Can I get a replacement for my broken smart meter In-Home Display (IHD)?

You’ve provided me with more information in 2 days than I got from OVO in the last 8 months.

That’s because your question is better suited to the Forum than it is to the Customer Services route.

I’ve visited OVO’s Bristol HQ on a number of occasions, seen how the CS Team work, and spoken to some of them. The initial weeks of training are very high quality, but this really only covers the basics of how the systems work, company policies and the Ofgem regulations under which they must operate.

What’s missing is the element of in-post training, after a few months on the job. They actually need to see a Smart Meter installation, talk to a Distribution Network Operator planner, and then visit a hydro-electric station and a substation. I’ve done all those in the past year; so I can bring those experiences back here to the Forum.

It’s an issue which OVO needs to address and I expect the Moderator, @Tim_OVO will want to raise this with the new CS Dept Manager who will shortly be in post.

It’s not that common for an OVO customer to have a Chameleon IHD with a SMETS1 meter installation. I wonder if CS have been trying to find the wrong model for you?

Even so, there is a major difference between the audited stocks of meter components which get installed on-site by engineers and the “spares stock” available. That’s because the Installation Engineers work within the Kaluza side of the business rather than the Retail Sales division.

Kaluza operates as a separate commercial entity, whereby its resources can be “bought in” by third-parties. So, for example, their engineers can be contracted to another Energy Supplier.

In your case this means that OVO Energy Retail must supply you with the replacement IHD and provide the support to get it paired.

Now you have a bit more of the background, you might feel yourself suitably armed to re-contact CS, using one of the methods on their Help Centre.

Let us know how it goes.

I’ve moved your topic over to this existing thread, @Madsocks79 and updated the best answer (at the top) with the latest. It’s not great to hear of your experience this year, trying to get reliable info on your IHD options.

It can be tricky for an agent to know the latest info on stock volumes of these IHDs, which our in house engineer team Field Force (it’s not part of Kaluza FYI @Transparent) aren’t providing when they fit the SMETS2 Aclara or Honewell/Elster smart meter, instead they fit SMETS2 IHDs  

I’ll do some digging on time frames and latest stock volumes and aim to update the best answer of this topic again once confirmed. Could you help me by letting us know the latest advice from the Support team @Madsocks79 ?

Let’s put it this way, I’ve had absolutely nothing from them, which has been the norm since February 2020.  It’s just the usual “you’re on a waiting list”, “don’t know when we are getting stock in”.

They’ve never asked what type of IHD it is, they’ve not confirmed if my SMET1 meter has been migrated under the DCC.  They’ve basically just regurgitating the same information just to fob me off.

I emailed them last week about the possibility of getting a SMET2 meter installed, but unsurprisingly I’ve yet to receive a response.

So good luck to anyone who has a broken IHD and needs a replacement, you will be waiting a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time to get one.

I’m sick of emailing them to be honest; my contract is up mid december so if I can get confirmation that my SMET1 meter has had the migration to DCC done so I can take it to other suppliers, then I’m just going to cancel my OVO contract and go somewhere that I’ll actually be wanted; maybe Octopus or somewhere else.

@Tim_OVO wrote:

our in house engineer team Field Force (it’s not part of Kaluza FYI)

Well I was told this on two occasions by OVO Installation Engineers last year (2019). Was the move to work within Kaluza mooted and then rescinded?

Thanks for this honest feedback, @Madsocks79 - I’m still trying to get an update on stock:

My contact is back ‘in the office’ today I’ve heard, so leave that with me. 

Yes a restructure has taken place since then @Transparent - all change in OVO world 

Thanks @Tim_OVO, appreciate the assistance.

Hi @Madsocks79 me again!

I’ve been advised that for Secure Liberty smart meters, with faulty Chameleon IHD3, you have two options currently:

1. A remote back-end action to try and reconnect and fix issue. Our Support team can help with this. 
2. A Pipet IHD to be sent out (currently low stock). Our Support team can add you to a list to be sent one.  
3. We’re not sure if it’s a good solution to recommend buying a Pipet yourself. These are supposed to be provided by us, free of charge.

One ray of hope it the possibility of IHD6s being available for all smart meters once upgraded, at some point in the future. These will be the latest model so supply chains will be in fine working order. I am offering no promises, but in my opinion, the online account with a half-hourly reads smart meter is better then a Pipet anyway….

Had a Smart Meter installed on 7 December. The display did not work and I was told to wait 24 hours but still not working. Called OVO who told me I would get a new display in  4 weeks!.  Called them today as I still do not have the display and I was told that basically there is a backlog and, although I am high up on the list, they have no idea when I will get the display meanwhile, though, I an log on to my account to see my usage!).

I have only just moved to OVO because I thought Symbio were bad - now having second thoughts. 

Hi @laurencemartin ,

Sorry to hear of the trouble. OVO isn’t the only supplier to use the Chameleon IHD3 and IHD6 as it’s a pretty common model. Chameleon Technology has been struggling to keep up with the huge demand recently but they’re working to restore supplies and OVO is working to restock them as fast as possible.

In the meantime, you can try to check your usage using MyOVO and the OVO Energy app. It’s not quite as elegant, but it should do the job. If you still want usage data now, there are alternative workarounds that might be possible but they’d be at your own risk.

Hi @laurencemartin - could you elaborate on what you mean by

The display did not work

Our advice would be different depending on whether it is simply displaying erroneous data or if the display screen is completely blank!