Green tech & greener living

Hi,On Monday 19th may an engineer came to swap up from RTS to a smart meter. I explained to him that the meter was dusty because the housing association replaced the cavity wall filling and they blew all the old cavity from the terraced house next door into our porch like confetti. The engineer started work and then said he was worried about the dust and to rebook with a full face engineer.On Tues 20th I rang ovo to say this and they said he has flagged us as possible asbestos. I advised again it isn't asbestos but general dust and cavity filling (I didn't realise I should have dusted and cleaned the meter before his visit!). The Ovo customer service person told me I needed to get in touch with SSEN as they fitted the meter in the 90s. So I emailed SSEN and they said "SSEN engineers are electrical engineers and do not hold license to attend to asbestos . Unfortunately your supplier has given the incorrect information." I emailed Ovo a week ago today sending pics

Had a new smart meter fitted, right afterwards, our broadband ADSL wasn’t working and mobile phones, for 2 hours.Coincidence, or does the meter produce a burst of data when its first plugged in that swamps the local area with interference ?

I heard mention the other day that if you have a smart meter and are on an Economy 7 tariff and you want to change to a single rate tariff, that you need to have your storage heaters rewired, and you can’t just switch tariff’s like that, is this true ?

Hello,it's nearly time to renew my plan and it seems most plans have boiler cover however as i begin the application process it tell me my make of boiler (an Ideal) is not covered - quite odd as its a popular make.

All,!--startfragment>I have OVO’s Boiler Cover, which includes annual servicing. Last year, I had to file a complaint to ensure the engineer arrived on time. Unfortunately, this year has been no different—Corgi customer service has been unhelpful, mentioning booking slots and cannot do servicing within the first six months of policy renewal, despite no reference to this in the policy document. Has anyone else experienced similar issues with OVO’s boiler cover?Calling OVO’s customer service hasn’t been helpful either.Thanks,Arun!--endfragment>

Hi I rent my flat and have to have economy 10 can I get a smart meter? Not sure if its relevant but I I do not have storage heaters and as my meter is 8 foot up a wall I find reading it each month very difficult and slightly dangerous!! Also I have read that economy 10 is ending but I havent had any communication from OVO to collaborate this.

Hi can I get Ovo to pay me what I am owed from my solar panels? Since SSE sold us out without warning I’ve not had a single payment from Ovo. I’m tired of being fobbed off with “expect payment in 10days” It never happens. Since my first readings in September I still haven’t been paid and it’s now nearly February. I’ve also given Decembers readings and been told not to expect payment before March.Why is this? It only took SSE 4 weeks to pay out. I am desperate for money and incurring debts I’ve never had before. We hardly dare put on the heating and we are both in our 70s and very poorly. We couldn’t even afford Christmas presents . I am so dejected. I’ve now got a claims number but have been told it will be (guess what) 10 days before they deal with it. This is the third time I’ve rung about it. Why didn’t they give me a claims number after my first phone call? I could have been well through the process by now. Can anyone help or advise me?

OVO having installed a Givenergy AIO battery Gateway and PV panels about 6 months ago, I now intend adding an EV charger. The EV installation team now insist that additional groundworks are completed involving drilling through a 3m thick granite and concrete wall.The solar and battery installation (using a 5m long catenary) was signed off by OVO engineers as the only reasonable method of connecting a detached garage to the meter box without drilling through the aforementioned granite wall. The panels and AIO are up and running and working fine and appear safe as the catenary is 4m above ground. Has anyone else faced this situation as the intention was always to add an EV charger at a later date?Failing that, does anyone know a reputable installer in the SW area (Plymouth)? 

 I had my smart meter fitted and everything has worked great so far. The only problem is that after about a month the electricity estimated bill reset to £0.00 to start calculating for a new month. So far though, the gas just keeps increasing. My bill online is all fine and my direct debit hasn't changed but it's frustrating to not be able to work out what my gas bill will be for the next month. Anyone got any ideas how to sort this out?Thanks 

I’ll be looking to get a EV charger fitted in the future. I understand my fuse cutout (biscuit tin type) needs upgrading by the DNO which I have requested.I suspect I need my isolation switch also changed . Can OVO do this , I’ve been told it is surprising this was not done , or reported when OVO changed the smart meter in 2021. (Should OVO have changed the meter with this old cutout ?)Am I now likely to be charged for this service? Also unclear if the meter tails would need any upgrade. Any help with next steps appreciated   

