What is the BENEFIT to the customer in getting a smart meter?

That’s why the new engineer kit allows them to test things in the exact place of the intended install before doing anything else. Dual-Band Comms Hubs have ridiculously long ranges, don’t knock em til you try em!

OVO used to offer Variable DD in their early days. They were terminated in around 2018 and there are no plans to bring them back. Smart Meter or not, even Fixed DD means you only pay for what you actually use - the rest just stays in the account and can be refunded if it builds up too much. FDD arguably provides better budgeting from your bank account because it’s far more predictable.

Please tell me about this engineers kit? I hope it isnt like the tv detector van! As for the dd reply what a load of nonsense as im constantly calling ovo to stop increasing my dd when im always in credit - i even had to ask them to put a stop on the increase but they said it will still change on the next assessment - they have NEVER  got it right. I personally thought that going smart i would only pay what i used and this is not true. So a smart meter for a consumer is no different to keeping your old meter apart from the company getting rid of meter readers.  Prove me wrong! 

Morning ​@fznuk, I hope you’re well.

I can see a few other members have come through with some great replies here explaining the technicalities of smart meters and the alt han equipment. Hopefully an engineer will be able to get the gas installed. Please let us know if you do decide to go down the route of another appointment. Have you asked our Support Team to check the job report from when the electricity meter was installed? There’s a chance that our engineer may have specified whether they thought alt han was possible for the gas to be installed.

I just wanted to share my thoughts on smart meters and the effect they have on me personally. I like the fact that I don’t have to send manual readings, and I like having a live balance and accurate usage graphs on my online account / app that allow me to monitor things closely and ascertain which appliances may be causing my usage to spike. For me personally, I’ve been able to use this data to cut down on my usage and it’s saved me some money. I don’t personally use an IHD, as I find the online account and app sufficient for my needs.

Being honest, I didn’t get smart meters installed thinking that they’d make a huge difference to my life. I got them installed because I agree with the Industry-wide rollout of smart meters, in that the Industry will have a clearer idea of usage in the UK which will mean we’ll know how much energy to buy in advance. This keeps things greener and helps keep costs down as a whole. Granted, costs are huge compared to a few years ago, but there are many external factors that have led to this happening. 

All in all, having smart meters installed has made my life a little bit easier in that I don’t have to give reads, and it means I can make full use of OVO’s live billing platform and usage graphs. For me personally, I don’t have an issue with OVO’s Direct Debit structure, as I pay slightly more than my average usage because I like to build up a credit balance which will more than cover the winter. That said, I do understand people’s frustrations with the Direct Debit review procedure - we’re continuously trying to improve it, but it won’t ever suit anyone. Just to confirm, there are no plans for OVO to introduce a variable Direct Debit structure.

I hope this helps, and I hope you do manage to get the gas meter installed successfully. I’m not sure whether you’re in a fixed plan or not, but if you did decide to switch away to another supplier for the fact that they offer a variable Direct Debit then make sure to ask our Support Team for your annual electricity and gas usage figures, so that you can get an accurate quote.

The engineers kit I referred to is basically a signal tester kit consisting of three units. One simulates the Comms Hub/Electric Meter, the second for the Gas Meter and the third for the IHD. They’re placed wherever the respective equipment is intended to go.

The indicators on them tell the engineer what to fit based on the signal strengths between the units.

Thank you, and yes, some great replies and advice which helped me go out and obtain more information on the hardware.

Having two failed attempts regarding fitting the much needed GAS smart meter (the second attempt the engineer called me, asked me if there was any change with regards to the siting of my gas meter, I replied, none and mentioned the extenders but he replied, I dont fit them so with no change to the location of the gas meter I wont be coming.

I will still have to disagree with the smart meter rollout and still see it benefitting the utility companies. The viewing of my appliance was a novelty at first but being a PC and electrical repair engineer I kind of knew what my appliances used which was a lot for a short space of time while cooking and 500W a day working - Gas is low too. I usually knew when i was using a lot of electricity with the old meter when the wheel span quickly! lol

My ONLY issue is with the location of my GAS meter and 5 meters away through a half meter THICK brick wall & slate covering to the nearest socket in which the extender would have to sit. If you can speak to an engineer these factors to obtain a possibility it will work then I will definitely book another appointment. but I dont want to waste another half day waiting only to be told a no. I understand the booking operator will book it regardless of my circumstances so I could end up with a wasted day?

Shame about the variable DD payment as I dont want to build up amounts in a companies bank account, I can do that myself. And I dont want to always be on the phone arguing with an operator to reduce the amounts as they put it up regardless that im in credit. when you was SSE we had an understanding but not now its OVO for some reason?

Interesting! cheers for that. Good to know they DO have the test equipment before installation.

I wonder if they will still fit it if it's right on the ‘edge’ of the extender receiving the signal?

Dual-Band Comms Hubs include both 2.4GHz and 868MHz radios. Given the wall punching power of 868MHz is far stronger than 2.4GHz, it’d take more than the walls in your property to stop it.

but do OVO engineers carry them and fit them?

Yes. It’s standard kit in the van these days.