Green tech & greener living

Hi,I have a traditional electricity meter which is faulty and needs to be replaced. There is restricted room to install a new meter - even the existing traditional meter overhangs the back-board that it is attached to (this is possible because the screw holes for mounting the meter are located in areas where the back-board is available).It seems that only Smart Meters can be installed now as no replacement traditional meters are available. The Smart Meters are larger than the traditional ones and I can see the dimensions shown in other posts on this forum. One thing I haven’t been able to get is a mounting / screw template for the new Smart Electricity Meters. Having such a template would help me to work out if a new meter can be installed on the existing back-board, or whether a complete reconfiguration of the meter cupboard and it’s contents is required. Does anyone have information about where the screw/mounting points are for the new meters or a template showing how they are distri

I have ben running the app with my 530e without problem. I have change the vehicle for a new IX3 50 and other won't connect yo the app. I have disconnected and reconnect several time sand felt t for an hour to settle down and them done it all again. I know there ws a problem integrating with BMW but i though t td been sorted

I have a Easee charger and BMW IX3 Neue Klasse accessing Charge via the Charge Anytime app. No schedules are setup on the Charger or car, the charging is controlled via OVO on an Iphone running IOS Ver 26.6.1. It has been working for 2 months without issue and Sept 2026 I saw odd results in the app.The car did charge overnight to the desired charge limit Even though the car was charging the app said not connected  the app did not show me the option to overide the OVO schedule and charge immediately the app did not sync to the car charge % after the charge the app did not show me the charge details e.g. kWh, Cost saving. I deleted the app and reloaded with no change.Anyone had similiar/same issues starting September and identified the issue?

There doesn’t appear to be an Alpine option on the compatible cars list for ev charging? For Alpine gts 

On the OVO Charge App, should my car show just as a generic type, or should it be my specific car (i.e. VIN number/Registration number)?On my OVO Charge App, under Account/Devices/Car there is a list of cars and models that presumably the OVO App supports and I have added my car model (Renault 5 E Tech 52kWh 150hp) and this (under “Vehicle Specs” in the OVO App) lists battery size and charging speed so that OVO knows what charge the connected car is capable of receiving; I assume.It does leave me with the question of whether my specific car needs to link to the OVO App (and I don’t see a way yet of doing this) or whether this generic model link is the way to link the vehicle to OVO scheduling.Sorry its a basic question!

What time of day is the reading submitted if I’ve opted for a daily reading?

Hi! I just moved to my flat about a month ago and I'm still trying to figure out everything. I noticed a something strange yesterday, when I tried turning on off peak and normal supply between 12:30 and 7:30 which is my off peak period, the off peak active light did not come on but later on in the day by between 7 am and 12pm it came on and I had to turn it off as it was charging me heavily. Does anyone know how to resolve this issue please? 

Good morning one and all, Can anyone please direct me to an industry recognised Time Pattern Regime (TPR) Reference Sheet ? I have those issued by Engie but Eon next say that they do not recognise it. This TPR reference sheet shows all SSC’s. I would appreciate any help.  Many thanks

We’ve just had an EV charger installed (not via OVO) and I thought it might be worth giving a note for anyone with Solar PV. The guide shown here is very good but even though our installer followed this process, they managed to reconnect our Solar inverter CT the wrong way around, meaning that the inverter went into battery discharge. Luckily I knew why and how to fix it but it’s worth taking a photograph of your wiring and in particular your Solar inverter CT because it’s important to note which cable it clips around and also which way around it sits - the CT usually has an arrow moulded into the casing and it needs to point in a particular direction, often towards the consumer unit. I can imagine the installer not knowing this and even considering that they haven’t touched the inverter itself and therefore couldn’t have caused a problem but it is vital that the CT is correctly positioned. It would be worth installers making this a note on their checklist.

Does anyone know what type of Solar Panel OVO partners supply, specifically monochrystaline or other?

Hi,I have just taken delivery of a Skoda Elroq, replacing a Tesla Model 3. The Tesla charged without issues from day one. I recently experienced a problem when I plugged in the car one evening at 40% and set the OVO schedule to 80%. The charge started and got to 55%. It then stopped due to busy period/looking for a cheaper window etc, and the car went to sleep. The OVO app couldn't wake the car up again and abandoned the charge.I contacted OVO anytime support and we went through the car's settings and no issues there. OVO support did mentioned that this is a know issue that when a car goes to sleep, mid-charge schedule, the app cannot wake it up again. I was wondering if there are any Skoda EV owners who have experienced a similar issue and what workarounds/solutions you have used.. 

Good morning… last week my electricity meter was updated. When completed the engineer set up an IHD which was working. I asked he could instead set up my own chameleon IHD7. He suggested I should ring in with the GUID number and have it initialised.This was done and their supplied IHD3 was turned off.Needless to say they could not initialise my device which has worked faultlessly for several years.I am now looking at two devices which are dead ducks. I have reported this and their answer was to be patient and if it is still not working in 28 days time report it again. I do not wish to raise a complaint yet but I am becoming very frustrated.briiow.

