Green tech & greener living

Hi. I live in Scotland and had old fashioned storage heaters. I had the flat rewired so the old storage heaters came out and I bought Dimplex Quantum heaters to go in. Meanwhile, OVO installed me a smart meter in January and the engineer who installed it said I’d need to contact OVO to get the new meter upgraded to a 5 port version to accommodate the new storage heaters. Sounded straightforward, but on contacting OVO they now tell me I can’t have a dual rate meter and will have to run the system on the single rate. End of. They are very sorry etc. It’ll be unaffordable! Reading posts on this Forum, I can see there are the SMETS2 meters available - so what’s the problem I’m having? Any advice or suggestions very welcome. Thanks

So I've just had a new solar system installed.It's a 9Kw array + a 13.5Kw Tesla Powerwall 3 battery which has an 11Kw internal inverter.The battery is set to allow 80% for the house and 20% for emergency backup.At sunset the battery is 100% full, by sunrise it's still 60% full. We have ample supply to cover all house load overnight and no large consumers on. The battery does not charge from the grid.Nevertheless I have noticed that throughout the night our grid usage shows that we are importing a significant amount of electricity from the grid in chunks of about an hour at a time. This does not look like a switching issue to me. see the picture. The blue parts of the graph is grip imports. It adds up to about 20p a day, equal to £73 a year. I cannot see any explanation for this! 

I’ve recently had a electricity smart meter installed and within the first day it was switched from Pay Monthly to Prepay Mode with no authorisation from me.  I mentioned to the installer that OVO had recently sent me a “top up” card, and I had contacted them, and they agreed this was a mistake. The installer showed me that the meter was in “Credit Mode” but did warn me he had had other customers that had been put into “Prepay mode” without their consent. As mentioned, after a day, I have ended up in PrePay Mode, running out of emergency credit. After nearly 6 hours of web chat they have tried switching me to Credit mode twice, giving me codes to type in to the meter to add credit (but all come back with CRC Error). It’s been ridiculous.What are my legal rights in this? I have no faith they will be able to restore it to credit mode, I have no faith it will STAY in that mode either! I want to go back to a traditional meter with the stress this has

Hey. So - there are two processes for Charge Anytime One for when it’s the EV you’re linking to (EV needs internet access)And one for when it’s the charger controlling things. The latter is thankfully quite clear in the instructions to begin with - no need for the Charge Anytime app, just use the add-on in the main OVO app (great news because the Charge Anytime app seems to have issues).  But then the add-on process then asks if the car has internet access or not ( but also says it needs it - which makes no sense to me )Copy of the process for charger control copied below: which says nothing about car control  so - can we use charge anytime via the add-on, using the charger as the control method, or not? ———Go to the Offers and Upgrades section. Click on the Charge Anytime banner. Select the compatible charger that you have. It’ll ask you for the username and password to log in

Been told that one of our meter as due to expire (out of calibration) and book this smart meter installation appointment. However when the engineer arrive on site we’ve been pointed out that the wiring were too old in the house and need to be replaced before installation. Alternatively she mentioned that we can get red link cut out installed by private electrician and then have the meter installed. So just wondering if that’s the case here? DNO fuse is not photoed as it’s in an awkward place. We’re looking to have the smart meter installed as we will need to add EV tariffs. Thanks

We were on the point of placing an order for a storage battery(Powerwall 3) and extra solar panels. However, we have just discovered that around 2021 - 2024 there was an issue with this battery/gateway affecting the Landis and Gyr E470 grid meter which required a meter change. As we have this meter we may need to make other plans. We’re not inclined to have the meter changed having had previous “fitting” problems.Does anyone know if this issue has been resolved or does it still require the meter changed? It also begs the question, do any other batteries or kit have similar issues?

i think there might not be anything i can do since the gas per unit prices has increased in jan 2024 as announced before. so OVO take my readings automatically which is correct, however i regularly chekc my account, it was £90 last i checked 2-3 days ago, when i checked yesterday, it has now shot up to £215...talk about having a heart attack lol. my mum is on holiday so im currently in the house by myself in a three bedroom, i only use the heating for 5 hours per day since start of december. il show picture showin december 2023 and then this month: ^ left hand side is gas for decemebr, right being january this month. how has it gone up 6x?my last bill was £160 for gas and elec, now i could potentially pay in the next bill £330-£350 can someone help me with this please? is the

An additional point I’ve noticed with my BMW X1/Hypervolt/ChargeAnytime, is that it will only ever charge at 16A/3.7kw from the grid, whilst the car/Hypervolt/CU etc all support the full 32A.I did find another thread on this forum that asked a similar question, but I couldn’t find an answer.So does ChargeAnytime control and limit the maximum rate to 16A?If so, why?

