinking about it? See our solar product page.  Whether you’ve already got solar panels, are interested in getting them installed, or are simply a green tech enthusiast here to find out more – we’ve got a number of topics here on the Forum which may interest you. Find out more about OVO’s solar offering:   Check out this collaborative user guide to all things solar:   Here’s a community members guide to help if you’re planning a DIY-approach to installing solar panels:  We're also looking to get some feedback from customers who have Charge Anytime and Solar, on what they would like to see if we were able to offer both service

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Chris_OVO
Community Moderator
8 months ago
C
New Member***
Chris03026132New Member***
Posted in Electric vehicles
Charge Anytime won’t connect to BMW

Hi,I’ve been trying to setup Charge Anytime to connect with my BMW X5 50e.I don’t have a compatible charger but the car is listed as compatible.Ive downloaded the Charge Anytime App and successfully logged in. It all works up until the point where I need to log into my BMW acccount to give permission. The App appears to direct me towards the BMW USA site (I’m in the UK). I’ve setup an account for the USA site to see if this helps but now just get an error.Ive logged into my BMW UK account outside of the app to see if I can give permissions but can’t find anything.Ive emailed the Charge Anytime team but the only response was to contact BMW. BMW customer services have no idea what I’m talking about. I emailed OVO back and explained that and I think the issue is probably to do with Kaluza or Enode and where the app is directing me.Any help would be appreciated.   

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L
Carbon Cutter*
11 hours ago
C
New Member*
Colingray83New Member*
Posted in Electric vehicles
charge Anytime + pre-conditioning

Hi, just had my hypervolt 3 pro installed and very helpful engineer. One thing I’m struggling with is how to use grid energy to precondition battery, before a journey.i ask ChargeAnytime to be ready by 7 and I might be leaving at 8am, with my old 13amp charger, I could tell the car, leaving at 8 or even just getting it to defrost by manually setting it and it would use grid energy saving the battery for the journey. i don’t mind that the preconditioning is on a more expensive rate, but I assume the charger won’t accept the request from the car and just use the battery.  Is there anything I need to do, or is it just the way it is? colin

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C
New Member*
11 hours ago
G
Carbon Cutter*****
Grapallie11Carbon Cutter*****
Posted in Home and heating
Delay in setting up agreed fixed tariff

I agreed a 12 month fixed tariff with OVO which should have started on 6 Dec last year. To date nothing has happened despite no fewer than 12 phone over recent weeks in attempt to get some action. What can I do to get this sorted.

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G
Carbon Cutter*****
11 hours ago
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Carbon Cutter*
njvanCarbon Cutter*
Posted in Smart meters
Smart Meter timing/fuse box tripping, and priority register.

Hi, I had my RTS meter replaced with a smart meter in December. I wasn’t aware it would cause my fuse box to trip for as long as I’ve been told (6 weeks as per the time given for information to be updated), I was under the impression this would last only about 48 hours. A week or two after it was fitted I asked OVO support about the fuse box tripping, and was told I’d have to wait the 6 weeks. It flips 10-20+ times a day, but the issue is that my heating system takes so long to heat up that my house is sitting at about 13-14C, and I’m a disabled person. This is causing me a lot of pain on top of the expected annoyance at the inconvenience. I’ve also had my computer shut down while writing, losing anything I’ve been working on that hasn’t been saved- which is more of an inconvenience but I’m afraid it’ll mess up my computer eventually as the flips are quite unpredictable. It also makes cooking, and showering, difficult at times. Has anyone had experiences with asking for help with the w

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Firedog
Plan Zero Hero
15 hours ago
H
Carbon Cutter***
H4mmo67Carbon Cutter***
Posted in Electric vehicles
Renault Megane etech

I have had my Megane over a year now with no charging issues, but last week I plugged in as normal it started to charge then paused and displayed in the app “start charging after 23:00hrs” as always but when I got up it hadn’t charged, so used the urgent charge button, plugged in again this week and exactly the same issue, used urgent charge to put some charge into the car them plugged the car in overnight said it would charge after 3:30am woke up at 7:00 am hadn’t charged so I reset the schedule to ready by 8:30 and after a few minutes I checked and the “smart” charge was working. I haven’t changed anything as it was all working perfectly, Any help would be really  appreciated

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H
Carbon Cutter***
18 hours ago
B
New Member**
bixbartonNew Member**
Posted in Electric vehicles
Unable to turn off Urgent mode

I turned on Urgent mode yesterday, just to test.I now cannot get the app to turn it off again. I have followed the FAQ guidance which says to unplug the charger for at least 30 minutes. It has been unplugged for a good deal longer, and still is not resetting. Why does the app not have a button to turn off Urgent mode? Please can you advise how I can get the app to switch back to the Schedule? UPDATE: Wouldn’t you know it, I just checked the app now and Urgent mode has turned off.HOWEVER: There really REALLY needs to be a button to turn it off. I realise this is probably a problem with Kaluza, but needs to happen. 