I just installed Charge Anytime for my Mercedes EQC 400.I have it set on Min 50% and Max 100%.  My question:Why can’t it just be set to a 100% charge, or even 95%? I don’t want it to only charge 50%. I’ve tried it twice and all I get the car charged is around 50% but I need the battery to be fully charge for my longer journeys. It’s quite stressful not knowing if I’ll have enough battery or not when I leave the house in the morning.Is it meant to work like this? Why can’t I just set the % I want it charged at? The highest I can move the Min charge to is 50%. I’ve contacted OVO but they’re not getting back to me. Thanks.

We live in Cornwall and have just had our oil tank removed. Do we go with Air source heat pump? We live in a 5 bedroom bunglow, which is made from shutter concrete. We have double glazing and we be having new insulated roofs added.

Have just bought a house with night storage heaters. To begin with I didn’t think they were working but this morning they were all just slightly warm despite being turned up to max. Is this usual (e.g. if they hadn’t been used for a long time)?

Hello - hoping someone can help or advise. Newly-fitted smart meter (electricity only) has emitted a high-pitched sound since day one. Not sure if the unit is faulty, but I find the pitch/frequency of this sound extremely distressing, and think it has contributed to me developing tinnitus (and the associated anxiety). Please note that I don’t subscribe to any conspiracy-type theories! … I’m just really really sensitive to this high-pitched sound. Switched everything off at the fuse box to test, but the noise continues. Has anyone else experienced this, and have you resolved it? I have raised a complaint with OVO but they’re slow in responding. I’m desperate to get this sorted. Thank you.

Hello I was just wondering if someone could help with an issue, I’ve been living in (removed by moderator) for nearly 5 years and not received any payment for my solar panels as I believe the old owner is taking the payments. Can someone get back to me to change this asap please. Either by email or phone.

VW ID.3, VW Granny Charger - no schedules or anything set in car, charging only controlled by OVO app , i.e. ready by and 80% limit set.For 18 months this has worked fine, but for the last month it rarely completes a charge.It now stops, the VW app reports charging error and OVO app say “Not plugged in”. The granny charger lights are all green.Have deleted and re loaded both apps, re-registered car, reset anything i can find to reset! No change.I have discovered if I do nothing except click charge on the VW app it starts charging and the OVO app eventually changes to “Smart Charging”. So its clearly not a physical thing or fault with granny charger as it all restarts but may/may not cut out again after a while. Obviously I cant keep checking the app, especially at night :)I think it occurs when OVO reschedules, before the app would say rescheduling to.. and sure enough restart and do this until charge limit reached.Now though something has changed. OVO app, VW servers, who knows?But my

Everything was normal. But since yesterday, I noticed the IHD unit shows “Waiting for Balance..” since yesterday, been about 24 hours now.. Unplugged and plugged back in, no luck. Thankfully, I topped up recently and still have electricity.  

Bit of background - I drive an Audi EV and have an Ohme home charger. Key points are that the charger is not supported by Charge Anytime but the car is, so I have paired my car with CA and use the charger as a dumb device. That all works fine and once I managed to get all the settings correct I have had no problems and CA decides when the car will charge - I just plug it in and let the system sort things out. I also have a solar panel installation supported by a battery; this is configured to feed the house load, then charge the battery, and then feed to the grid. I have an Ovo account which pays me for uploaded energy as well as providing my usual domestic supply. My charger is not solar-aware, unlike one or two more sophisticated chargers.And now the question! In this recent sunny weather my solar panels have been delivering 5-6kW during the day, most of which is exported and earns me 12p/kWh. I plugged my car in a couple of days ago, mid-afternoon after a long journey so low car bat

Hi, Does anyone know if the mercedes cla EV will work on charge anytime. It doesn’t have the fully electric CLA in the list. It shows the mercedes CLA 2021+ hybrid. My car is a 2025 model year. ThanksPeter  

Hi AllI have a new EV car and signed up for the Charge Anytime Tarriff, I see a credit against the tariff, but I seem to be paying for my full electricity usage (and the tariff on top) it doesn't seem to be reflecting the EV charge out of the total which is double my usage compared to last year?  I’ve seen that at the beginning of each month it should credit this back but for me it’s charging for the tariff, crediting back a small amount, but still charging me for the full consumption.  (This is the 3rd month on the tariff now)Anyone else getting this issue?  Thanks 

I may have a fault on my HD unit. My fridge and freezer are plugged in all the time. The meter shows yellow. Then I plug my kettle in and the meter shows red. This can’t be right. Any ideas please?

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, and electric is with EDF (they’re no