Dear support I am facing issues with Smart charging (Charge Anytime) not working. Since starting this process in January I have had numerous issues and never once have I just plugged in and it just worked, usually requires several visits to plug in / unplug etc until the app registers the car being plugged in and overrides the immediate charge on the Cupra App.That aside my problems are worse right now - plugged in today and as usual the Curpa starts it’s (temporary) immediate charge. This is meant to stop immediately, as soon as the Ovo app registers the car being plugged in. So I tried the usual dance of unplugging / plugging. Ovo app keeps saying ‘Car unplugged’, while the Cupra is charging at full rate through ‘immediate charge’.  So I decided to delete the vehicle from the OVO app and re-register as new vehicle. It seems register fine, but when I go to dashboard - stuck on radar graphic and ‘Connecting to your Cupra’ message. If I view Account

Who has a SSE or OVO installed smart meter that doesn’t work and more significantly has NEVER worked? Succumbing to promotional pressure and keen to save/monitor my electricity usage, I had one installed 3.5 years ago — and it never worked from the off, save after a few months to provide exactly the same as the old one. After complaints and taking the matter to the ombudsman service (upheld on all counts and resolved with goodwill and indefinite pledges to sort out the issue). That was 20 months ago and there’s been zilch in action or communication since. Now that OVO is running the show, we will see what happens. I have no information on whether my situation is unique or common and why this is so, except that it is largely a government communications agency’s fault (DCC). Hence my question. I am in a small town in the northeast of Scotland, where everything else digital works just fine - with, as far as I know, three SSE electricity sub-stations and three di

I changed from an old THTC PAYG meter on 17 January to a smart meter. My understanding is that I would automatically become a credit pay monthly customer at the time of meter change. Since then I have not had a bill although standing charges are being applied to my account. I have also not added any credit to account. I understand that a billing hold will have been placed on my account.  How long do these holds last and what must I do to get an accurate bill from OVO? Repeated calls and live chats have been of no help.  

I just noticed that my new IHD3 can take an AAA battery for backup power . Does this have a charging circuit, or do I just use a non-rechargeable battery? (Not that the display actually displays any data yet, bit I live in hope!)

I  am unable to access the reading for generation on my meter (Landid & Gyr E470 type 5533). The suggested sequence does not work:  I cant find any manual for thsi particular modelany sugggestions?

Hi fellow customerscan anyone please provide advice and information on OVO fitting the new 2nd generation meters.we are being pestered to change but cautious due to all of the bad press..positive and negative experiences appreciated thanks  

I’ve only just read my bill for 1st Dec 24 - 1st Jan 25, and realised that my USAGE for this period was higher than 12 months prior, despite me now having an electric cooker; the gas central heating was turned off for 9 days whilst I was away for Christmas and New Year.  I did find a gas leak in early January which OVO had shut off for me (I’m disabled) until the Council found the fault; could this be the cause?  If so, could I claim it back off OVO/ the landlord? 2.  Why is my smart meter showing the same usage, reporting it as for a cooker, as it did when I had a gas cooker, when I have zero gas appliances in my house?  I’m confused/skint!!

Yesterday I got an email from tado, telling me that “As a thank you for being with OVO and tado°, we are giving you a 40% discount in the tado° shop. It will be deducted automatically at the checkout.Complete your tado° home with more Smart Thermostat Add-ons and heat each room individually. Save more energy and money.”That brings one down from £74.99 (which always seemed ridiculously expensive) to £49.But when I look on Amazon, and in the tado branded shop there, all single smart TRVs are 47% off at £39.99. So the email offer at £49 after discount isn’t good.  Even on a 4-pack it is £162 compared to £159.96. Please OVO stop tado from making speci

Hi all. We are converting our understairs cupboard into a WC and want to move the gas meter to a higher position (less than one metre away) on the same wall, with a view to hiding it inside a cupboard which will still be accessible if needed. The OVO engineer attended today and informed us that we could not move the meter because it must be a certain distance away from the ceiling light. Does anyone know what is the minimum distance away it needs to be? Or have any suggestions to get around this? Photos attached, thanks in advance! 

