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Chameleon In Home Display (IHD) lost connection with smart meters - Any tips to get reconnected?

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
November 17, 2017
85 replies
30338 views

Hi, 5 days ago my IHD began showing lost connection. It had been working perfectly since install in September.

I’ve read on this forum that it could be to do with no mobile reception but we have that and can tell by the WAN red light flashing frequently on the elec meter. (Plus it worked perfectly before).

Does the IHD need repairing with the smart meter?

Thanks
Will

Best answer by tony1tf

Updated on 08/10/25 by Ben_OVO

If you’ve noticed an issue with your Chameleon In-Home Display or the communication of your smart meters follow the advice below to help get any technical bugs ironed out! :bug:

If the IHD has been working as it should, but has suddenly stopped showing usage data, then the best thing to do is contact our Support Team and request that they run an ‘XJOIN’. This is a remote request we send to the IHD to get it showing the usage again. You can find the contact information below:

Newly installed Smart meters?

Whilst most devices are up and running from the date your new meters are installed, it’s not unusual for them to lose some data or experience teething issues as we carry out the initial work to get everything up and running.

We’d recommend keeping the IHD plugged in close to your electricity meter if you notice any issues during the first 6 weeks following a smart meter installation. Hopefully things should start working as expected once the smart meters are fully updated on your account but, if not, read on to check our next trouble-shooting steps.

Checking the smart meter connection (WAN) via your online account or OVO App

Been over 6 weeks since the smart meters we’re installed and you’re still noticing issues with your Chameleon device ? - It’s time to start doing some investigating! First place to check is your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS). If we’ve lost connection to your smart meters for over 5 days you may see this message on your home-screen:

Been over 6 weeks since the smart meters we’re installed and you’re still noticing issues with your Chameleon device? - It’s time to start doing some investigating! First place to check is your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS). If we’ve lost connection to your smart meters for over 5 days you may should see a message on screen asking for a reading.

In this case the best next steps would be to carry out a smart meter health check for your meter type below and forward the results on to our Support Team:

Once any communication issues with your meters are resolved, we’ll be able to get your IHD connected and showing your usage data again too!

DIY steps to help with issues with your Home-Area Network (HAN)

Checked your online account and no ongoing smart meter communication issues to see? In this case it’s more likely to be an issue with the connection between the device itself and the smart meters (also known as the HAN). The In-Home Display connects to your smart meters via the communications hub attached to your electricity meter, so it sometimes helps to move your IHD closer to your electricity meter to help it re-gain connection. It’s best to leave the IHD in this new spot and try re-booting the device after 24 hours (a classic turning off and on again move), sometimes this simple step will do the trick!

Contacting our Support Team

Can’t get things back on track with the above steps? Not to worry - our Support Team can help get the issue escalated to our Smart metering team for further investigations.

Before you get in touch it’s best to complete the following IHD health check so we can make sure we’ve got all the information we need to carrying out some remote processes to get the IHD re-connected:

Does the device show a correct time and date?
Is the WiFi symbol solid/flashing/not there?
Could you confirm the Device ID? (Long ID number on the bottom of device)
How far away from your electricity meter do you store your IHD? Are there any walls in between that could be blocking the signal?
What is the issue with your IHD? E.g. not showing electricity/gas usage, displays incorrect tariff, device is rebooting itself?
Please confirm if your device is an IHD3 (black all over) or IHD6 (black on the front and white on the back)
If your IHD is showing incorrect rates: what rates does your IHD currently show? Are the rates shown on the IHD higher or lower than your actual rates?

Your responses to these questions can be forwarded to our Support Team (we’d recommend via live chat which you can access at the bottom of this page) who’ll let you know the next steps.

Another way to check your usage

So long as we’re in communication with your smart meters themselves, don’t forget you can always keep an eye on your usage data by checking the ‘Usage’ pages of your online account, whilst we get the IHD issues sorted. Check out the great guide below for an introduction to the usage info you can see here:

OVO member but not got a smart meter yet? - Book today!

Interested but not yet an OVO member? - Check out our plans!

Show previous replies

Tim_OVO

OVO Forum Legend

Are OVO getting your smart meter readings OK, @Testpilot: https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings

Is it just the home area network connection between the electricity meter and the In Home Display? This guide might help you diagnose:

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6

T

Testpilot

Newcomer

Thanks BPLightLog
Its’s an IHD3 version.
I tried the Off…. wait …. On but problem still persists.
Even with the IHD right next to the meter it still doesn’t show the electric meter data.
Given the comms unit is connected to the electric meter and the Gas meter is less than 30 cm from the electric meter and the Gas meter readings come through fine, I don’t think it’s a proximity issue.

