Can’t install smart meter, will EV tariff work?

No, in order to get an EV tariff from most, if not all suppliers, you will need to have a smart meter.

Ovo definitely needs a smart meter for charge anytime.

​@Hammerhead66 

If you could post pictures of your meter and the pipes, etc. around it then we may be able to offer some suggestions.

eg. A standard setup with the communications hub sat on top of the meter might not fit,  but it is possible to separate then using a flying lead and that setup might fit- IF the engineer knows that it will need a flying lead and so brings one long. (They don’t always have a spare one  on the van).

Thanks so much for the quick responses! This is the elect meter, it’s weirdly in the ground floor toilet and the pipes near it are toilet/water pipes but the consumer unit is in the loft. Hopefully there are options?

My first reaction is wow, what a mess.

Whilst there does look like there might be enough room to fit a smart meter there are other very obvious issues - I can understand why the engineer didn't want to touch it.

Is this a rental property?

A 33 year old meter shouldn't be an issue, but those adjacent pipes certainly are.

I can only assume that the large pipe came later than the meter, but TBH running any water pipes through an electric meter cabinet is asking for trouble.

Is it a macerating toilet? The pipe doesn't look big enough for a normal toilet soil pipe.

I would say that the piping needs to be re-routed before any electrical work can be carried out in safety.

If it is a macerating toilet then the pumped discharge should allow the waste pipe to be redirected.

Anyone else care to comment?

​@Hammerhead66 good morning, I hope you’re well and had a good weekend.

I’ve worked in the industry for a fair while now and have seen some weird and wonderful metering setups, and this is certainly a unique one! I’m no plumber, but I think that’s exactly what’s required here. Those pipes will need moving, as ​@Nukecad suggests, for a smart meter to fit in that space.

I’m going to call upon our resident metering expert ​@Lukepeniket_OVO to see if he has any further advice for this one.

There’s possibly another approach avoiding replumbing: those cylindrical boxes above the meter look to be eccentric (or even centric!) connection blocks. I can’t tell what the black box to the left of the meter is or does, but it doesn’t appear to matter much if the cables to the cylindrical connection boxes come from the black box or direct from the meter: the boxes themselves could be shifted out of the way to the left and right, leaving space for a new smart meter between them. A bit of chipboard on top of the ply would give a basis for the new meter (and perhaps some 21st century Henley blocks instead of the round ones) to be mounted on.

The metal sheeting could be a problem, depending on its orientation and extent. No radio signal is going to have an easy job getting through that, so a flying lead might well be needed if the meter’s to make contact with the outside world.

Let’s see what the oracle Ben summoned has to say.

Thanks for those suggestions ​@Firedog - I’ve passed them down the line internally. I’ll hopefully have an answer for ​@Hammerhead66 from our engineers soon.

Hi again ​@Hammerhead66,

I just wanted to let you know that we haven’t forgotten you, but I haven’t heard back from my colleague in Metering yet.

If you like, you could email the photo through to hello@ovoenergy.com, and whoever picks it up can raise a case to our engineers to check what needs doing for the job to be completed.

I’ll let you know when I hear back on my end.

Good afternoon ​@Ben_OVO many thanks at looking this this closely for me. Anything would would allow a smart meter and then EV charging would be appreciated! 

answering some of the other questions, ​@Nukecad, it’s not rental I bought the property recently, the owner was a builder and did all the work himself over 30 years. The toilet isn’t demarcating from what I can see it doesn’t appear to be special. 
 

many thanks for all the insights so far!

Hey ​@Hammerhead66 

Do let us know how you get on after those photos have been submitted to the Support Team and if they go ahead with a booking off the back of this.

​@Hammerhead66 

A macerating toilet doesn’t necessarily look different to a standard one.
It can often be a standard toilet with the macerator box set behind it.
(The box may even be hidden behind a ‘false wall’).

As an example, and an explanation of how they work, see: https://www.qssupplies.co.uk/macerator-toilets-explained-how-to-add-a-bathroom-anywhere.html

You can usually hear the macerating part of it chomping away after a flush too.

​@Hammerhead66 sorry for the delay. I’ve heard back from our engineers, who’ve confirmed that the pipe would most likely have to be moved for the meter to be exchanged. They’ve also advised that access to the cut-out would be needed, which is currently obscured by the boarding in front of the meter. Can any more of the boarding be removed, or is it just the piece that’s been removed to take that photo?