I’ve just had a Hypervolt Home 3 Pro installed.  We have an attached double garage, and the charger’s been placed on the exterior front of the garage, in-between the 2 doors, for easy access to the driveway.In the house, I have a stupidly expensive Netgear Orbi mesh network with 3 satellites.  It’s got excellent coverage pretty much everywhere.  If I stand in front of the charger, my phone and other devices have 80%-100% signal strength.The Hypervolt though sometimes can’t see the network at all.  If it does see it, it’s listed as ‘weak’ or ‘unreliable.’  I moved one of the satellites so it’s on the windowsill of the room above the garage, and it still declares it’s only ‘weak.’ If I connect it to my phone hotspot, it even says that’s ‘weak’ although it’s literally a metre away.All this means I’m struggling to get it registered with the Charge Anytime app.  I get as far as the message saying it’s ‘connecting to your Hypervolt,’ and that I need to ‘wait a

I have recently moved into a new property that uses a heat pump.  It seems very energy “heavy” at the moment.   I check the readings hourly and use around 10kw every hour as things stand at the moment.  The system is set to run 2 zones and both zones make use of the consumption curve.  House is not boiling warm but is confortable around 10deg but just cannot see why the pump runs 24/7 non stop.  Any advice would be much appreciated.  Is it standard to use so much energy on the heatpump on cold days and does this alwyas run 24/7.  

Hi all, Could some kind person please explain to be if i am misunderstanding something here. When I use the OVO app or the web aplication (I get the same figures) if I compare the daily usage for a given day the figure is wildly different between the “Month” view; 13.11kwh  and “Day” view: 45.66kwh. Please see the screenshots for 2nd Jan. This is not an isolated day, every day is similar in the disparity. My bill is based on the lower figure 13.11kwh

Hi, I am relatively new to the EV arena, so any help on this would be great. Recently installed a ICS charger and set up my new OVO anytime account with my Tesla, when you look on the Apps, everything appears as it should. I tried the set-up last night and when I got up this morning no charging had taken place.I understand that OVO talks directly to the Tesla and tell it when to start charging based on the lower cost energy rate, but how does the ICS charger need to be set-up to tie into all this? Thanks

A relative has had a smart electricity meter installed at their property. They’re now looking to get the gas one changed too. They’re wondering if access to the electricity meter (likely the cellular hub) is needed when a smart gas meter is installed?The electricity meter is inside, under the stairs, while the gas meter is about 3m away, mounted on an external wall outside. As the electricity meter is under the stairs, and they use that space for storage (nothing flammable or likely to catch fire if anything were to happen!), it is an absolute faff to empty that area.If access is needed to scan the barcodes on the cellular hub, such as the CHF or GPF ID, will a picture of the meter suffice? There is a little viewing window in the wooden panelling so the meter can be seen and numbers verified, but impossible the barcode be read by a scanner at that distance.  They’re not with OVO (I am, however) so thought I’d ask here. Their gas is with British Gas,

Hi. I used to have a problem with my IHD not correctly monitoring my gas and electricity usage but over the last 2 months, this problem is sorted apart from my gas daily standing charge not being displayed.This charge still gets paid even though it isn't being shown !I am starting this topic as the communication hub indicator lights have changed their sequencing.What used to happen was the SW, WAN, HAN and GAS indicator lights used to simultaneously flash once then go out for 4 or 5 seconds and then the sequence would repeat.However I have noticed this morning that this has changed with the WAN light flashing 7 times then the remaining SW, HAN and GAS lights flashing once then flashing once more once the 7 WAN flashes have completed.Anyone else get this ?Cheers

I am in the process in buying a Toyota Plug In, which includes a free ABB Terra Wall Box,is this compatible with Ovo and future PV roof panels