Hi Ovo,
I wondered whether the API that powers your live and historical usage page in the account menu is something you could look into opening up a bit so we can freely access our raw data and also perhaps it may stimulate some interesting community projects?
Great question,
As this was a bit of a member-generated workaround I wonder if the original architects of this method might be able to give an update,
I know we’ve got a couple of users here who have also made use of some third-party apps which might be able to help too - Isn’t that right,
I am a little sceptical of giving my detailed useage figures to a comparison web site (https://smarttariffsmartcomparison.org/home).
From the discussion and looking at their web site I can only assume that they call the OVO API to extract your data and store that into their database.
The other web site seems to be selling a ZigBee adapter or custom In House Display which you would have to purchase.
/Mike Williams
They are not part of ovo and don't use any of the ovo api or software or data.
They are a SECAS (Smart Energy Code Administrator) approved DCC Other User.
https://smartenergycodecompany.co.uk/your-security-and-privacy-obligations/
Only authorised organisations have been given secure access to the smart meter data. They are grabbing the same data as ovo.
They have their own secure database and are ISO 27001 Certified.
They also have their own IHD CAD. If you buy this you can get real time data (circa every 8 seconds) rather than 30mins. This is commonly used in energy automation, both domestic and businesses.
You don't have to purchase the IHD CAD if you only want 30 min data.
OVO and other suppliers are DCC Users
https://smartenergycodecompany.co.uk/becoming-a-dcc-user/
It’s probably also worth noting that the fact you can use the OVO API at all is really just a coincidence related to how OVO’s billing platform is designed, because the API isn’t actually intended for use by anyone other than OVO.
The primary function is to allow the front end web app and mobile apps to communicate with the back end billing platform. There is no official support for anything else to use the OVO API and OVO won’t be able to help you out with it. It’s possible that might happen eventually, but that’s some way off yet.
Intersting points to me (especially as a software developer)
They are not part of ovo
I never (intentionally) implied they were.
They are a SECAS (Smart Energy Code Administrator) approved DCC Other User.
https://smartenergycodecompany.co.uk/your-security-and-privacy-obligations/
Only authorised organisations have been given secure access to the smart meter data. They are grabbing the same data as ovo.
This implies that OVO do not store any data for my meter readings. If I were writing a billing system I would not want to rely on externally stored data.
They have their own secure database and are ISO 27001 Certified.
I would expect that part of the approval process for SECAS is that if you store data extracted it must be secured stored.
Actually, OVO is a DCC Supplier User, so doesn’t need DCC Other User. It’s everyone else who isn’t DCC, a Distribution Network or a Supplier who needs to apply for the Other User role.
OVO’s billing platform does also store all collected usage data, billing data and meter readings that are retrieved from smart meters. A backup copy is also kept on the meters themselves with enough capacity for at least 13 months worth of data in the event it needs to be re-downloaded. The new billing platform OVO now uses is also custom built in-house by their sister company Kaluza. The old legacy one is third-party, but will be terminated once the migration process for all OVO and Boost members is completed.
The rules are more or less the same regardless of user role and OVO has indeed got measures in place to secure the data. If you think you’ve found a security hole though, please check out https://www.ovoenergy.com/security as OVO will definitely want to know about it.
I think what we are seeing with things like the Bright app and associated IHD CAD and API are only going to dramatically increase over the next few years and become more user friendly and mainstream.
For example we also have Chameleon working with Samsung Smartthings and Uswitch and smart meter data
Loop working with solar installers and comparison tariff data and smart meter data
Ovo Kaluza and Octopus Kraken and similar technologies which which may evolve separately or we may end up with a single platform or at least standard.
The IoT and time of use tariffs will quickly expand to support demand management over the next few years, along with heat pumps, solar panels, batteries, EVs and better home installation and draft proofing.
Exciting times for many who can afford any upfront transition costs or get involved in pilots as early adopters. It may be a bumpy transition, but it is inevitable.
Given that data is stored centraly as well as on OVO servers I would like to see a public API which I could download all readings that my smart meter has sent to the central server so that when I change energy supplier I can still access data my meter supplied while with my previous supplier(s)
A Public API would be pretty neat and I think it’s something OVO and Kaluza are willing to consider as a future feature. It’s definitely a valid feature idea, that’s for sure.
In the meantime, if you’d like to grab ALL of your smart meter data at once, the recommended route would be to have a chat with the Support Team and request a data export from OVO directly. This can take a while to crunch, but there’s no cost for this service and you’ll receive the data in a machine and human readable format.