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Emmanuelle_OVO
Community Manager
19 hours ago
D
Carbon Cutter*****
DuncanLCarbon Cutter*****
Posted in Smart meters
App not Updating Daily Usage

I notice the App has stopped updating my daily usage.  Does this mean that my smart meter has stopped sending data to OVO ?  IHD still works OK

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Emmanuelle_OVO
Community Manager
19 hours ago
B
Carbon Cutter****
BearclaireCarbon Cutter****
Posted in Smart meters
meter help please

We have just moved into our rented property and are worried that the usage stated on the app is not correct.there is a smart meter in the property but not one that we have assigned to our account! Or asked for,  Is the smart reader for the property? so therefore reading our electricity correctly and the online account is wrong?  the daily standing charge on the smart meter is also different to what it says on our tariff account online. we are now worried as it says we are using over £10 per day!!!!!  PLEASE HELP AS IF THIS IS CORRECT WE WILL HAVE TO DO SOME CUTTING DOWN DRASTICALLY

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Emmanuelle_OVO
Community Manager
20 hours ago
M
Carbon Cutter*
MimiCarbon Cutter*
Posted in Home and heating
Why my Mitsubishi Ecodan not heating up the tank?

I have no hot water.  DHW is switched to pause automatically and tank water temperature stays at 14 degrees celcius.  Heating is running fine.  I tried to maual reset but didn’t help.  DHW is also paused automatically and everytime it pauses, “LJ” is flashing at the top left of the control screen.  I have no idea what “LJ” stands for, couldn’t find a clue from the Mitsubishi error code.  Please help.  Thanks

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R
Carbon Cutter*
1 day ago
juliamc
Carbon Catcher***
juliamcCarbon Catcher***
Posted in Home and heating
Green background on forum threads ??

Green backgrounds have recently appeared on some forum threads. What exactly do they signify please? 

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juliamc
Carbon Catcher***
1 day ago
A
Carbon Cutter***
AstraroyCarbon Cutter***
Posted in Home and heating
existing fit with new battery and inverter

Wondered if anyone can answer my query Im an existing FIT payment receiver (solar panels installed with single string inverter 11 years ago) so receive a decent FIT payment. Recently had installed a EcoFlow 3.6kw inverter with 10kw battery storage, the generation meter was changed to a bidirectional meter as instructed and followed the correct schematic. However the meter is showing a negative number and I can’t seem to work out what the solar panels are generating apart from what shows in the EcoFlow app We charge the batteries up at night using an off peak rate and then any solar during the day tops the batteries up. am I correct in thinking there should be another meter of sort between the solar panels and inverter just to monitor the generation from The solar panels? installers seem to think by summer it will change to a positive but that’s no good to me right now when I’ve generated about 30kw of solar   

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A
Carbon Cutter***
1 day ago
S
Carbon Cutter***
simongCarbon Cutter***
Posted in Electric vehicles
Charge Anytime - Failed to Charge!

I have had Charge Anytime for a few weeks now, and other than an issue with Ovo displaying incorrect monthly £/kWh totals, it has been working great, until now!Plugged in yesterday evening around 6pm, unplugged this morning to find it had not charged at all. Looking in the Ohme app it shows it was plugged in for the duration, but zero charging took place - which has caused a bit of an issue travelling today 😠The schedule on the Ohme is set to smart charge to 100% by 7am, and has worked perfectly until now. Why did it not charge? Did Kaluza determine that there was no ‘green’ time to do it, so just did nothing? This is very concerning and raises serious questions about the smart charging concept going forward.   

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Abby_OVO
Community Manager
1 day ago
S
New Member*
Sam91New Member*
posted in Electric vehicles
EV car not charging with OVA electricity providers

Hi all,my car is not charging for the last 4 days. our electricity providers are ova. anyone else face the same problemThanks

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Abby_OVO
Community Manager
1 day ago
D
Carbon Cutter*
david.sinc100Carbon Cutter*
Posted in Smart meters
Storage heaters charging at peak rates with new smart meter?

My mother in law lives in a sheltered flat with storage heaters (probably 20 years old).  The storage heaters only have input and output controls; they don't seem to have any timer or programming facility.  They were previously connected to a separate off peak meter. In October the meters were changed to smart meters on the domestic economy tariff, in preparation for the analogue signal being switched off.  Since then the peak usage has gone up by 300% and I suspect the heaters are drawing in power during both the off peak and peak periods. I'm wondering if anyone has encountered this and knows what the solution is?  It was never a problem previously as the heaters only seemed to be connected to the dedicated off peak meter. Many thanks for any help.

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Abby_OVO
Community Manager
1 day ago
B
New Member**
bixbartonNew Member**
Posted in Electric vehicles
chargeanytime@ovoenergy.com is not valid

Why does the app advise people to contact chargeanytime@ovoenergy.com which is not a valid email address anymore?

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Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
1 day ago
G
Carbon Cutter*****
GrumpyTruckerCarbon Cutter*****
Posted in Smart meters
IHD lost connection

Odd question. Both of my IHDs lost connection to my meter HAN Communication Hub overnight. One is the OVO issued IHD 3 (still miffed I got one so old when they replaced my meter, but anyhoo) and the other is an Ivie Bud. The Ivie lost connection somewhere between 2-3am so I assume the OVO one did too. The Ivie is now stuck in a reboot loop as it keeps trying to connect, the OVO is just sitting there completely blank. The question? Glad you asked. Last night was probably the coldest night if the year so far, probably down to -6 or so. Is it possible the comm hub has frozen and will resume once it thaws, or is it more likely completely dead? The OVO IHD is about 6-8ft from the electric meter, and the Ivie is about 13ft. It's not possible to get them any closer due to plug placement, but they've been fine in those positions for over a year. Both have been unplugged and rebooted a few times now without any change.

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Abby_OVO
Community Manager
1 day ago
R
New Member***
r8caliNew Member***
Posted in Smart meters
IHD not commissioned

My IHD is saying that it is not commissioned. How do I get it commissioned to work with my smart meter?

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Abby_OVO
Community Manager
1 day ago
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