BPLightlog

Super User

Thanks BPLightLog
Its’s an IHD3 version.
I tried the Off…. wait …. On but problem still persists.
Even with the IHD right next to the meter it still doesn’t show the electric meter data.
Given the comms unit is connected to the electric meter and the Gas meter is less than 30 cm from the electric meter and the Gas meter readings come through fine, I don’t think it’s a proximity issue.

No, that sounds about right. Can’t think of much else with the IHD but just in case it’s of use, there are several authorised third party apps which can give some good info .. although not as quickly as the IHD 🤷‍♂️

Theres Hugo, Loop and Ivie for example

Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}

T

Testpilot

Newcomer

Tim_OVO
The lights are all correct and flashing at a rate which indicates proper connections.
As the Gas meter connects via the HAN, it must be passing data to the IHD.
Clearly the electric meter isn’t sending data to the Comms Hub.
Both Meters are sending correct meter readings to OVO according to my Portal.

Abby_OVO

Community Manager

Hey @Testpilot

Sorry about the trouble you’ve been having with the IHD.

I think the best thing to do now will be to fill out this form for the support team so they can look into the problem in detail for you. There can be a number of reasons for the issue, so it will be best for the team to investigate this.

They’ll look into the results and run any tests they can on their side, and get back to you with the next step.

Currently Playing: She's Electric

T

Testpilot

Newcomer

Abby_OVO,
I filled out the form a while back.
At the end it says that it can take up to 45 days to hear back.
That’s ‘unreasonable’ from my perspective.
I called OVO yesterday.
1st call took 20 minute to get through and as soon as I outlined the issue, I was ‘conveniently’ cut off.
2nd call took a further 40 minutes, but I am being sent a new IHD which will be about 2 weeks wait.

Abby_OVO

Community Manager

Hey @Testpilot,

Sorry to hear about the long wait times you’ve experienced.

I’m glad to hear that they’re sending you a new IHD now, hopefully this will be the resolution to the problem you were having with it.

I know how frustrating it can be so I’ve attached our Complaints Procedure here for you, if you wish to raise one or to leave some feedback on your experience.

Currently Playing: She's Electric

R

RojoMojo

Newcomer

My new Chameleon IHD touch screen has stopped responding. I have looked at various on line help articles here and on the web (including Chameleon Technologies own website) and i can see no answer as to if it is possible to turn my IHD off in the hope of resetting it. It is an IHD3-PPMID-AAA so there is no button on the back. How can i turn if off and again to see if that ‘resets’ it?
The touch screen was working ok, but i then relocated the IHD to another room as i had noticed when i logged into MYOVO the other day that it is not sending my gas meter readings. After i move it to the other room the touchscreen stopped working, i do not know if it got knocked when i was unfurling the power cable so it reached the plug socket. It’s certainly not been dropped or bashed so i am i confused as to why it’s displaying a reading ok none of the touch buttons are now responding.
I’ve unplugged it at the moment in the hope the battery will run out and it will therefore switch off and hopefully ‘start’ again when plugged back in?
Any advice would be appreciated as after having this for less than 2 weeks, it’s lack of sending my gas readings and now this touchscreen issue are leaving me underwhelmed with this move to smart meters…
Thanks in advance
Rojo

BPLightlog

Super User

Hi @RojoMojo , it does sound like the IHD is stuck and a reboot (not a reset) might be useful. Here’s a Chameleon details including a guide

https://chameleontechnology.co.uk/inhomedisplayhelp/

Taking power off and then restarting may well get things going but bear in mind that it’s your smart meter, not the IHD that sends readings to the data centre and supplier.

Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}

R

RojoMojo

Newcomer

Thanks, i probably was not all that clear in my post. I suspect there are two separate issues, one with my smart meter not sending info to OVO on my usage, and i have raised this separately. The second issue was that i noticed my IHD was no longer giving me my gas usage either. I thought this could be connectivity issue so moved it to another room so it was physically closer to the gas meter hoping this would improve things. After moving the IHD i have then discovered the touchscreen is not longer working so i cannot look at just my electric usage for example or look back on my weekly usage. No of of the touch buttons work. I had already looked at the Chameleon website but for the IHD3-PPMID-AAA there is no real trouble shooting info, and there’s no on / off button on the back. I may attempt to remove the battery but again there is no useful info on the Chameleon website about the correct way to do this.
Cheers

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