The ability to download old data is certainly becoming more common. I can still logon to Scottishpower who i was with prior to ovo and download all my usage data from when i was with them. Data export is to a spreadsheet all the way back to 2019. I didn't have a smart meter then so the data is limited but interesting for comparison. This is obviously data going back further than i can get from the likes of the Bright app which is limited to smart meter data. Does beg the question how long suppliers are allowed to store my old data before they have to delete it.
A Public API would be pretty neat and I think it’s something OVO and Kaluza are willing to consider as a future feature. It’s definitely a valid feature idea, that’s for sure.
In the meantime, if you’d like to grab ALL of your smart meter data at once, the recommended route would be to have a chat with the Support Team and request a data export from OVO directly. This can take a while to crunch, but there’s no cost for this service and you’ll receive the data in a machine and human readable format.
Useful to know.
So if you had a smart meter before OVO, can OVO give you this prior smart meter data as well?
Is there time limit in terms of how far OVO can go back prior to being an OVO customer?
Smart Meters of both S1 and S2 are capable of storing at least 13 months worth of billing data, but this doesn’t always include usage data for that entire period, because that takes up a lot more space. If you’ve been with OVO right from when the meter was first installed, then I think OVO can just grab all your data from the archives of the billing platform which is the easy option, although it is possible for them to re-download all the data from the meter again if needed.
If you’ve transferred in from another supplier… Might be a different story. In theory, it’d be a similar case of downloading from the meter, but I’d have to ask
Smart Meters of both S1 and S2 are capable of storing at least 13 months worth of billing data, but this doesn’t always include usage data for that entire period, because that takes up a lot more space. If you’ve been with OVO right from when the meter was first installed, then I think OVO can just grab all your data from the archives of the billing platform which is the easy option, although it is possible for them to re-download all the data from the meter again if needed.
If you’ve transferred in from another supplier… Might be a different story. In theory, it’d be a similar case of downloading from the meter, but I’d have to ask
I wonder if the DCC stores anonymous data for longer than 13 months somewhere away from the meters. Certainly be useful for analysis of trends even if customers can't get access to it.
Not that I know of beyond the usual logs, configurations and the like. The Network Data Dashboard and Network Performance Dashboard suggests that some data is stored, but most of it seems to be more general stuff like how the network is performing as a whole. I don’t think DCC stores meter readings or usage data.
And technically speaking, DCC can’t even touch that data anyway. They’ve deliberately revoked their ability to do that as part of the security model. The whole system is really cleverly designed so that even if you did compromise DCC, you can’t just take control of literally every smart meter ever and disconnect everyone. DCC has considered that possibility and the fact they can’t control such functionality means it wouldn’t work anyway. :)
To pull off a stunt like that, you’d literally have to compromise the entire infrastructure right the way down to each individual smart meter. Good luck with that!
Not that I know of beyond the usual logs, configurations and the like. The Network Data Dashboard and Network Performance Dashboard suggests that some data is stored, but most of it seems to be more general stuff like how the network is performing as a whole. I don’t think DCC stores meter readings or usage data.
And technically speaking, DCC can’t even touch that data anyway. They’ve deliberately revoked their ability to do that as part of the security model. The whole system is really cleverly designed so that even if you did compromise DCC, you can’t just take control of literally every smart meter ever and disconnect everyone. DCC has considered that possibility and the fact they can’t control such functionality means it wouldn’t work anyway. :)
To pull off a stunt like that, you’d literally have to compromise the entire infrastructure right the way down to each individual smart meter. Good luck with that!
Makes sense.
This is a good description of how anonymous data is being captured and used by Western Power.
https://www.westernpower.co.uk/smarter-networks/smart-meter-data
A Public API would be pretty neat and I think it’s something OVO and Kaluza are willing to consider as a future feature. It’s definitely a valid feature idea, that’s for sure.
In the meantime, if you’d like to grab ALL of your smart meter data at once, the recommended route would be to have a chat with the Support Team and request a data export from OVO directly. This can take a while to crunch, but there’s no cost for this service and you’ll receive the data in a machine and human readable format.
For what it’s worth, they had access to (only) the last 6 months of data, nothing older than that when I asked the support team for this before “moving out”, a year ago.
Related points - as a DCC Supplier User, Ovo have actual meter readings and store them, both new (Orion) and old (Apollo) systems, going back to my smart meter installation, over 2 years ago. But they might not appreciate the use of GDPR SAR as a way to get that info (I made my SAR for other reasons).
Meter readings are needed for billing, of course. As far as I can tell, DCC Other Users only get consumption data (the 30 min Wh values), because they don’t need to bill for consumption.