Hi all,Very quick question as a search seems to generate an answer which is then quickly contradicted!I pick up a MY22 Kia EV6 later this week & want to get a home charge point installed (it’s not particularly urgent as I can charge at work in the meantime and I’m only doing 400-ish miles a month).My home has solar panels, generating anything between 10-25 kWh per day at the moment. No battery currently but that’s on the radar in a year or two.As I work from home two days a week, my aim is to charge during the day from the solar and sign up for Charge Anytime to act as a backup during the Winter months and for any night time charging that might be required.Reading through the various page, it seems that there are only two chargers which are compatible with solar - Indra & Hypervolt.Does anyone have experience of either of these chargers with their own solar setup, or is there anything to be aware of which might lead me to one over th

I know this might seem obvious to some people but how do I stop charging the car during scheduled charging if I need to use the car? I’m reticent to just try and pull the cable out of the car charger point, is there an option in the OVO app to stop charging, I have an Andersen A3 charger.TIA

My car is not on your list, it's a Vauxhall Moka e will that be a problem? 

We’re considering installing a charger at our house. Will either of the chargers Ovo install work with any type of electric car? Are there any drawbacks with Ovo installing a charger as opposed to a local specialist electrical outfit? 

Just had my RTS switchover. New meter and my Tarrif is Economy 9. I am a veteren from the old THTC system that SSE had.  I now have a smart meter. However, I have forgotten how it all works. Should I leave the immersion switch on beside my water tank???? I am sure in days gone by, it used to switch off automatically but now stays on outside the off peak charging times. Please see photo (I switched off manually). Also I didn't realise you need a degree in 'Utilities' to work out the best energy usage!!!! 

We own a building that is listed grade 11. An installer has suggested that planning/listed building consent is needed before installing a charger. Anyone know if this is correct?

I’m a current OVO energy customer. I currently have 2 EV’s, a PHEV which is on the beta list of compatible cars and a full EV which is not listed at all (Omoda E5). I have an Ohme ePod home charger which apparently used to be compatible with Charge Anytime however since yesterday apparently new Charge Anytime customers are not able to onboard with this charger. I really don’t want to have to move to another energy supplier and would prefer to use OVO Charge Anytime - however the compatibility checker is suggesting only my beta PHEV is compatible but not my EV. So, my question is, will the Ohme still work with this tariff if I onboard with my compatible PHEV but then use it to also charge my incompatible EV? If not, is my EV actually compatible but just not on the list as it’s a fairly new brand/model?Any advice would be appreciated.  

Hi All, I’m wondering how the experiences have been for people who’ve installed a heat pump to an existing property.  What was the buying experience like?What was the install experience like?How has the performance been?  And what about running costs of the ASHP vs whatever you had before?Cheers in advanceSteve

Less than 2,000w storage heater, can I put a plug on it without needing to pay an electrican to do it ?Can I plug it into a wall socket without breaking any regulations ?So far, I’ve asked in lots of places, and been told that is fine on both counts, but the other day I asked an AI, and it said it broke a regulation to plug it in.It mentioned that a wall mounted device, must be hard wired into a circuit, and not have a plug put on it, unless it came with a plug from the manufactorurer, or it states in the manual that a plug can be fitted. Does anyone know either way ?  

Hi, I’ve moved into a house which had a new smart meter installed by Ovo in February 2025 (prior to my ownership).I can’t work out all of what’s going on in my meter box. Specifically, what’s the role of the two grey boxes with “WARNING” labels in the top-right, and what is this disconnected ground-coloured cable doing… should it be connected to anything!?  I’m just a layperson, but I can see the supply comes in as the black cable on the bottom left of the board, into the 100A fuse terminal and then up into the meter. The grey meter tails then go in the bottom of the fused “main switch” and back out the top of the switch, into the house. A ground cable comes out of the house and goes into the side of the 100A fuse terminal’s N side. But there are two more grey tails coming out of the “house” and

A new message has appeared on my In Home Display, saying “Elec Meter Initialised - press OK to confirm”. My OVO account says they are receiving my smart meter readings successfully. I had smart meters for gas and electric installed Oct 2024. Why has this message appeared? Thans in advance

When I last spoke with OVO I was told a smart meter could not be fitted as we were on Economy 7 dual rate tariff. I am now being bombarded with emails and phone calls from OVO trying to get me to have a smart meter. Has the situation changed, can I now get a smart meter and keep my Economy 7 tariff? If not, and OVO do have my records, why do you keep asking me (and presumably everyone else on Economy 7) the same question over and over again?

Hi all, could anyone give me a website to purchase a gas box 500x420, you’d think it would be an easy find prayer I’m just blind 🫣thank you for any help 😊

 If the boiler hasn’t been serviced in years, it could be running inefficiently—costing more to operate or even leaking carbon monoxide. Would it be worth requesting an efficiency check (e.g., a boiler’s ERP rating or combustion test) alongside the GSC, or is that overkill for a non-renovation purchase? If they refuse, does £2k still cover potential inefficiency risks, or should I adjust my retention?