When I registered my Bright app, over the next few hours it downloaded precisely the last 13 months of data (to within a few minutes, presumably because that’s what was still in the meters at the time it got to the oldest data), and those data are still available in my app, which by now has just over 2 years of smart meter data.
I reckon I messed up and confused the systems. I have not had time (nor the will power) to investigate further.
In the end I sampled winter and summer day consumptions over a limited number of days via OVO usage stats and used the average as my “typical” consumption summer/winter for determining if Solar would be good for me. Surprisingly (not sure if I should be) the results came out not dissimilar to the online “business case” models.
I reckon I messed up and confused the systems. I have not had time (nor the will power) to investigate further.
In the end I sampled winter and summer day consumptions over a limited number of days via OVO usage stats and used the average as my “typical” consumption summer/winter for determining if Solar would be good for me. Surprisingly (not sure if I should be) the results came out not dissimilar to the online “business case” models.
It was 30 min data yes (with very occasional gaps, which are faithfully preserved in the hourly, daily, weekly etc totals that the Bright App also shows - apparently everything derives from the 30 min data), but it was retrieved in Feb 2021 which was before it became possible to download CSV data via a web page.
I don’t know of any way to extract the data from the app, so perhaps that wouldn’t be so useful to you anyway.
Hi
Did this get posted?
Just saw Octopus has some pretty awesome public API, wondering if Ovo has the equivalent
https://developer.octopus.energy/docs/api/
Hi
OVO’s billing platform is hosted by its sister company, Kaluza. They have an API so that its clients can access their customer data. The latest I’ve heard is that this hasn’t been made public for its clients’ customers. I’ll try and find out the latest and get back to you!
Do they? I might go looking for that. Would be great if OVO did the same - I’m still with OVO for a bit.
Not sure who to ask this question of. Possibly
I have a smart meter on the V2G trial. I have the Kaluza phone app and the OVO Computer app. If I want to see my half hourly imports, exports to The Grid and Exports to the house I simply go to the Kaluza phone app and click on the download arrow in the top right corner of the screen and I can download the complete month’s data in spreadsheet form, ready to go on my Apple computer.
If I want to do the same with my OVO account I can get the data on a daily basis showing ½ hourly info but there is no way (that I can see) how to download the info…..other then highlight the numbers...but then it’s not compatible with Apple’s “Numbers” App and I have some copying and pasting to do...for every day of the month.
If Kaluza have the ability to download the data easily, do OVO have a similar method that I've missed...and if not, are there any plans to do so? At present the data for Kaluza is brilliant but OVO is a struggle.
Can you also tell me, The National Grid record data in GMT throughout the year, even when it’s BST but some sites record data an hour later than the clock time...explained that for Solar Data, Mid Day isn’t always 12.00 noon, sometimes before and sometimes after so it’s recorded so that 1.00pm is actually 12.00 noon. Hence to avoid the extra hour in Winter and lesser hour in Spring the time is always recorded GMT. Is the time data as recorded by OVO the same time as Kaluza and is this time GMT?
Hi
Great second question, add your first question is a popular one. The answer is currently that there isn’t a way to download online account usage.
The second question, I know that smart meters use a time switch that DOESN’T change in BST vs GMT. Which means peak / off peak usage shifts forward an hour. However I don’t know how this impacts the online account. My assumption is that the online account uses a system to correctly shift usage blocks in terms of local time.
Thanks for that
If you have previously downloaded the Bright app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.hildebrand.brightionic
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bright/id1369989022?ls=1&mt=8
Then you can use the same login details on their beta website to download a csv as a workaround.
http://www.smarttariffsmartcomparison.org/login
The National Grid record data in GMT throughout the year, even when it’s BST but some sites record data an hour later than the clock time…
Tim_OVO wrote:
… I don’t know how this impacts the online account. My assumption is that the online account uses a system to correctly shift usage blocks in terms of local time.
It looks like there’s a semi-manual kludge to shift the usage figures by an hour at the start and end of BST. This is only for presentation, though; there are still 48 half-hourly readings for each day as the consumption figures show. Here are my figures for 30 October 2022 as displayed online:
So, only 46 readings usage figures displayed, starting at 01:00 GMT. It all comes out in the wash, of course, because the readings sequence is unbroken. Just for comparison, here are the data underlying the displayed figures (for the first 7.5 hours):
nExtracted from https://smartpaymapi.ovoenergy.com/usage/api/half-hourly/3198737?date=2022-10-30. To get your own JSON data, substitute your OVO account no. for 3198737 in the URL, and open the page in the same browser session as one where you’re signed in at account.ovoenergy.com so the page can find your access token.]
https://smartpaymapi.ovoenergy.com/usage/api/half-hourly/*accountnumber*?date=2022-10-30
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